By David Finger
It will be a busy weekend of boxing for the state of New Mexico as two of the most promising young prospects in the Southwest headline separate cards in Las Cruces and in Albuquerque.
On Friday promoter Isidro Castillo of School of Hard Knocks Boxing returns to the Pan Am Center on the campus of New Mexico State University as undefeated prospect Stephanie Han (1-0) takes on a fellow undefeated prospect in Destiny Jones (2-0) in a lightweight fight. Han, the sister of former world champion Jennifer Han and former world ranked contender Abraham Han, already has boxing insiders talking about a possible world championship fight in the near future, but she has a tough test in Destiny “Too Sweet” Jones of Texas.
Jones has looked dominant in her first two professional fights, and although there is no question that this will be a major step up in class for the Texan, it is also apparent that she is a solid prospect in her own right. In addition to the Han fight, undefeated super middleweight Jorge Tovar, 3-0, 3 KOs, will look to extend his first round knockout streak to four in a row as he takes on journeyman Tavourus Teague (6-32-5, 3 KOs). Most are assuming Tovar will come out on victorious, as Teauge has been stopped sixteen times in his career and has lost his last five fights by knockout. But most fans are nonetheless excited to see a fighter who has already established himself as probably the most explosive young prospect in Texas and a few insiders grudgingly concede that Teague is a seasoned veteran who may show Tovar something he hasn’t seen before in the ring.
Rounding off the card in Las Cruces, heavyweight Nick Tipton of Midland (2-1, 1 KO) takes on debuting J.D. Ordunez of Las Cruces in a four rounder. A pair of rookies clash in the lightweight division as Mike Bueno of Lubbock makes his professional debut against fellow debutant Nick Hernandez of El Paso. Anthony Jones (0-2) of Albuquerque takes on Garrett Lopez (0-2) of Las Cruces in a light middleweight fight, and in a cruiserweight fight Ysidro Portillo (1-2) of Midland takes on Joshua Ramirez (1-0) of El Paso. Journeyman Manuel Rubacalva (4-39-1) fights debuting Daniel Trevino of El Paso in a four round fight, and opening the card heavyweight Antonio Matos of Clovis, NM makes his professional debut against Elijah Sweat of Las Cruces. Sweat is also making his professional debut.
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The following night boxing will head north on I-25 as Abraham “Hammer” Perez (4-2, 2 KOs) takes on fellow undefeated prospect Isaac Anguiano (3-0, 1 KO) of Pomona, California in a loaded fight card promoted by Legacy Boxing featuring an eye-popping eleven bouts. Perez is already the most talked about prospect in New Mexico and many fans are eager to see what he can do against what is widely seen as the toughest opponent he has faced to date. Rounding off the Albuquerque card, undefeated heavyweight prospect Leonid Grachev (4-0, 3 KOs) takes on Manuel Eastman of Los Lunas (3-6, 2 KOs). In a welterweight fight Daniel Gonzalez (2-0) takes on Ricardo Canales (0-0-1), while a pair of popular local journeymen battle in the light heavyweight division as Lorenzo Benavidez (3-3-1) takes on Jordan Gregory (1-3-2) in a four rounder. Both Benavidez and Gregory have shown tremendous improvement over their careers and have earned a fan following as they revitalize their careers.
In a six round women’s bout Katherine Lindenmuth (1-0) takes on Amanda Lovato (1-1) in a flyweight fight. Rookies Adrian Torres and Martin Armijo battle in a fgour round fight in the featherweight division while Brandon Heredia (0-1) looks for his first win as he takes on debuting Dwight Maters of Albuquerque in the heavyweight division. Journeyman Daniel Flores Garcia (2-6, 1 KO) takes on Cesar Alvarado in a four round light heavyweight fight while Saul Gomez makes his professional debut against the veteran Alejandro Moreno (24-50-3) in a super bantamweight fight. Rolyn Nex (1-0) of Bloomfield takes on David Espino (0-2) of El Paso in another super welterweight fight while James Rodriguez opens the card as he makes his professional debut in the super welterweight division against veteran Ricardo Alan Fernandez (3-13-4) of Ciudad Juarez.
Tickets for the August 12th fight show at the Pan Am Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico can be obtained at the box office or by calling promoter Isidro Castillo at 1-575-263-4942. Tickets for the August 13th show in Albuquerque, which will take place at the Manuel Lujan Jr. Exhibit Complex, can be obtained by calling 1-505-382-5126. Both events will be available online via PPV. The Legacy Promotions card is available for $25 and the link can be found on their Facebook page, while the August 12th School of Hard Knocks Boxing show will stream online on theathleteinmetv.com and will be available for $19.99.