Earlier this year, 21 year old super bantamweight Antonio Escalante – with only eleven professional bouts under his belt – took a winter trip from his warm weather home of El Paso to the coldest of winter destinations, Cicero, Illinois, to face the hometown favorite, Jose Hernandez. On this frigid January night, with a huge crowd cheering Hernandez on, Escalante would fight the battle of his young career.
Repeatedly, Escalante would throw bombs with Hernandez, with both warriors trading multiple knockdowns and cuts over the ten rounds, while fans, including Golden Boy head Oscar De La Hoya and a SOLO BOXEO televised audience, would witness what many are calling the “Fight of the Year,” with Escalante squeaking out a very narrow unanimous decision.
As the fight ended, the Cicero Stadium crowd buzzed, much as they had done in the small room at Madison Square Garden when Arturo Gatti beat Wilson Rodriguez ten years earlier. (Those were the days when HBO Boxing After Dark really meant something.)
Escalante followed up that defining fight of his young career with solid wins this year over Juan Ruiz and Ali Baba, both of which were also televised on the SOLO BOXEO series. Both fights, while not quite as overwhelming as his bout with Hernandez, would go on to cement his all action style as “must see prospect” TV.
Escalante, now 13-1 (8 KOs), lucked out this weekend. What was supposed to be a twelve round battle against Omar Adorno on the off-TV portion of the Mexican Glory/Golden Boy Promotions PPV has now turned out to be one of the fights added to the broadcast.
As I write this, Team Escalante is no doubt sending thank you letters to the Filipino government as Juan Manuel Marquez’s main event opponent, Jimrex Jaca, was unable to leave his homeland this week to fly to El Paso for the fight. This left an opportunity for Golden Boy Promotions to right a wrong and put one of the hottest young boxing prospects on the pay per view broadcast.
Yes, I know, it’s $34.95 to buy the event on Saturday night. And I can hear the groaning, “C’mon Tony, it’s another pay per view, this is getting expensive.” But while you’re reading this, call three friends and tell them about the fight. Tell them to come over when it starts and bring an extra $10 and you’ll provide the beer and chips.
After the Escalante fight, your friends will be singing your praises about the $10 being the best money they spent this week. If not, get some new friends, because Antonio Escalante is one of the most exciting young prospects in the sport.
