David Cardenas, at present competing as a flyweight, plans to maneuver all the way down to junior flyweight and even decrease within the close to future. His journey into boxing, nonetheless, was removed from standard.
On Aug. 24, Cardenas (8-0, 6 KOs) stopped Jaime Guevara (2-3-1) within the third spherical of a scheduled six-round bout. The 19-year-old Cardenas stays calm, realizing he’s simply starting his profession, however he eyes divisions with much less depth that might put him in title rivalry quickly.
Cardenas was launched to boxing by his father, David Cardenas Sr., although he initially approached the game with some ambivalence. Rising up round fighters like Mario Barrios and Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, Cardenas Jr. started boxing extra as a pastime.
“My dad launched me to boxing, not as a result of I used to be a foul child,” Cardenas mentioned. “I performed plenty of staff sports activities, and after we began shedding, some children would hand over. I’d be like, ‘We are able to’t be giving up; we’ve obtained to maintain going.’”
Boxing offered a singular problem for Cardenas, because it required him to rely solely on himself. A dialog along with his father led him to the boxing health club.
“I advised my dad, ‘It’s not truthful. I’m giving my all, and a few of these children are half-assing it,’” Cardenas mentioned. “My dad mentioned, ‘Put your self in a sport the place you may’t blame anybody else. Within the ring, all you’ve obtained is your self.’”
Initially, Cardenas boxed only for enjoyable, however he confronted early struggles, shedding his first 5 beginner fights earlier than lastly securing a win – solely to lose one other 4 in a row.
That each one modified in 2018 when he competed on the USA Boxing Nationals in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah, with minimal coaching.
“I went to a nationwide match only for the expertise,” Cardenas mentioned. “I didn’t practice very onerous and I did fairly properly, and that’s once I realized that if I skilled onerous and gave it my all, I might actually do one thing.”
Cardenas gained his first battle and misplaced within the semifinals. “It was a detailed battle, and I believed, ‘If I can sustain with these guys now, think about what I can do once I’m actually working onerous.’”
The belief turned the driving power behind his skilled profession. Since turning professional in August 2023, Cardenas has fought eight instances.
“That match made me go 100% into boxing,” Cardenas mentioned. “It was the turning level the place I noticed my potential.”
Cardenas now walks to the ring for some fights accompanied by San Antonio Spurs participant Keldon Johnson, whom he met at a neighborhood health club.
“We met at a boxing health club someday,” Cardenas mentioned. “Nobody actually needed to spar me, so he was like, ‘I’ll get in there with you.’ We sparred a bit, moved round, and ever since then we’ve stayed shut.”
Regardless of this serendipitous connection, Cardenas stays clear that nobody is behind him greater than the person who first took him to the health club.
“He’s my greatest supporter,” Cardenas mentioned of his father. “He’s there 24/7, has my again by all of it.”
Lucas Ketelle is a proud member of the Boxing Writers Affiliation of America and creator of “Inside The Ropes of Boxing” (out there on Amazon). Contact him on X @LukieBoxing.
