Junior welterweight Kendo Castaneda (left). Photograph credit score: Richard Anber
Two fringe junior welterweight contenders sq. off in a compelling crossroads bout tonight, with the winner pocketing a $50,000 prize and the potential of dealing with the higher echelon of the division.
Antonio Moran and Kendo Castaneda will battle it out on the Whitesands (ProBox) Occasion Heart in Plant Metropolis, Florida. The ten-round bout will stream reside on ProBox TV (9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT).
At Thursday’s weigh-in, Moran weighed in at 140.2 kilos. Castaneda weighed 140 kilos.
Each fighters are finalists of the eight-man Final Likelihood Match Championship. All of the quarterfinal (Might 20) and semi-final bouts (August 5) additionally happened on ProBox TV playing cards in Plant Metropolis, Florida.
Moran (28-5-1, 19 knockouts), who resides in Mexico Metropolis, defeated Jeffrey Torres and, most just lately, Michael Dutchover to succeed in the match closing. Each wins had been by unanimous determination. The 29-year-old has confronted the higher opposition of the 2, having misplaced to the likes of Jose Pedraza, Devin Haney and Arnold Barboza.
Having solely misplaced as soon as in his final six fights, Moran believes momentum will probably be on his facet, however his expertise and skill-set would be the distinction tonight towards Castaneda.
“Being within the match has been a great alternative to rise as a fighter,” mentioned Moran, who has been a staple of Boxeo Telemundo telecasts lately. “With the ability to qualify and win to succeed in the ultimate has been an superior expertise and it has stored me coaching virtually all 12 months. I’ve been making ready very effectively and that has made me prepared for any second.
“I feel that Castaneda is a fighter who comes ahead and is aggressive, so you have to field him. He’s going to come back in together with his identical combating fashion and he’s going to try to choose me up at shut vary, however I’ll deal with it. Within the first 4 rounds, I’ll search for the knockout, but when I don’t get it, I’ll field him as a result of there is no such thing as a different approach. I’m going to do the struggle my approach, connecting with fast mixtures and shifting across the ring.”
Castaneda (19-5, 9 KOs), who resides in San Antonio, Texas, scored a first-round knockout victory over Sonny Fredrickson within the opening spherical of the match. The 28-year-old defeated Joseph Fernandez by unanimous determination in an in depth struggle.
With nothing to lose and the whole lot to achieve after having misplaced his earlier 5 bouts, Castaneda is assured he’ll cease Moran and transfer ahead together with his profession.
“I’m all the time able to struggle, so I really don’t imaginative and prescient this as my final probability,” mentioned Castaneda. “There was some stress to win to maneuver on, however it’s been a lot extra enjoyable than something.
“Moran thinks he’ll knock me out in 5? I feel nothing of Moran, however it will likely be a Mexican struggle for so long as it lasts, and I’m prepared for 32 rounds. Moran will probably be operating right into a brick wall and ultimately he falls. The referee stops it, or the referee will cease it.”
Within the co-feature, Juan Huertas will sq. off towards hard-hitting Miguel Madueno in a 10-round light-weight bout.
Huertas (16-3, 12 KOs), who resides in 24 de Diciembre, Panama, stopped Jonhatan Cardoso within the opening spherical of his final bout on June 17. The 30-year-old has gained his final two bouts after dropping to Jon Fernandez and, most just lately, to Gary Antuanne Russell, each by knockout.
Madueno (27-1, 25 KOs) final fought on March 12, dropping by unanimous determination to Jezzrel Corrales in a foul-filled struggle. The 24-year-old, who’s initially from Guasave, Mexico and now resides in Orange, California, had stopped his earlier 13 opponents.
Dominic Valle (4-0, 4 KOs) of Lutz, Florida will face Mexico’s Jose Antonio Meza (8-7, 2 KOs) in a six-round junior light-weight bout.
In light-weight motion, Carlos Rodario (5-0, 3 KOs) of Fajardo, Puerto Rico will sq. off towards Ezequiel Borrero (5-0, 2 KOs) in a six-round bout.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has lined boxing in Southern California and overseas since 2000. Francisco additionally covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He might be reached by e mail at [email protected] or on Twitter at @FSalazarBoxing