This Saturday rising Puerto Rican-American prospect Miguel ‘No Fear’ Cartagena ( 10-0, 3 KO’s ) from Philadelphia of Puerto Rican descendant, will face off against Mexican veteran, Felipe Rivas ( 15-15-2, 9 KO’s ) in a 8 round bout at super flyweight division at the Sands in Bethlehem, PA.
“I’m ready for my first 8 round fight. This is going to be a classic Puerto Rico vs. Mexico war, and as far as I know Puerto Rico is winning, and I’m not gonna change that”, stated Philly’s born and raise Cartagena, who is trained by Raúl ‘Chino’ Rivas at the Guts & Glory Gym located in West Berlin, New Jersey.
“I had a great camp and I had good sparring with Rogers,” said Cartagena. “It as a good experience. He is a guy anyone can learn a lot from.”
A three solid wins in 2013, Cartagena believes that 2014 is a year that will put him in position to fight for a world title.
“I feel I have been moved really well. By the end of the year, I feel I should be knocking on the door of a world title shot. I think I will be 16-0 or 17-0 and at my weight there aren’t as many fighters in the division so I feel I can be in position a lot quicker than the other weight divisions.”
Rivas has a split decision loss against former two time world champion, Ivan Calderon, and on his last performance, he was defeated by amateur star Emmanuel Rodríguez via unanimous decision.
At the amateurs, Cartagena ended up with a record of 158-13. During that path he won 4 National Golden Gloves, AIBA World Games Champion, US National Champion, among other achievements. For his accomplishments he received the “Pride of Philadelphia Award” by the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.
Since joining manager Mark Cipparone of Club 1957 Management in Blackwood, NJ, Cartagena has been very active.
“I let Miguel know that we would take a hard run and promised him that I would keep him active and fight no less than 6 times a year until we get noticed, and we are on our way now,” said Mark Cipparone.
Cipparone ended up saying, “When Miguel and I sat down for the first time, one of the first things that I asked was if he was willing to do what it takes to become World Champion, if he was willing to make tough decisions in order to become world Champ, he said yes. Miguel has since made the difficult choice and left his trainer from the amateurs, and since he started training with Raul ‘Chino’ Rivas, and his overall boxing performance has been growing dramatically. Miguel has given 110% of himself to his career and I feel that I am equally matched energy for energy with him”.
“I’m very excited to be part of Club 1957 Management. Mark gets me everything I ask for, and I will not disappoint him because he will get what he wants in return,” said a confident Miguel Cartagena.
During the camp, he received a good education from another grizzled veteran when he frequently sparred with former world title challenger Rogers Mtagwa.
