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Aaron Angel Perez, shown in March 2018 before his pro boxing debut, prepares for his biggest pro fight coming up next month. (Jim Thompson/Journal)
Getting a New Mexico boxer to the top rungs of the sport, however talented the fighter, has never been easy.
Bob Foster, Johnny Tapia, Danny Romero, Austin Trout and Angelo Leo, who all would become world champions, had to pay their dues in the hinterlands before getting their big break.
Had Albuquerque promoter Lenny Fresquez not signed Holly Holm to a contract in 2004, Holm’s ride to the top of women’s boxing might have taken far longer and been far bumpier.
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Austin Trout, left, seen here in a junior middleweight title fight in 2016, is 3-0 in fights held in Mexico. He is scheduled to fight in Chihuahua on Feb. 6. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Mexico has been good to Austin Trout. The slick, left-handed Las Cruces boxer is 3-0 in fights held south of the border, including his February 2011 victory over Rigoberto Alvarez for the WBA junior middleweight world title.
And so, at age 35 and having fought just twice in the past 18 months, Trout (32-5-1,18 knockouts) is heading back to Mexico. He’s scheduled to face Juan Armando Garcia (21-7-2, 12 KOs) in Chihuahua on Feb. 6.