Travis Crawford

Hugo Castaneda upsets Felix Garcia and Travis Crawford Shines in Laredo

Photo Credit: Counter Punch Media

Big-time boxing returned to The Gateway City, Laredo, Texas. The Same's Auto Arena has become synonymous with boxing, and the card it hosted Saturday was no exception. The undercard featured several highly competitive bouts and local fighters. Nicholas Molina of Laredo used precise power shots, right hands that rocked Manuel Martinez with one of his signature right hands early in the fifth that shook Martinez. Molina seized the moment and unleashed a barrage of power shots. Forcing the ref's hand to stop the fight and improving his record to 6-2-1 (5). 

In another high-action undercard bout, Juan Garcia of Carrizo Springs was relentless in moving his record to 5-0 (2) and outpointing a game Gary Hampton of Fort Worth, who fell to 5-1 (0). Garcia stayed behind a high guard and attacked scoring with straight right hands and lead hooks he kept Hampton on the back foot. The Fort Worth native had moments in the fight with well-timed countershots. Garcia scored with a big left hook in the third that rocked the head of Hampton, and ultimately the judges preferred his aggression and precise power punching to the jab and counter shots of Hampton, taking the competitive decision by scores of 58-56 X2 and 59-55. 

Explosive Laredo-based prospect Jaime Jasso was able to avenge his last professional defeat, a 2021 points loss to the skilled Guillermo Gutierrez of San Antonio, to move his record to 5-2 (0). In his first-ever scheduled 8-rounder, Jasso did not fade and got cooking in the second half. Brilliantly working angels and scoring with a barrage of power shots from every possible angle. The Laredo native had a noticeable speed advantage and used slick footwork and his speed advantage to avoid the artillery of the San Antonio native. Jasso fought brilliantly off the book to decide by scores of 78-74x2 and 77-75 to capture the WBC Flyweight Youth title. 

Highly touted super middleweight prospect Daniel Blancas from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, moved to 9-0 (4) and narrowly escaped with a split decision over Bruno Pola, originally of Mexico, who now fights out of San Antonio, Texas. Pola, a southpaw, consistently landed with his jab that set up big straight left hands and seemed to have better moments, he appeared to land the harder, cleaner shots. In a once in a lifetime moment, a double knockdown occurred in the opening round, both fighters scored with hooks, and both fighters dropped. It was a foreshadowing of how competitive and close the fight was going to be. Blancas marched forward and had some success on the inside, but early on Pola was able to keep him at bay and made his opponent pay every time he tried to get inside. Blancas kept charging forward trying to get on the inside and landed some clean shots but never really seemed to get on the inside/ Balncas did some of his best work in the fourth round and was able to score with a straight right that allowed him to get inside and do damage on the inside. However, Pola stood his ground and answered back. The rest of the night was back and forth nip and tuck with Blancas trying to get on the inside with Pola tagging him when he did at the end of the highly competitive eight-round affair, the judges slightly favored Blancas. The first two judges handed in reasonable scorecards of 77-75, one in favor of each man. The third judge, Eleazar Luna Bacahanded in a ridiculous 79-73 in favor of Bancas

Travis Crawford, the typically all-action slugger from Corpus Christi, used a bit more caution in moving his record to 7-2 (2) and scoring his seventh consecutive victory. Using his speed and reach advantage over the always-determined Alex Ramos of Laredo, who fell to 7-2 (3). Crawford used a sharp jab through the affair to keep Rmos from charging in and would put well-placed right hands behind it. Ramos kept competitive throughout. Marching forward and scoring with his jab and ripping off hard power shots, but it just wasn't enough as the hometown favorite dropped the decision to Crawford, who was just too sharp in the mid-range and long-range and had Ramos in a bit of trouble in the fifth with a well placed right hand. Crawford stayed in control and did just enough as he was consistently first and landed the cleaner, more eye-catching shots, and took a split decision by scores of 78-74 and 77-75, with the third judge favoring the aggressive work of Ramos by a score of 78-74

Just moments into the main event, Hugo Castaneda originally of McAllen, Texas, but was raised in Mexico, caught undefeated Laredo blue chip prospect Felix Garcia on the chin with a left hook that snapped his head back. Castaneda followed up with a hook to that body that took the wind out of Garcia. Another left hook came in and scored on the side of Garcia's head and buckled him. The assault was on, and Castaned let loose but stayed in control while gunning for the first-round stoppage. After a few more power shots scored on the button, referee Jose Guadalupe Garcia stepped in and waived the bout to halt at the 1:19 mark of the first round to give the Laredo prospect his first loss and move Castaneda to 14-1-1 (10) and take home the WBC Youth Super featherweight title. Castaneda captured the WBO youth title in late 2022.

Championship Boxing Returns to Laredo

Laredo is quickly emerging as one of the great fight cities in the country, and big-time boxing will return to the Gateway City on April 20th. The Sames Auto Arena will host several title fights including, Laredo's own Felix "Gatito" Garcia, 8-0 (1), who puts his undefeated record against McAllen native Hugo Castaneda, 13-1-1 (9), for the vacant WBC Youth Super featherweight title. Castaneda, who previously captured the WBO super featherweight title by stopping Maykol Mendoza late in 2022, will take a massive step in competition for Garcia. The Laredo native, who just turned 18 and has been a pro for two years, is one of the brightest young prospects anywhere in the sport.

The card also features an all-action, can't miss, fan-friendly slugfest between hometown favorite Alex "Bazooka" Ramos 7-1 (3), who is riding a five-fight win streak since his lone career loss to undefeated prospect Javier Fernandez in 2021. He will battle emerging prospect Travis Crawford from nearby Corpus Christi, Crawford 6-2 (2). Crawford got off to a 0-2 start in his career, dropping contests to a pair of highly touted prospects in Xavier Bocanegra of Donna, Texas, and Ronny Reyes. He has blown away everyone in his path since, winning six fights in a row. Both the Texas state title and the WBC Youth lightweight title will be on the line.

All-world prospect Daniel Blancas will also be in action, the 8-0 (4), all-world prospect who is projected to be a future world champion will take on hard-hitting Mexican KO artist Bruno Pola, 7-2-1 (6), who looks to bounce back from his loss to Fort Worth-based prospect Malik Calhoun both the ABF and WBC Youth titles are at stake.

Two other bouts of note that will be held on this exciting Pound 4 Pound card. In a showdown between undefeated featherweights for an ABF strap, Carrizo Springs native Juan Garcia, 4-0(2), will take on Gary Hampton, 5-0 (0) of Fort Worth. Hampton has beaten undefeated fighters in each of his last two fights. Plus Laredo native Jaime Jasso, 4-2 (0), will look to revenge his 2021 loss to San Antonio native Guillermo Gutierrez, 10-0 (1), in a very close and competitive fight. Both fighters have shown vast improvements over the last 2+ years, and this one promises to be as competitive and exciting as the first fight.

Texas 6 -Shooters! Six Texans Who Can Take a Huge Step Forward in 20024

Texas has run boxing for quite some time now. The pound-for-pound lists have been littered with Lone Star State natives. The following six fighters could potentially carry that load and be the next era of elite, world-class Texas fighters.

1. David Cardenas- San Antonio. San Antonio has produced a heck of a lot of great little men, and Cardenas could certainly be the next guy. Cardenas turned pro this summer in Mexico and shook off a jittery opening round to score a second round and has dominated every moment of every round since. He scored three consecutive KO's and then dominated Richard Hernandez, a veteran of 14 professional fights in December. Cardenas will be back in the ring in his home city on March 1st. Cardenas has solid pop for the weight, a sky-high ring IQ, and world-class feet. He is also best friends with San Antonio Spurs superstar Keldon Johnson, who can be seen in his entourage at each of his fights. Cardenas won multiple national championships in multiple weight classes as an amateur.

2. Felix Garcia- Laredo "El Gatito" the son of solid professional fighter. Garcia has already accumulated a record of 8-0 (1) and has just turned 18 years old. He turned pro in nearby Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The 18-year-old is being moved quickly and has already fought eight rounders. He has also headlined cards. At just 17, the youngester headlined the Sames Auto Arena in his home city, and scored a unanimous decision over Jose Casiano. The Laredo nativ then followed that up with a points victory over undefeated Joseph Johnson and ended the year by fighting an eight-rounder in Mexico. The single KO in his eight pro fights is not indicative of his power. Garcia is still growing into his weight division (super featherweight), has tremendous agility and moves well is an excellent combination puncher who likes to march forward. Gatito is also fundamentally very sound and defensively responsible for an aggressive, action fighter

3. Joel Martinez- Fort Worth, "The Owl" is a bit of a unicorn, 6'1, southpaw, featherweight with tremendous one-punch power. After watching the hard-hitting Southpaw make his pro debut in November of 2021, I told him his biggest challenge was going to be hetting quality fighters to fight him. While, inactivity has played a part in his development. Martinez has secured four professional fights and expects to be back in the ring in February in Fort Worth. He is trained at FHG, the same gym as Edward Vazquez and John Vera, with coach Ray Berrera. He settled for a draw in July against "Gusto" Sean Brewer, and all things considered, that's not so bad. Outside of that, the consistent jab and massive left hand that the Fort Worthian sports has been unstoppable. He sports a 3-0-1 (2) record.

4 Oscar Perez- Houston, The lone Houstonian on the list, may be the closest to taking that big step forward and fighting on a massive stage. The southpaw lightweight, sports an 8-0-2 (6) record and ended 2023 with KO's of John Herrera and before that scored a second-round TKO of Yesner Talavera in his own backyard. The 24-year-old already has a win over rugged journeyman Clay Burns of Fort Worth. Perez knocked out, KO artist Omar Urieta of Tyler in the second round and went in as the B-Side to fight Anthony Cuba in Los Angeles at the Crypto Arena on the undercard of Andy Ruiz VS Luis Ortiz and settled for a disputed draw in a fight that must observers that he won. A fight with 2023's winner of this award, RGV native Fabian Diaz, would be an intriguing fight and an interesting test for both men.

5. Guillermo Guiterrez- San Antonio, the second Alamo City native, just missed making our list last year and was certainly a part of it this year. The 25-year-old made rapid improvements and should be in line for a big-time fight in 2024. In 2023 his three opponents in 2023 had a combined record of 10-1-5. He beat Jaden Burnias. The lack of power that the Alamo City's native suggests may help Guiterrez out in securing a big-time fight. San Antonio produced two recent world champions in the super flyweight division in recent years with Josh Franco and Bam Rodriguez. Given his skills and combination punching, Guiterrez has a legitimate chance to join them as 115-pound world champions

6-. Travis Crawford- Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi has produced some good fighters in recent years: Xavier Nunez, John Rincon, and emerging amateur Julian Delgado, who will make his professional debut shortly, all top that list. 21-year-old lightweight Travis Crawford wasn't supposed to be among them. However, the massive leap he took in 2023, going 5-0 (2) and moving his current win streak to six, combined with his all-action, fan-friendly style, made Crawford, who started his career off at 0-2, become one of the top young fighters to watch. His career started with losses to hard-hitting monster Xavier Bocanegra, who is the prized pupil of legendary hall of fame traineer Ronnie Shields, and then a controversial loss to Joe DeGuardia promoted prospect Ronny Reyes in Reyes's backyard in a fight that Crawford probably deserved the nod. Crawford brings his all-out, fan-friendly stlye back to the ring on January 20th in Tennessee.

Travis Crawford Shines in Co-Main Event in Corpus Christi

Boxing returned to Sparkle City, Corpus Christi. for the second time in four months. Ernest Reyna, CEO of Reyna Promotions, is bringing boxing back to Corpus Christi in a major way. Hometown hero, 20-year-old Travis Crawford stole the show in the evening's co-main event with his dominant second-round knockout of Michael Haynes to pick up his fourth straight win, his second win in two weeks, moving his record to 4-0 (2) after starting his career with two consecutive losses. At that point many would have given up, not Crawford, who has come roaring back and is now the talk of Corpus Christi. The 20-year-old scored with a couple of straight right hands that caught the attention of Haynes. Crawford was able to score at will on Haynes, who was diving in with power shots. Setting the pace in the opening round, Crawford slammed on the gas in round number two. Scoring with a left hook early in the round that hurt Haynes. Moments later, he scored with a right hand to the body that sent his opponent into the ropes. With his opponent backed into the ropes, the hometown hero unleashed a whirlwind of power shots that had Haynes in a world of trouble. Late in the round, a left hook from Crawford doubled over his outmatched opponent and put him on the floor. Haynes, an extremely tough, and durable opponent, somehow made it to his feet. However, the writing was on the wall, and like a professional, Crawford stayed downstairs and focused on the body. He scored with a right hand and a left hook to the body that dropped his opponent for a second and final time giving Crawford the second-round KO with about 30 seconds left in the second round.

In the night's main event, Mercedes native "El Gallo Fino" Sammy Castaneda gave another A+ performance in outpointing Julio Chaves Infante of Tamaulipas, Mexico, and moved his record to 11-0-1 (7). Castaneda dominated the six-round affair in relentless vintage "El Gallo Fino" fashion. Non-stop pressure from the Rio Grande Valley natives overwhelmed Infane. Castaneda's relentlessness not only broke Infante down but took away his heart and turned the KO artist into a defensive-minded fighter. Castaneda closed the show like a pro, mixing up head and body shots, like the energizer bunny. He kept firing on an overwhelmed Infante. The final scores were academic as they all came in wide in favor of the Rio Grande Valley native 59-55x2 and 60-54. Castaneda, who is emerging as one of the top 140-pound prospects in the world, showed improved footwork and defensive skills in making Infante miss. He scored with crisp clean counter shots throughout the six rounds. The 24-year-old Rio Grande Valley Native has a premier team behind him that includes Head Coach James Payton, Agent Kerry Daigle, and cutman Aaron Navarro who works with world champion Regis Prograis and O'shaquie Foster. The team has Castaneda on a path to be fighting at the highest level by next year.

The undercard portion of the card was sensational. The opening bout was an absolute barnburner. Carlos Torres of Corpus Christi and Luis Fernendez of Austin Treated fans to an all-action slugfest. The pair traded second-row knockdowns. Fernandez evened the score late in the round and had Torres in serious trouble. However, Torres survived the scare and closed the show well. In the fourth and final rounds appeared to be in better condition as he was the one that got the better of the haymakers that were changed throughout the fourth round. The Corpus Christi native was rightfully awarded the close split decision victory by scores of 40-36, 38-36, and 39-37 in favor of Fernandez to move his record to 2-3 (1).

In the second bout, Corpus Christi native Patrick Haro got off the canvas to rally and make his pro debut a successful one. Haro scored with a right hook in the 4th round that dropped Tyler Pacheco, of San Angelo. Pacheco got back on his horse and chased after Haro, and scored with a straight right of his own to close out a highly competitive and very close four-round affair. Two of the three judges favored Haro, with the third judge scoring it a draw.

Supper Middleweight Veteran Justin Williams scored with a picture-perfect uppercut that dropped his opponent, Eduardo Alvarez, just seconds into the first round. The laser-like shot left Alvarez with blurred vision and unable to continue. Williams officially picked up the KO victory via 55 seconds of the first round.

Also on the card was hometown favorite Christian Perez, who picked up a unanimous decision victory. Perez rallied late and scored with a ferocious combination that laid to a 30-second barrage of power shots that left his opponent Steveen Angeles Cruz in a world of trouble. Perez nearly got the stoppage in the fourth but had to settle for the points victory as his rugged opponent survived till the final round