Young Cantu playing waiting game

By Boxing News - 05/07/2013 - Comments

By Rey Sifuentes Jr. Just as fans like to see them, young boxers love to accomplish a knockout. Kingsville’s Oscar Cantu, though, has shown some patience while winning his first three pro fights, but would indeed like to notch his first KO when he and Markale Duncan (2-0), out of Dallas, square off in a six-round super-flyweight co-main event of the ‘Fight Night’ card being held at the Richard M. Borchard Fairgrounds on May 11.

“I am a good young boxer who is always studying the sport,” Cantu said. “I am trying to master the craft of learning and adapting to each pro fight. Me being 22, I am also adapting to the adult power in the pros. Sticking to that game plan of landing clean shots, being able to take a punch as well, will help me develop more knockout power.”

Duncan will be fighting at a few pounds less than his usual, while Cantu will be at his norm. “We are meeting at 118, so he is coming down from his regular weight (124),” Cantu said. Cantu is learning to be more patient with his pro fights coming around less frequently.

“It is a lot harder because you are not as active in the pros as in the amateurs,” Cantu said. “While I was an amateur, there were years when I would fight at least 10 times during a six-month period. So we were constantly doing something that placed us on the map. You take more time in the pros to prepare for a fight, and we like to stay busy instead being out of sight and out of mind.” Compounding Cantu’s youthful frustration has been a few arranged matches which did not materialize.

“This year I have had a couple of fights scheduled that fell through at the last minute – and I mean as close as two days before the weigh-in,” Cantu said. “That is very frustrating because you train very hard, get to a peaking point, and then it does not happen.” Before Oscar took off the amateur head gear for good, he and Jaime Cantu (head trainer and father) agreed that the son would not be fed guppies.

“My manager (and father) and I talked before I turned pro, and agreed that I was not going to pad my record by fighting nothing but easy opponents,” Oscar said. “Instead, we want someone who is going to challenge us in the ring so that I can show off my skills. Right now I am only 3-0 and ranked ninth in the United States (according to BoxRec.com). Then you look at some of the guys behind me who are 5-0 and 6-0, and then find out they have beaten guys who were 0-5, 0-2, or making their pro debut.” (Rey Sifuentes Jr. is the sports editor of the Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune which is located in East Texas .)



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