Undefeated Medina stays hot on a cool night
From the time the fight was first announced, Rick Medina said he was slow to warm to the idea.
Then upon arriving at Wolff Stadium, the first thing he saw was people in winter jackets. Special heaters were positioned around the ring to keep fans warm.
Boxing? Outdoors? In December?
“I’m from San Antonio,” Medina said. “I don’t do well in the cold. I love the heat.”
But once the bell sounded Saturday night, Medina’s fears slowly began to melt away, even as temperatures dipped into the 40s.
The 21-year-old featherweight (12-0, six knockouts) outboxed Oscar Mojica (12-6-1, one KO) of
Dallas over eight solid rounds en route to an easy victory by unanimous decision in front a crowd of about 1,800.
It was a workmanlike, if unspectacular, performance for the undefeated Medina, who won by scores of 79-73, 79-73 and 80-72.
“I was in great shape and wanted to push the pace,” Medina said. “I hurt him a couple times.”
There were no knockdowns in the fight. Medina was in control throughout and, despite the big lead, finished with a flourish but couldn’t quite put Mojica away.
“It was a good fight,” Medina said. “He was a tough opponent. He came ready to fight.”
For Mojica, normally a bantamweight, it was his first fight in a year and a half. The fighter blamed the inactivity on the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s been a strange time,” he said. “I haven’t had a lot of opportunities.”
In his most recent outing, in March 2019 at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York, Mojica scored an impressive upset victory on ESPN over two-time Irish Olympian Paddy Barnes.
Mojica just couldn’t get much going against the bigger Medina.
“He’s a good fighter,” Mojica said. “The weather was tough but it was the same for both of us.”
In the co-main event atop the 10-bout card, San Antonio’s Guillermo Gutierrez (3-0, one KO) won a hard-fought, four-round decision over Jaime Jasso (2-2) of Laredo in a 115pound bout.
Christian Romero (2-0, one KO) of San Antonio defeated Jahelel Brito Carrillo (2-1-1, two KOS) of Tacoma, Wash., by unanimous decision in a fourround super flyweight bout.