Golden Boy Boxing: Escalante vs. Rodriguez May 7 In El Paso

ByBoxing Press

El Paso’s Antonio Escalante stood toe-to-toe with Juarez’ Mickey Roman, on February 26 at UTEP’s Don Haskins Center in what many are calling — the 2010 “Fight Of The Year.” Escalante won a hard fought decision and left his legion followers craving more of the non-stop action he has come to be known for.

The 24 year old Escalante (22-2, 14 KO’s-) is now set to oblige his fans on Friday, May 7, when he puts his number top world ranking on the line against Argentina’s respected Carlos Ricardo Rodriguez (22-3, 12 KO’s), at the Don Haskins Center.

Escalante and Rodriguez will square off in a ten-round featherweight main event. Their bout will be one of seven scheduled fights on the Golden Boy Promotions fight card that starts at 7:00 p.m. and will air nationally on ESPN’s, “Friday Night Fights,” seen at 10 PM Eastern on ESPN2. The Tecate Texas Boxing Series event is sponsored by Cerveza Tecate.

For Escalante, a world title fight is looming, but in the meantime, he’s excited to be fighting at home. “I’m loving it,” smiled Escalante of fighting in his own backyard. “The real advantage for me is the energy I draw from the El Paso fight fans. I’m convinced we have the loudest and the best fight fans in the world. It’s a great feeling knowing they will be cheering me on when I walk into the ring. There’s really no better place to fight for me.”

As for Rodriguez, Escalante knows very little about him, but that’s fine with him. “I have no idea of who Carlos Rodriguez is,” said Escalante. “All I know is he’s never fought in the United States, but is very popular in his home country of Argentina. I also know he hasn’t fought me, much less in El Paso. He’s supposed to be a real rough guy, so we’ll see how rough he is on May 7th. I’m ready to give the my fans in El Paso another great show.”

Golden Boy Promotions president, Oscar de la Hoya, can’t speak for Rodriguez, but can vouch for his record. “No doubt, Rodriguez’ record speaks for itself,” stated De La Hoya. “He’s had a great career with 22 wins and only three losses, almost identical to Escalante’s record (22-2). We expect him to be a very tough challenge for Tony.”

“The Golden Boy” is also enthused about bringing Escalante back to El Paso. “The crowds are getting bigger and more enthusiastic every time Tony fights in El Paso,” he noted. “It makes sense to come back to El Paso, especially after the performance Tony and Mickey Roman put on here on February 26th. Having been at the Roman fight, and hearing the roar of the great El Paso fight fans, I know that there’s no better place for Tony to fight than El Paso.”

Tickets for Encore Performance are priced at $100, $60, $40, $30 & $20 and go on sale this Friday, April 9th (10:00 p.m.) at the UTEP Ticket Center and all Ticketmaster Outlets. Tickets will also be available online at www.ticketmaster.com and by phone through the UTEP Box Office at 915-747-5234 and Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000.