Boxfest XXI El Paso: Red Owl Adds Three Bouts, Ariana Carrasco Returns to the Ring

Red Owl Boxing has officially added three new fights to the Boxfest XXI championship card set for the El Paso County Coliseum, Texas, on Friday (2/10). The Texas-based promoter confirmed that a number of well-known names and debutants will appear, including undefeated young star Ariana Carrasco, who returns to the ring for the third time in three consecutive months.

Carrasco, a 23-year-old boxer from Las Cruces, New Mexico, is scheduled to face Angelica "Chingona" Flores in a four-round super welterweight bout. The fight is an intriguing test for Carrasco, who just beat Jozette Cotton by unanimous decision in Hidalgo, Texas, on 11 September. With a 3-0 record (1 KO), she is known as a smart counterpuncher with more than 80 amateur bouts of experience.

For Flores, the fight marks her return to boxing after she briefly pursued MMA due to the scarcity of opportunities for women boxers several years ago. The 27-year-old from Chandler, Arizona, is trained by Jose "Tiny" Castanon and has an amateur record of 4-2 from six bouts. Flores's return to the professional ring reflects how women athletes are gaining more space in the boxing industry, even though they must navigate a winding path.

Besides Carrasco, Red Owl also added a four-round featherweight bout between Eric Martinez (1-0, 1 KO) of Reading, Pennsylvania, and Braulio Javier Victoria Monge (0-0) of Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico. Martinez, a 12-time former national amateur champion, was originally scheduled to face Rasuiod "The Prime" Hollie, who withdrew. Meanwhile, Sebastian Martinez, a local El Paso boxer with a 1-0 record (1 KO), will face Edgar Gutierrez (3-10, 2 KO) of Yuma, Arizona, replacing Andre Johnson, who pulled out.

The main event of the night still pits Melanie Timko (5-0) of Omaha, Nebraska, against Naomy "Kusa" Cardenas (10-2, 2 KO) of Chihuahua, Mexico, for the vacant WBA NABA super flyweight (115 pounds) title. This is the first time Red Owl Boxing has staged a women's championship bout in the promoter's history. In the co-main event, Deonte "Lay 'Em Down" Brown (18-0, 11 KO) will take on Leonardo Padilla (25-7-1, 17 KO) of Venezuela via Miami in a 10-round super featherweight bout.

The preliminary card also features a number of promising names. Moises Rodriguez (5-0, 4 KO) of Juarez, Mexico, will face Eusebio Maldonado (3-0, 1 KO) of Wichita Falls, Texas, in a six-round super featherweight bout. Devon Marquis Garcia (5-0, 4 KO) of Las Cruces, New Mexico, will fight Dennys Revilla Landaeta (1-3, 1 KO) of Elgin, Illinois, in a four-round welterweight bout. One additional fight will be announced soon.

"We want to give women boxers a worthy stage, and Boxfest XXI is proof of that," a Red Owl Boxing representative said in an official statement.

For boxing fans in Indonesia, this event could be an alternative watch on the DAZN streaming platform, which is increasingly easy to access. Although it does not feature any Indonesian boxers, Boxfest XXI shows a positive trend: regional promoters are daring to put women's championship bouts as headliners. This could serve as a mirror for local organizers to give more space to women athletes, especially in boxing, which is still male-dominated.

With tickets already on sale and the live broadcast scheduled, Boxfest XXI will be a test for Red Owl in packaging a competitive card amid the pandemic. The question is, will this breakthrough be followed by other promoters in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, which has a large boxing fan base?