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Super Lightweight Prospect Kendo Castaneda Preparing For
Graduation To Contender Status
Texas super lightweight Kendo “Tremendo” Castaneda (17-0, 8
KOs) will risk his perfect pro record against Yomar “The
Magic” Alamo (17-0-1, 12 KOs) in a rare showdown between
undefeated prospects on February 28, live on Boxeo
Telemundo, starting at 11:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. PT, from
Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida.
The 26-year-old Castaneda will challenge Alamo, the reigning
North American Boxing Organization (NABO) super lightweight
champion, in the 10-round main event.
Alamo vs. Castaneda is co-promoted by All-Star Boxing, which
promotes Alamo and the event, and Castaneda’s promoter, Roy
Jones Jr. (RJJ) Boxing Promotions.
“This fight is a testimony of what can happen when two
companies work together to make the best fights possible.”
Veltre said. “Yomar versus Kendo is a great match-up and
exactly what the sport of boxing needs.”
The irony of Alamo vs. Castaneda is that a fighter from the
city of San Antonio, home of the historically famous Alamo,
will be fighting an opponent named Alamo.
“When I first saw his name,” the outspoken Castaneda said,
“I thought to myself that he was in for what The Alamo is
really all about, only a one-on-one war, and The Alamo is
coming to him. I’m going to take it slow and let the good
times roll.
“He’s undefeated, the same as me. He has a higher knockout
ratio than me, but he hasn’t fought the caliber opponents
than I have. I’ve been in tough. I was thrown into the fire
from the start. I took over my state and now I’m in the
stable of a big name, Roy Jones Jr. I’m the only ‘Tremendo’,
though.”
Alamo, fighting out of Puerto Rico, is the former World
Boxing Council (WBC) Youth World and FECARBOX super
lightweight champion, who has made three successful NABO
title defenses. The 24-year-old knockout artist will be
headlining his fourth straight fight at Osceola Heritage
Park.
“Alamo is a boxer-puncher who likes to stick and move,”
Castaneda added. ”But he’s on his back foot too much,
fighting in reverse, and he’s never fought anybody applying
pressure like me. This is going to be a win for me. He’s
going to try and out-box me, but I can box and punch the
whole fight. This guy fights backwards. It’s going to be the
same result as my fight with ‘Stan The Man’ (Martyniouk).”
Castaneda captured the vacant North American Boxing
Association (NABA) crown a year ago, taking a 10-round
decision from previously undefeated Gilbert Venegas, Jr.
(10-0), and followed that with an impressive 10-round
unanimous decision over Dominican veteran Eudy Berbardo
(24-3).
This past October in Reno, Nevada, Castaneda stopped Stan
Martyniouk (20-3) in the sixth round, after which he was
installed by the World Boxing Organization as its No. 15
rated super lightweight in the world.
WBO No. 8 ranked Alamo is coming off the lone blemish on his
pro record, a draw with Antonio Moran (24-4-1).
Castaneda has always delivered, in an out of the thing. He’s
a part-time employee of FedX, starting work at 3 a.m. as a
pre-loader. “Santa was coming. It’s peak season and we’ve
been getting slammed,” Castaneda reported. “I look at my job
as an advantage. Other fighters may wake up at 4 in the
morning to start training. My workout starts at work. I go
from work to the gym to train, or sometimes I mix it up and
go home to sleep, and then train at 5 (p.m.).
Alamo vs. Castaneda has world title implications for the
winner, possibly as early as late 2020, in addition to
showcasing two fan-friendly fighters on television.
“This is the biggest fight of my career,” Castaneda
concluded. “It’s two undefeated fighters, champion versus
champion, Puerto Rico versus Mexico, and airing on Telemundo
is huge. I’m going to make my mark in this fight. I’m going
to put on a show and knock this guy’s brains out.”
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