The Plant City-based stable had success in St. Pete on Feb. 16 and has big plans for 2019.
Plant City Boxing Gym is putting the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World on the map in 2019.
It’s the training home of both Fire Fist Boxing Promotions’ fighters and Golden Boy Promotions’ rising star Yamaguchi Falcao, the World Boxing Council’s eighth-ranked middleweight in the world. All parties involved are thus far having a great 2019.
Three of Fire Fist’s top fighters — Willian “Baby Face” Silva, Connor Coyle and Mark Reyes Jr. — are coming off wins in their Feb. 16 fights at the Coliseum in St. Petersburg.
Silva continued to make up for his July 14, 2018 TKO loss to Teofimo Lopez by cruising to a unanimous decision over Juan Ramon Solis that was broadcast on the UFC’s Fight Pass streaming service. The fight was Silva’s first of 2019 and built on his previous fight, held Oct. 6, 2018 at the Coliseum, which ended with a TKO win over Jose Forero in the ninth round.
“We want to get him back to the big stage,” Fire Fist coach Jose Rodriguez said. “That kid is good. That kid is very good.”
Reyes Jr.’s fight with Rodrigo Tatijewski didn’t leave much to talk about, as the Fire Fist fighter knocked Tatijewski out cold with a right cross just 19 seconds into the match. Reyes Jr. now has a 9-0 record with seven knockouts.
Coyle also saw his record improve to 9-0 with a unanimous decision over Travis Scott. Coyle sent Scott to the canvas twice in the third round and never took his foot off the gas pedal to win by 10 points on two of three judges’ cards.
All in all, it made for a solid start to the year for Fire Fist.
“We’re looking forward to good things,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez is also excited to see what amateur fighter Evander “Lionheart” Lamourt can do.
Lamourt, a super featherweight who won all three of his fights in 2018 by decision, has been training at Plant City Boxing Gym and has a 5-1-0 (1 KO) record. He will face Joey Saenz at the March 2 Saturday Night Brawl event at the Yuengling Center in Tampa.
“Evander’s a kid that used to fight here,” Rodriguez said. “He’s good. Good kid.”
Falcao is scheduled to fight on March 9 in Verona, New York, where he will face Paul Mendez (20-3-2, 1 KO) in a bout that will be streamed on the DAZN app. He only fought twice in 2018 but made the most of both bouts, winning both by unanimous decision. A natural righty who happens to fight southpaw (left-handed stance), Falcao last fought on July 21, 2018 and beat Elias Espadas in 10 rounds at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. Judges scored the fight 96-92, 96-92, 95-93 in his favor. Mendez returned to the ring in Tijuana, Mexico on Jan. 26 after two and a half years out of it and felled Israel Ornelas with a third-round knockout.
“It’s gonna be a nice little war,” Rodriguez said. “It’s gonna be good.”
Rodriguez hopes to see more fighters agree to take on Falcao in 2019, as the coach’s ultimate goal is to bring a top-tier world championship belt back to Plant City and he has complete faith in Falcao’s ability to deliver in WBC action.
“The kid is real good,” Rodriguez said. “So now they’re saying he’s the face of the future, this and that, and he is. We’ve got a blessing that we’ve got this kid here.”
