Tag Archives: Fidel Maldonado Jr.

Pablo Cesar Cano to Fight Fidel Maldonado Jr. at the Dallas Cowboys Training Facility

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Pablo Cesar Cano is ready to rumble…

The 27-year-old Mexican professional boxer will face off against fellow hard-hitting junior welterweight Fidel Maldonado Jr. in a 10-round fight on June 17 at the Tostitos Championship Plaza at The Star in Frisco, Texas, according to Golden Boy Promotions.

Pablo Cesar Cano

The fight, which will be the first boxing event to take place at the training facility of the Dallas Cowboys, will headline a “Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN” card (ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, 10 p.m. ET).

Cano (30-5-1, 21 KOs), a former interim junior welterweight titlist, is as battle-tested as they come, though he lost his biggest fights — decisions against Paulie Malignaggi and Shane Mosley and a 10th-round knockout to Erik Morales in a 2011 junior welterweight world title fight. But he’s also coming off a 10-round split decision against fringe contender Mauricio Herrera in November and hoping to score another win and move on to a bigger fight.

“Even though I have been a professional for 11 years, I feel like I am just hitting my prime,” Cano said. “With a win over Maldonado, I feel like I will be ready to take on the top opponents at 140 pounds and compete for a world title.”

Maldonado (23-3-1, 19 KOs), a 25-year-old southpaw from Albuquerque, New Mexico, is 4-0-1 in his past five bouts since suffering a fifth-round knockout loss to contender Amir Imam in January 2015.

“I can’t wait to get in the ring with Cano and show the Texas fans what I’m all about,” Maldonado said. “People may call this a crossroads fight, but I’m only interested in taking one road — toward a world championship.”

In the co-feature, San Antonio’s Joshua Franco (10-0, 5 KOs), 21, and 24-year-old Oscar Mojica (10-2, 1 KO), of Dallas, will engage in an all-Texas junior bantamweight fight scheduled for eight rounds.

Dallas junior welterweight prospect Vergil Ortiz Jr. (5-0, 5 KOs), who is just 19, will face an opponent to be determined in his first scheduled six-round bout.

Other Dallas-based Golden Boy prospects — junior lightweight Javier Martinez (1-0, 1 KO) and junior middleweight Alex Rincon (1-0, 1 KO) — will also appear on the card as will San Antonio junior lightweight prospect Hector Tanajara Jr. (8-0, 4 KOs).

Orozco Knocks Out KeAndre Gibson

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Antonio Orozco is still unbeaten…

The 29-year-old Mexican professional boxer, a junior welterweight contender has positioned himself for a world title shot after knocking out KeAndre Gibson in the fourth round in a fight between unbeaten fighters on Saturday at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

Antonio Orozco

Orozco (26-0, 17 KOs) lived up to his nickname of “Relentless” as he went right after Gibson (16-1-1, 7 KOs) in the main event of the “Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN” card. He backed him up throughout the bout and blasted away to the body.

In the second round, Orozco forced Gibson to the ropes and continued to pound his body. A couple of shots strayed slightly low, and referee Russell Mora warned Orozco about the infraction.

With a minute left in the third round, Gibson landed a very low left hand that badly hurt Orozco, and Mora issued him a stern warning. But Orozco shook off the low blow, and in the fourth round, they continued to battle at close range before Orozco flicked out a jab and followed with a right hand behind it that caught Gibson hard near the temple.

Gibson dropped to the canvas on all fours and was clearly hurt. Although he beat the count, he was unsteady and did not respond to Mora when asked if he wanted to continue, forcing Mora to wave off the fight at 1 minute, 31 seconds as Orozco leaped in the air and pumped his fist in celebration.

“My corner was telling me he’s got the jab [figured out], so hide it and follow with the right hand,” Orozco said. “They were telling me, ‘Follow up after the jab,’ and that’s what we did — double jab, right hand.”

Gibson, who was stepping up the level of his opposition, had no excuses.

“I tried to outbox him,” said Gibson, whose purse was $20,000 compared to Orozco’s $30,000. “Unfortunately, I got caught. It happens.”

According to CompuBox punch statistics, Orozco landed 81 of 248 punches (33 percent) and Gibson landed 62 of 185 punches (34 percent), though nothing appeared to remotely bother Orozco. Of Orozco’s 63 landed power shots, 43 were to the body.

It was a big turnaround for Orozco, 29, compared to where he was three months ago. He was preparing to fight Fidel Maldonado Jr. on December 16, knowing a win would send him into a world title elimination fight or perhaps directly to a shot at unified world champion Terence Crawford.

Two days before the fight though, Orozco was struggling to make the 140-pound weight limit. He was dehydrated and lethargic and ultimately passed out. He wound up in the hospital, and the fight was canceled. He had waited too long to cut weight, and it cost him the title eliminator.

He was deeply apologetic to his team and took responsibility for what happened. In preparation to fight Gibson, Orozco hired a nutritionist to help him make weight properly, and he weighed in at 139.6 pounds on Friday afternoon and looked very sharp in the fight.

“From start to finish, I stuck to the fundamentals in this fight,” Orozco said. “We knew he was quick, had good foot movement [and was] a great boxer. Patience was the key, and we prevailed. I’m very happy to have won this fight, and now it’s time to go home to my family.”

With the victory, Orozco put himself back on track for a shot at a world title.

“This is the goal,” he said. “This is the first step [after what happened in December]. We’re here to become world champion.”