Yoenis Tellez brought aboard a new team to put him back in the win column.
The former secondary WBA 154lbs titlist quickly bounced back from his lone career defeat with a stoppage victory over Kendo Castaneda. The one-sided affair ended when Castaneda’s team informed referee Luis Pabon to stop the fight after five rounds Saturday at Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida.
Tellez, 11-1 (8 KOs), sought to prove he still belongs among the best junior middleweights in the world. It was his motivation to return to the ring as soon as possible after his narrow defeat to Abass Baraou on August 23 in this very venue. Their Fight of the Year contender saw Baraou prevail via unanimous decision, punctuated by a 12th round knockdown.
The setback came at the worst possible time for Tellez. Baraou not only won the fight, but also received an upgrade to full titlist just three weeks later when Terence “Bud” Crawford was relieved of his WBA 154 title reign.
A win by Tellez would have afforded him the same privilege, as well as a unification bout with WBO titleholder Xander Zayas. That opportunity landed with Baraou, who will travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico for their January 31 two-belt showdown.
“I was not frustrated. I don’t want to revisit the past,” Tellez told host Claudia Trejos of overcoming the in-ring setback. “I just had faith in my team and came through with this win. The loss itself made me realize what was really important.”
It was back to the drawing board for Tellez, who entered the ring with his third trainer in as many fights. He parted ways with Ronnie Shields after his defeat and was all business against San Antonio’s Castaneda, who has long ago seen better days.
An assortment of power shots eventually beat the fight out of Castaneda, 21-13 (9 KOs), whose body language in between rounds five and six was enough for his corner to stop the contest.
“I feel good with my new team,” Tellez said. “Now I’m prepared to call out the entire 154lbs division.”
Jasmine Artiga turns away Stephanie Silva, retains WBA 115lbs title
Jasmine Artiga perfectly summed up her hard-fought, 10-round unanimous decision victory over Stephanie Silva, who missed weight on Friday and was ineligible to win the title anyway.
“I gave her a lot of weight on the scales that I shouldn’t have, and I still got the job done,” Artiga said after the win. “I did my job twice – at the scale and in the ring.”
Silva was 6lbs over the limit, though she admitted afterward that a brief stay in the hospital limited her ability to complete a full training camp. The visiting boxer from Roma, Italy was appreciative of Artiga agreeing to proceed with the fight, even without the belt being at stake.
Artiga proceeded to win by scores of 97-93, 99-91 and 100-90.
The first several rounds saw Artiga, the first-ever Tampa-born and bred boxer to win a major title (Antonio Tarver was born in Orlando), consistently work behind her right jab out of the southpaw stance. She clearly struggled as the fight wore on to keep the heavier Silva at bay. The 39-year-old Artiga never lost sight of the task at hand, though, and stuck to her superior fundamentals to get the job done in the end.
The win was her third of a breakthrough 2025 campaign that began with her title win on a March 22 ProBox event in San Bernardino, California. She successfully defended the belt on the same August 23 card that saw Tellez’s abovementioned defeat to Baraou, and returned to Caribe Royale for the fifth time on Saturday.
For the year ahead, the plan is to travel as far as she needs to add more hardware to her collection.
“I want to unify the division, it doesn’t matter who (is first), I want all the belts,” said Artiga.
More undercard results:
Saint Petersburg’s Damazion Vanhouter, 9-0 (6 KOs) dispatched Mexico’s Jose Mario Tamez inside of a round. A body shot forced Tamez, 4-4 (1 KOs), to the canvas, immediately followed by the stoppage at 2:23 of round one in their heavyweight affair.
Nicaragua’s Jordan Orozco, 15-0 (15 KOs), remained a knockout every time out and became a bantamweight prospect to watch in an 8th round stoppage of Puerto Rico’s Karlo Rodriguez. Their battle of unbeaten rising boxers saw Orozco unload on Puerto Rico’s Rodrguez until he was able to force referee intervention at 0:19 of the 8th round.
Tonya Aguilar, 14-2-1 (5 KOs) breathed new life into his suddenly leveled off career after a quick hit of Mexico’s Jorge Villegas, 14-8 (13 KOs). Aguilar floored Villegas with a body shot to produce the 10-count at 2:59 of round 1 in their junior lightweight contest.
Dominican Republic’s Junior Alcantara, 1-0 (0 KOs) enjoyed a successful pro debut with a 6-round shutout of Saint Louis journeyman Sharone Carter, 14-16-1 (3 KOs). Scores were 60-54 across the board for Alcantara in their bantamweight fight.
Nicaragua’s Alex Vallecillo, 13-1 (11 KOs) was extended the distance for just the third time in his career as he outpointed Venezuela’s Nelvis Rodriguez over eight rounds. All three judges scored the contest 80-72 for Vallecillo in their one-sided 122lbs fight.
The curtain raiser saw Chinese heavyweight Yize Jiang, 6-1 (5 KOs) open the show with a 4th round knockout of Phoenix’s Siupeli Anau, 3-2 (2 KOs). Jiang floored Anau at the end of round three, and then battered him along the ropes to force the stoppage at 1:47 of round 4.
