John Whisler

1 month ago | star-telegram.com | John Whisler

The scheduled departure for Fort Worth was just 48 hours away when Bianca Ortega got the bad news from her coaches: A lack of competition in her weight class would knock her out of the upcoming Texas State Golden Gloves tournament. The good news? It means she wins by walkover at state to advance to the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, May 11-18 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. "I have mixed emotions," Ortega said. "I'm grateful to get to go to nationals, but I trained hard and was ready to fight.

1 month ago | star-telegram.com | John Whisler

Ramon Cardenas had just picked up his food order and was walking back to his car when his phone buzzed. Michael Miller was on the line. A respected litigator by trade, Miller has made a name for himself in the boxing business as a fight manager, with a client list that includes 18 world champions, from San Antonio's own "Jesse" James Leija to Timothy Bradley, Kelly Pavlik and Nonito Donaire. Miller called with startling news.

2 months ago | star-telegram.com | John Whisler

His knockout streak is over, but Ramon Cardenas did well to survive Saturday night. The San Antonio super bantamweight contender overcame a seventh-round knockdown and hung on to defeat Bryan Acosta of Mexico by unanimous decision in a non-title fight at The Boeing Center at Tech Port, extending his winning streak to 14 straight matches. Cardenas (26-1, 14 KOs) won by scores of 95-94, 95-94 and 97-92. He got off to a fast start, winning the first six rounds on two of the three judges' scorecards.

2 months ago | star-telegram.com | John Whisler

Upon arriving in training camp in California's Coachella Valley six weeks ago, Ramon Cardenas was greeted with a message from trainer Joel Diaz. Despite the San Antonio super bantamweight's success, Diaz has made it clear he wants Cardenas to be more aggressive early in fights, to throw punches with a purpose from the opening bell. Not to sit back. Not to wait until the middle or late rounds to get going.

Sep 16, 2024 | star-telegram.com | John Whisler

Apparently tired of waiting on Manny Pacquiao to make up his mind, Mario Barrios has decided to move on. After four months of negotiating to fight the future Hall of Famer ended in failure, the San Antonio welterweight (29-2, 18 KOs) announced Monday he is returning to the ring Nov. 15 to defend his WBC 147-pound crown against Abel Ramos (28-6-2, 22 KOs) of Casa Grande, Ariz.