Fidel Maldonado, Jr. takes home big Texas victory

Frisco, TX— The Texas fans were treated to a big night of knockouts and rising star talents on Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN, following a hard-fought main event between WBC Fecarbox Super Lightweight Champion Fidel “The Atrisco Kid” Maldonado (24-3-1, 19 KOs) and Pablo “El Demoledor” Cesar Cano (30-6-1, 21 KOs).

Dallas Cowboys Owner, President and General Manager Jerry Jones was in attendance at Tostitos Championship Plaza at The Star for Cano vs. Maldonado, along with Dallas Cowboys Footballers, including defensive tackle Tyrone Crawford, linebacker Anthony Hitchens, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, wide receiver Lucky Whitehead, linebacker Damien Wilson and former Denver Broncos wide receiver Rod Smith.

Throughout the highly competitive main event, the two evenly matched fighters scrapped with one another-each fighting to obtain the upper hand in their 10-round battle. In the final moments of the fourth round, Cano successfully knocked down Maldonado with his severe power punching authority. However, the southpaw standout quickly rebounded to outbox Cano and take control of the fight. While the rounds were close, the judges scored the fight 97-92, 96-93, 97-92 awarding “The Atrisco Kid” a split decision victory for the vacant WBC Fecarbox Super Lightweight title.

“Winning was not about the belt. It means a lot to have beat Cano, who has fought legends “Sugar” Shane Mosley and Erik “El Terrible” Morales,” said Maldonado. “This victory feels great, and although I don’t agree with the split decision, I am very happy with the outcome. Cano was as tough as I expected him to be-but I feel like I hurt with my body shots, because that is what made the difference.”

In the TV co-main event, Joshua “The Professor” Franco (11-0, 6 KOs) of San Antonio decisioned local Dallas fighter Oscar Mojica (10-3, 1 KO) to successfully claim the vacant WBC Youth Silver Super Flyweight title in a bout lasting all eight rounds. “The Professor” began the fight dishing out a lesson to Mojica by knocking him down in the first round. Throughout the remainder of the fight, Franco continued to pressure his opponent–eventually winning the unanimous decision victory.

“I feel very blessed to be here and have won this title,” said Franco. “I thought I was going to catch my opponent in the second round after I dropped him in the first, but he held on and was tough.”

Keeping his perfect knockout streak intact, the highly skilled Vergil Ortiz, Jr., (6-0, 6 KOs) of Dallas unleashed his signature crushing blows to stop opponent Ricardo “Maniac” Fernandez (3-5-5) in the first round by way of technical knockout in the super lightweight TV opener.

“The victory feels great. My fan base here in Texas is really big, and I can tell the fans love when I fight here,” said Ortiz, Jr. “My opponent was tricky to figure out at first, but I went in composed and was able to clearly see what I needed to do to win.”

Rising prospect Alex Rincon (2-0, 2 KOs) from Dallas unloaded shot after shot to Austin local Zachary Briones (1-4), resulting in the referee ruling a technical knockout stoppage at 2:13 of the first round in this middleweight match scheduled for four rounds.

Still unbeaten Hector “El Finito” Tanajara, Jr. (10-0, 4 KOs) from San Antonio emerged the victor over Reynosa, Mexico’s Eduardo Reyes (7-10, 5 KOs) in a lightweight bout lasting all six rounds. From the start of the fight, Tanajara had Reyes down, and continued to fight his way to a majority decision victory scored 59-55 twice and 57-57.

Opening up the Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN coverage, Javier Martinez (2-0, 2 KOs) of Dallas went straight to work in this scheduled four round super lightweight fight, scoring a sensational knockout over San Diego fighter Daniel Gutierrez (2-6, 2 KOs) at 2:09 in round one by way of a left hook.

Maintaining undefeated record, Travell “Black Magic” Mazion (12-0, 11 KOs) of Austin, TX went the distance for the first time in his professional career, capturing a unanimous decision victory over Ciudad Juarez, Mexico fighter Even Torres (6-4, 5 KOs) in this six round middleweight fight.

Kicking off the Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN fight night, local Fort Worth fighter David Fabela (1-0, 1 KO) made a spectacular professional debut with an explosive fourth round technical knockout over North Rich Hill’s Kashiff Solarin (0-3) in this scheduled four round lightweight affair.

Cano vs. Maldonado Jr., was a 10-round super lightweight fight the vacant FECARBOX title, was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions. The event was sponsored by Tecate, BORN BOLD and Hennessy, never stop, never settle. The bout took place outside on Saturday, June 17 at Tostitos Championship Plaza at The Star in Frisco, Texas on ESPN 2 and ESPN Deportes starting at 11:00 p.m. EST/ 10:00 p.m. CST/ 9:00 p.m. PST. The ESPN3 and ESPN App coverage began at 9:00 p.m. EST/ 8:00 p.m. CST/ 7:00 p.m. PST.

Videos and images are available for download by clicking here or copying and pasting the link: http://bit.ly/CanoMaldonado. Credit must be given to Golden Boy Promotions for any photos/video.