SAN ANTONIO – Trainer Rick Nuñez and South Park Boxing Academy have a good problem these days: finding enough seats to meet boxing fans’ demands.
Headlining Saturday’s “Showdown at the Shrine” was 19-year-old David “El Giro” Cardenas, a 2023 graduate of Edison High School. Cardenas (7-0, 5 KOs) faced 22-year-old Jaime Guevara (2-2-1) of Laredo in a six-round light flyweight bout.
“He’s going to bring his all. I know he’s a tough fighter. I know he’s given all his fighters hell and I’m ready‚” Cardenas said to KSAT 12 Sports on Tuesday night. “I know there’s some people who can’t make it to the fight, maybe out of town, they can watch it on the stream live.”
Cardenas turned pro just over a year ago and won his last fight by knockout against Steven Angeles Cruz on July 6 in Floresville. This was Cardenas’ fourth fight in 2024.
“I can adapt to any style, I feel like I can box, I can stay inside and brawl if I have to, I have good footwork,” explained Cardenas when asked about his style of fighting. “I want to be one of the greats. I want to help my family financially. Whenever I’m done, I want to be remembered as one of the greats.”
South Park Boxing Academy and Triple A Promotions expected almost 3,000 fans to attend Saturday’s fights at the Shrine. Among them was Spurs forward/guard Keldon Johnson and several of his teammates according to Nuñez. Both Johnson and Cardenas met in the gym while training and a friendship quickly formed.
“He’s like my brother. We met at the boxing gym, actually. We were there training and we actually got in the ring and ever since then we’ve been close,” Cardenas said. “Now we’re brothers, I consider him a brother. That’s just a blessing to have him in my corner.”
On the undercard was Holmes High School alum Javier “El Indio” Fernandez, who is also undefeated. Fernandez (15-0, 7 KOs) faced Virginia’s Juan de la Cruz Rodriguez (13-24-1, 7 KOs) in a six-round lightweight fight. Nuñez also trains Fernandez out on the Southside.
”My main reason why I love training here is because when nobody saw anything in me, my coach Rick Nuñez did,” Fernandez said. “He saw something in me from when I was at another gym. My old coach didn’t believe in me, he didn’t think I was going to make it far. He (Nuñez) brought someone to come spar with me. He just told my dad, ‘when you want to bring him by to the gym, we can work’ and ever since then I’ve been here and I don’t regret it at all.”
Also on the card was Von Ormy’s Richard “El Rayo” Medina. The 28-year-old Medina (4-0-1, 1 KO) faced Luis Gerardo (1-3) of Eagle Pass in a four-round super lightweight bout.
“The key to victory for us is just doing everything we did in here in camp,” Medina said. “My coaches, Pete Cantu and Rick Nuñez, I’ve had another great camp, this is my third camp here. Just follow instructions and everything we’ve done in the gym, we should be successful.”
When told about Saturday’s sellout crowd and livestream on KSAT, Medina said, “It’s more motivating when you hear the crowd, that environment is awesome, it’s motivating and it allows you to perform better - you have so many eyes on you. There’s no more added pressure. We know what we have to focus on and the task at hand.”
Daniel P. Villanueva has worked with KSAT 12 for over 21 years and is an award-winning producer. To submit story ideas, email dvillanueva@ksat.com
