GALVESTON — For the first time in more than five years, Felix Cora Jr. will be fighting in front of his hometown fans.
Cora is stepping into the ring Nov. 19 in his first fight in the Houston area since January 2004. Cora will be the main event at the Calm Before the Storm Promotions fight at the Stafford Centre.
The 1999 Ball High grad said at Thursday’s press conference at the Boys and Girls Club of Galveston that he was thrilled to get an opportunity to box in front of his fans after a long stint fighting out of state.
“Coming up as an amateur, there have been a lot of people in this area that have followed me,” Cora said. “A lot of locals have been asking me when I was going to fight again close to the area. Well, now I have been given that opportunity, and I’m going to do everything in my power to give them my best.”
Cora (20-3-2 record, 10 knockouts) will be fighting for the first time since his bout against Tim Flamos in “The Contender” 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.
The loss on the show was Cora’s third in his previous four fights. He had started his pro career 18-0-2 with nine knockouts but was defeated by Vadim Tokarev in May 2006.
Cora had a chance to become the No. 1 contender in the World Boxing Council rankings in April 2007, but Matt Godfrey knocked him out in the second round.
Cora said the third-round knockout against Flamos helped him regain some of the confidence he had lost during that bumpy four-fight stretch. Now he’s ready to mount a full-force comeback to put himself back in the picture for the cruiserweight title.
“I’m ready to spread my wings and shake off the rust,” Cora said. “I feel blessed to have this door open for me, and I hope it’s the start of a lot of good things.”
Cora isn’t the only Galveston native to be fighting on the Nov. 19 card. Alicio Castaneda (7-1, 4 KO), Cora’s former classmate at Ball High, also will be on the undercard.
Castaneda and Cora actually were teammates on the football team, both playing linebacker for the 1998 Tors squad.
“I’m very excited to be fighting along with Felix,” Castaneda said. “Ten years ago, we were playing on the same football field. Now, we’ll be fighting in the same ring.”
Cora said he also was happy to see an old friend fighting in the same event.
“Alicio was my high school buddy,” Cora said. “We grew up together since we were knee high. I hope all of Galveston that comes to watch me supports him, too. He’s an entertaining fighter and gives the locals someone else to cheer for.”
Cora said he is hoping this is just the start of eventually bringing a boxing event back to Galveston. Cora said he’d love to have a show come to the island, featuring himself, Castaneda and other county boxing stars like Dickinson’s Eugene Hill and La Marque’s Fred Allen.
“It’s all going to depend on the success of this event and a few more after that,” Cora said. “We need to get that buzz going again for boxing in Galveston. Once they have that taste again, they’ll want to see more boxing. Hopefully that can put Galveston back on the map as a great spot to hold a boxing event, maybe even on TV.”
Calm Before the Storm promoter Akondaye Fountain said Cora’s opponent is yet to be confirmed. She did say he will be the main event of the nine-fight card.
Tickets for the event start at $25 and go up to $75 for VIP seating. For information, contact Fountain at 832-689-7781 or akondaye(at)msn.com.
Hill Retains Texas Heavyweight Title
Hill (19-1, 15 KO) retained his Texas Heavyweight title with an eight-round unanimous decision over Robbie McClimans on Friday.
Hill won the bout with judges’ scores of 79-73, 78-74, 77-75.
It was his second fight of the month. He had defeated Joseph Harris by knockout two weeks earlier.
“I actually liked fighting back-to-back like that,” Hill said. “I’m going to try and do that more often — get a couple of fights lined up in a row like that. It keeps me in shape and keeps me hungry to go to the gym.”
Hill said McClimans (7-6-2, 2 KO) tried several veteran moves to wear down the state champ. But Hill would have none of it.
“We was slick, man,” Hill said. “He kept stepping on my feet and pulling my head down trying to wear out my neck. There was a lot of holding and stuff, which kept me from knocking him out. I tip my hat off to him, he was a good fighter. But it was just another notch on my belt.”
Hill said he’s not sure when his next fight will be. He’s hoping to get two more in before the year is over, though.
“I don’t really like waiting every two months to fight,” Hill said. “Hopefully, I can get in the ring again soon against a tough opponent. I’ve just been so motivated after that loss (to Zack Page) earlier this year. I’ve been working hard in the gym to make up for that and punish people.”
