Thursday, Boxing returns to the Grand Hotel Tijuana
The storylines are quite numerous. (top left) 38-year-old Nadia “The Lion” Meknouzi has made a successful transition from the Martial Arts over to Pro Boxing. She now has four straight victories after switching from the Mixed Martial Arts. Also, former Mexican National Amateur Champ Jacqueline Juarez (top, center) will be making her debut vs former Team USA boxer Czarina McCoy (top, left). Next, we have both Jorge Marron Jr. and former USA National Champ Patrick Ferguson going after their 15th victory while the popular Romario “Little Boy” Ovalle seeks his 6th victory. Since there’s no way to be absolutely certain as to the order of the bouts, we have the photos of the fighters lined up as they went to the scale.The first boxer to hit the scales at Wednesday’s official weigh-ins was Jorge Marron Jr. (14-1-0, 4 KOs) Global ID# 782901 who looked to be in tremendous shape for his super lightweight bout with that oh so serious, knock this chip off my shoulder look. Marron’s opponent will be Alejandro “Osama” Valladares Global ID# 371366, who has been boxing professionally for 15 years. His stats read (9-28-1, 5 KOs). In his spare time, the 35-year-old is a well-respected chef. Next up, it was Super Flyweight Irina Jacqueline OrtegaJuarez who was born in Jalisco but now resides in Tijuana, B. C., Mexico where she now trains with Carlos Cuevas, who is both her manager and trainer. Born October 13, 1997, Juarez is now 21-years of age, stands 5’7″ tall and weighs 114 lbs. She is the mother of two adorable little girls, Allison and Victoria. As an Amateur was the National Champion in her weight class and had a record of 28-3. Juarez’s opponent is 18-year-old Czarina “The Black Rose” McCoy (1-0, 1 KO), Global ID 869194, born 1-21-2001, who weighed in at 112 lbs. McCoy is a 5’3″ tall southpaw who is formerly from Denver, Colorado but now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her remarkable background: she was a 5x National Champion, on Team USA, author, musician, actress, a journalism major at UNLV, the University of Nevada Las Vegas. In her first fight, back on July 27, 2019, just 19 days ago, McCoy TKO’d her first opponent. You can almost guarantee the bout between these two accomplished super flyweights will be a dandy. Both were National Champions and both are dead serious about becoming the next champion in their weight class. Both have quick hands and above-average power. The soon to be 39-year-old Nadia “The Lion” Meknouzi, born August 21, 1980, is (3-0) in Pro Boxing. She will be battling33-year-old, 5’6″ tall Silvia Zuniga (7-18, 1 KO) Global ID #242790 who is below. Zuniga, born July 2, 1986, is from San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mexico. Super welterweight Omar Ismael Galindo (1-5, 1 KO) Global ID# 392466, born 01-24-89 is 30-years-old. He is married, has two children and is coached by Juan Jose Ramirez.Galindo’s opponent, super lightweight Jessie Nares, Global ID#883788 (1-0), is from Oxnard, Calif. and he’s coached by Ernesto Torres. After a while, you wouldn’t even know that she was there. Performing the task of keeping the combatants civil was this lovely ring card gal. Flyweight Samuel Almontes (above) Global ID#883787 (0-0-1), born 12-29-2000, is from Tijuana. He’ll be taking on the rookie Jonathan Rodriguez (below).Jonathan Rodriguez, who went 66-6 as an Amateur, will be making his Pro Debut against Samuel Almontes. Rodriguez, born March 8, 2001, is a two-time Mexican Amateur Champion. He’s coached by both Gustavo Enriquez and Victor Manuel Godoy.
The lovely ring card gal pulled extra duty as an in-house referee as she stood between Samuel Almontes (l) and Jonathan Rodriguez (r).
Romario “Little Boy” Ovalle (4-1, 4 KOs) Global ID 825244, born February 13, 1996, father of three (2 boys, one girl) is set to face Luciano Hernandez (3-4), born September 18, 1997, in a four-round super welterweight match. This 6-round cruiserweight match-up between 28-year-old Patrick Ferguson (r) (14-2-1, 11 KOs) Global ID 753660 from Spokane, Washington, and the 34-year-old Alfredo “Galan” Contreras from Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mex. might end up being the “Bout of the Night.”One of the most memorable photos ever for cruiserweight Patrick Ferguson (right) has to be this one taken the night he upset the more experienced fighter to gain an opportunity to continue along on his quest to gain a spot on the 2016 US Olympic Team.
No doubt Ferguson has been blessed to have all the right doors open for him to allow his body of work to grow substantially. Plus, as far as incentives go, where can you find a better motivator than having those dreams of competing in the Olympics? In addition, he was afforded three weeks of training at GGG’s Big Bear Training facility with IBF world cruiserweight champ Murat Gassiev, who at the time was in that World Boxing Super Series competition with the three other champions from the WBC, WBA, and WBO in which the tournament would unified the title.
“It was an eye-opener for me,” said Ferguson, who worked 33 rounds with the Champ Gassiev. “I saw how much work it takes to get where he is. But it also showed me that it is within my grasp. That this is not just something freaks of nature can do. Guys there didn’t have amazing skills. They were just constantly working on making what they had better.”
Talking about the constant upgrading of one’s skills by being around and sparring with the best, what about all of those great fighters that Alfredo Contreras has faced over the years? That list now includes San Diego’s Ulises Sierra and Lester Gonzalez, plus Marco Antonio Periban, Sakio Bika, Paul Mendez, and Shawn Estrada.
James Browning (above) from Tempe, Arizona, born July 25, 1999, will be making his Pro Debut against Jesus Enrique Osuna from Tijuana, B. C., Mexico born November 26, 1995.The 23-year-old Osuna should be quite the test for the rookie Browning.James Browning from Tempe, Arizona (left), Jesus Enrique Osuna from Tijuana (right).
Since the opponents of the following boxers did not get to the weigh-ins at the scheduled time, this places the following bouts in jeopardy.
Since his opponent was a no-show, he decided to have his photo taken with this young lady.
Juan Carlos Rubio (13-0, 6 KOs) had been scheduled to fight Ivan Mendez Raya, another of the boxers who missed their weigh-in appointment.
The last two gentlemen, late arrivals, flyweight Pedro Zoto (above) and Crisantos Parra (a lightweight) came to the weigh-ins from Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico by autobus, a journey which took them 12 long hours. That’s true dedication to the sport.
