GALVESTON — Felix Cora Jr. will not be returning to the ring Thursday night.
The Ball High grad was set to be the main event for a show put on by Calm Before the Storm Promotions at the Stafford Centre. However, the group wasn’t able to find an opponent for Cora before Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline.
“We are very disappointed about this,” Felix’s father, Felix Cora Sr., said. “Felix had worked hard to make weight and everything for this fight. But that’s how things go sometimes.”
Event promoter Akondaye Fountain said the card takes a definite hit without Cora on it.
“There were a lot of people that were looking forward to watching and supporting Felix,” Fountain said. “He was the first person that I had on the card, so it’s very disappointing that this couldn’t work out.”
Fountain said after weeks of searching for an opponent, she found one at the last minute. However, he couldn’t get his medical test results turned in on time. That forced Fountain to find someone who already was licensed to battle Cora.
“We couldn’t find someone that was already licensed to take the amount we had set aside for the fight,” Fountain said.
Fountain said there also was an issue with Cora not having his medical test results turned in on time. Cora Sr. said that was a misunderstanding.
“We got our blood test and eye exam taken on last Friday and had the results faxed,” Cora Sr. said. “I called (Fountain) on Monday to make sure everything was taken care of, and she said the commissioner sent her a statement saying the blood work was fine. It turned out that the fax didn’t go through and the commission tried to come back and say we didn’t turn in the stuff. That is a lie.”
With no opponent set up, Cora’s medical tests are kind of a moot point.
The fight was supposed to be Cora’s first in the Houston area since January 2004.
Cora (20-3-2 record, 10 knockouts) hasn’t fought since defeating Tim Flamos in “The Contenter” finale in February. Cora was a contestant on the boxing reality television show earlier in the year, falling in the second round of the single-elimination tournament to eventual champ Troy Ross.
Another Ball High grad, Alicio Castaneda (7-1, 4 KO) still will fight Thursday night.
For information, contact Fountain at 832-689-7781 or akondaye(at)msn.com.
