By Jake Donovan
The past year saw All-Star Boxing and Boxeo Telemundo celebrate 10 years together, as the Florida-based promoter has served as the exclusive provider for the Spanish network boxing series over the past decade.
The relationship continues through at least the end of 2012, with another 12 dates having been secured, beginning with its season premiere on January 20 in Mexico City, Mexico. The full schedule has yet to be released, but the first two shows indicate the same pattern that held true in 2011, with each monthly broadcast rotating between Mexico and Florida.
Headlining the 2012 season premiere is a regional strawweight title fight between rising Colombian contender Luis de la Rosa (18-1-1, 10KO) and former title challenger Ivan “Pollito” Meneses (16-9-1, 9KO) of Puebla, Mexico.
“We’re very excited about the season ahead,” states Felix “Tuto” Zabala Jr. “The winner of the first show will be positioned to challenge WBO champion Moises Fuentes, and we plan to bring equally important fights to the series throughout the year.”
Holding true to his word, the Boxeo Telemundo crew makes its stateside debut on February 10, when Puerto Rican southpaw Orlando Cruz returns to the series that helped breathe new life into his career.
Once a hot prospect on the rise, Cruz suffered back to back knockout losses at the hands of Cornelius Lock and Daniel Ponce de Leon. The latter loss put his career on ice for nearly 18 months, but his ring return last October proved that he still has plenty to offer the sport in lighting up then-unbeaten Michael Franco in just 2 ½ minutes.
Cruz returns to the ring on February 10, when he defends his belt against an opponent to be determined at the Palm Bay (FL) Community Center, a fan-friendly venue that hosted its first card in more than 10 years in appearing on Telemundo last February.
The regional belt at stake in Cruz’ fight means a win puts him in line to challenge the winner of the proposed rematch between Orlando Salido and Juan Manuel Lopez.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .
