In front of a packed out crowd at the Boeing Center that included former world champions like Joshua Franco, Bam Rodriguez, and James Leija, as well as San Antonio Spurs great Keldon Johnson. The often overlooked and underappreciated "Dinamita" Ramon Cardenas vaulted himself into the world title picture in spectacular fashion. Cardenas, who has started slow in the past, got to work immediately, bringing the action to Rafael Pedroza. Cardenas landed clean power shots. One particular straight right-hand buckled Pedroza. The Alamo City native dominated the opening three minutes. The next 1:17 changed his trajectory. Cardenas scored with a picture-perfect left hook, caught Pedroza flush on the side of the head, and sent him to the canvas and hard. Pedroza got right up and showed more heart than was good for him. Pedroza went right after Cardenas. The Texan scored with another left hook over the top that dropped Pedroza like a building imploding on himself as the crows erupted. Referee Rafael Ramoswaved the bout off immediately as Cardenas improved his record to 23-1 (12).
In the evening's co-main event, Argentinian power hitter Mirco Cuello was able to track down Rudy Garcia. In a bull vs. matador style fight, it was Garcia who appeared to get off to a fast start, working behind a quick jab Garcia mixed in body shots. However, he couldn't keep the hard-hitting Argentine off him forever as Cuello closed the gap and was able to force the fight onto the inside. Cuello's left hook began slowing down his speedy opponent and opened up a cut near his eye. Cuello never relented. He was awarded a controversial knockdown in round five and kept the pressure on throughout the second half. Garcia continued to offer constant movement and had many moments, especially to the body. However, he just couldn't keep the pressure of Cuello at bay as he continued to land the more meaningful shots as he took a much too wide decision of 99-90x3.
Several other Texans were featured on the card, including 18-year-old phenom from Laredo Felix 'Gatito" Garcia, who moved to 7-0 (1). Gatito showed vast improvement as he cut off the ring on the speedy Joseph Johnson. Throughout the scheduled four-rounder. He applied pressure and landed thudding body shots that broke Johnson down over the four rounds. Garcia took a split decision by scores of 40-36x2, with the third judge handing in an inappropriate 38-38 draw.
Speaking of draws, Arturo Ramos, of San Antonio, and tested veteran Bryan Springs, also of San Antonio, battled to a disputed draw. Ramos chased down Springs and landed in combinations and did good work when he was able to cut off the ring and get Springs in the ropes. However, he simply wasn't active enough. Springs antagonized the pro-Ramos crowd with his antics and used every square inch of the ring to score with a jab and would mix in flurries at times. The fight, which was quite a challenge to score, due to the contrast in styles ended in what seemed appropriate, a three-way draw with scores of 39-37 each way and 38-38.
In the lone women's bout, hometown fighter Ravven Brown made quick work of Kavarcia Polk, scoring a first-round KO to move her record to 1-0 (1).
