Carlos Canizales was two rounds away from becoming Ring junior flyweight champion..
After coming up short, Canizales is confident he could be just a win or two away from again fighting for a world title belt.
Canizales, rated No. 5 at 108 pounds by The Ring, will face Ivan Garcia tonight at El Poliedro in his hometown of Caracas, Venezuela. The 10-round bout will headline a three-bout card that will stream live on ESPN Knockout (9 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. Mexico City time).
At Thursday’s weigh-in, Canizales weighed in at 107.6 pounds. Garcia came in at 107.8 pounds.
In his last bout on January 23, Canizales (26-2, 19 knockouts) lost by majority decision to Ring junior flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji, who also holds the WBC and WBA world title belts. One judge scored the bout 113-113, while the other two judges scored the bout 114-112 for Teraji. Each fighter scored a knockdown early on in the fight.
Those who represent Canizales believe he has what it takes to defeat Teraji in a rematch, but are not overlooking Garcia.
“Carlos is very motivated, very excited for multiple reasons,” Juan Contreras, matchmaker for Venezuela Top Boxing, who is promoting the card, told The Ring Thursday afternoon. “He will be the headliner for the first time on a card at the Poliedro. Nine years ago, he won a (regional) title (against then-unbeaten Rober Barrera) as the co-main event.
“(Tonight) his expectations are that he is not overconfident because he knows Ivan Garcia very well. Ivan fought here in Venezuela, and should’ve won. For this reason, Carlos understands the importance of this fight and is confident based on his experience. His mentality is to have his arm raised (in victory). We, as his promoters, are to provide him with support to achieve the goal of fighting for the WBC title or against a contender.”
In his previous fight on June 9 of last year, Canizales defeated then-unbeaten contender Daniel Matellon by technical decision.
Prior to the loss to Teraji, Canizales won his previous four fights after a shocking upset loss to Esteban Bermudez in May 2021. Entering the Bermudez fight, Canizales had made two successful defenses of the WBA title he had won in March 2018, defeating Reiya Konishi by unanimous decision.
Garcia (12-2-1, 4 KOs), who resides in Ixtapaluca, Mexico, defeated then-unbeaten prospect Pedro Delgado Gaytan by unanimous decision in his last fight on April 12. In his previous fight on December 22, Garcia fought to a split decision draw against once-beaten Rodrigo Ramirez, which took place in Maiquetia, Venezuela.
Those two fights occurred after Garcia was stopped by gatekeeper Luis Cerrito Hernandez on July 15 of last year.
The 23-year-old had won his previous four fights.
Former IBF super middleweight titleholder Jose Uzcategui (32-5, 27 KOs), who is originally from El Vigia, Venezuela and now resides in Tijuana, Mexico, will square off against Venezuela’s Fernando Brito (12-3, 12 KOs) in a 10-round bout.
Fringe junior welterweight contender Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela (28-3-1, 17 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico will face Venezuela’s Jesus Bravo (20-9, 16 KOs) in a 10-round bout.
Middleweight Keiber Gonzalez (20-1, 17 KOs), who is originally from El Callao, Venezuela and now residing in Willemstad, Curacao, will fight Humberto Diaz (7-0, 6 KOs) of Venezuela in a 10-round bout.
In a clash of unbeaten junior middleweight prospects who reside in Venezuela, 20-year-old Jeremy Alvarez (9-0, 9 KOs) will square off against Leonardo Sanchez (15-0-1, 11 KOs) in a 10-round bout.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at santio89@yahoo.com
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