SAN RAMON, CALIFORNIA – Undefeated welterweight Jacob Macalolooy ends the longest layoff of his pro career as he meets his toughest test to date in once-beaten Angel Munoz in the six-round main event of the BXNG TV-broadcasted “Brawl in the Bay” on Saturday night at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in nearby Pleasanton, California. Fighters weighed-in for the seven-bout card, presented by Elite Underdog Promotions, at Benjamin’s Boxing in San Ramon on Friday morning. 

Macalolooy (9-0, 4 KOs) of Union City, California was kept away from the ring over the last 13 months due to the business side of the sport, as it was not anything physical that delayed the rise of the unbeaten welterweight prospect. After fighting five times over the previous two years, Macalolooy has only seen two rounds of competitive ring action thus far in 2025, as he took part in the Team Combat League, fighting two, one-round fights on June 27th in Arizona. 

“It wasn’t up to me,” said Macalolooy regarding his year away from traditional ring action. “I’ve been trying to fight all year. I was signed with another promoter and ended that contract at the beginning of the year. Then I floated around as a free agent, trying to pick up some fights. I came real close, started a camp and everything. When that didn’t happen, I ended up fighting for the TCL for the Phoenix Fury team, but it was just a couple rounds, nothing really serious. But I stayed ready and I had this fight on my radar. They had it set pretty far out, so I knew I was going to finish my year fighting here, but I didn’t know it would be my only fight of the year.”  

Hoping to derail the local favorite’s return, Angel Munoz (7-1, 5 KOs) of San Bernardino, California saw his undefeated rise derailed inside the ring earlier this year. Munoz will be looking to rebound from his only professional defeat, a six-round unanimous decision to well-regarded David Whitmire this past March at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Munoz, who began his career with three straight knockouts, is a formidable opponent for a local prospect coming back from over a year away and that is by Macalolooy’s design. 

“I am always looking for good fights,” says Macalolooy. “I am never looking to pad my record and take the easy way out. I am trying to push my way up the rankings and get closer and closer to being a contender and getting a title shot. Once they put [Munoz] in front of me, I said, ‘Perfect. Let’s run it.’” 

Macalolooy, a few inches shorter than his fellow southpaw opponent, weighed-in at 148 ½-pounds, while Munoz scaled 146 ½.

An otherwise cordial weigh-in saw a spike in excitement during the face-off between light heavyweights Kumar Prescod and Isaac Johnson, who will fight in a four-rounder on Saturday night. 

Prescod (3-0-1, 3 KOs) of Oakland, California was last in the ring on August 16th when an unfortunate clash of heads brought an unsatisfying end to his night. Prescod was dominant through two completed rounds against Michael Nelson, but along the way an accidental headbutt had opened up a cut above Nelson’s eye. Prior to the start of the third, the fight was called on the advice of the ringside physician, resulting in a technical draw. 

Johnson (4-15-1, 1 KO) of Denver, Colorado presents the most experienced opposition Prescod has seen early in his promising career. When Johnson turned professional in 2015, Prescod was eight-years-old. While it is questionable what type of power he carries at light heavyweight, Johnson has only been stopped four times in his fifteen career defeats. 

Things got heated during the ceremonial weigh-in after some trash talk turned into a shoving match initiated by Prescod. The two were quickly separated, but continued their vocal disagreement before being further removed from each other. According to Johnson, the beef stems from the circumstances of Prescod’s weight. The bout had originally been contracted for 172-pounds. Johnson was not informed of Prescod’s inability to make the weight until the morning of the weigh-in and agreement came to pass just before it took place. By the time they hit the scales for the official weigh-in, which took place before their shoving match during the ceremonial one, Prescod weighed-in at 176-pounds, while Johnson, who turned pro at lightweight, scaled 174. 

Making his U.S. debut, exciting power-punching junior welterweight Rob Gutierrez Jr. (2-0, 2 KOs) of San Jose, California takes on Imer Lima (1-0-1, 1 KO) of Los Angeles, California in a four-round bout on Saturday. Gutierrez, trained out of Benjamin’s Boxing by former world champion James Page and Ali Benjamin, scaled 141 ½-pounds on Friday, while Lima, also making his stateside debut, scaled 140. 

Both looking to nab their first professional victory, Johnie Williams (0-0-1) of Suisun City, California takes on Terrence Coleman (0-1) of New York, New York in a bout contested just over the super middleweight limit and scheduled for four rounds. Williams, whose name has appeared on a few Northern California bout sheets over the last couple years before his fight ultimately falls off, is coming off of a majority draw in Stockton in May. Coleman came up short against a tough assignment in his pro debut, ironically on the same day Williams fought, falling to Ethan Smith, who is now 4-0 with three knockouts. Williams scaled 170 ½-pounds, while Coleman made 171 ½-pounds. 

In an intriguing super featherweight fight, Tiare Womack (2-0, 2 KOs) takes on Danna Pineda (1-0) of Orosi, California in a four-rounder. Womack, who trains out of Benjamin’s Boxing in San Ramon, where the weigh-in was held, thrilled the fans at the Alameda County Fairgrounds by scoring a devastating first-round knockout over six-fight veteran Lauren Michaels in her pro debut this past May. Pineda turned pro with a four-round unanimous decision over Tanishia Lopez in Merced, California on September 12th. Womack and Pineda, two fighters with some amateur accolades to their credit, both scaled 129 ½-pounds. 

Making their professional debuts, Colin Madlangbayan of Hayward, California will take on Ralie Gulley of Fresno, California in a four-round lightweight bout. Madlangbayan, who often can be found sparring at Benjamin’s Boxing, offered his hand in sportsmanship after a long stare down, but Gulley refused to oblige. Both fighters scaled the same 133 ½-pounds. 

Making his U.S. debut, Danny Belloso Jr. (1-0, 1 KO) of Modesto, California will take on Antonio Ferrel (0-2) of Santa Rosa, California in the four-round super bantamweight opener on Saturday night. Belloso, who turned professional in Mexico at age 17 this past March, scaled 121 ½-pounds, while Ferrel, taking on his third straight tough assignment, weighed-in at 123-pounds even.     

Quick Weigh-in Results:

Welterweights, 6 Rounds

Macalolooy 148 ½ 

Munoz 146 ½ 

Light heavyweights, 4 Rounds

Prescod 176

Johnson 174 

Light welterweights, 4 Rounds

Gutierrez Jr. 141 ½ 

Lima 140

Super middleweights, 4 Rounds

Williams 170 ½ 

Coleman 171 ½ 

Super featherweights, 4 Rounds

Womack 129 ½ 

Pineda 129

Lightweights, 4 Rounds

Madlangbayan 133 ½ 

Gulley 133 ½ 

Super bantamweights, 4 Rounds

Belloso Jr. 121 ½ 

Ferrel 123

Tickets for the event, promoted by Elite Underdog Promotions and Benjamin’s Boxing, are available online at Eventbrite.com 

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortegajr.mario@gmail.com 

SAN RAMON, CALIFORNIA – Super featherweight prospect Gabriel Garcia returns to the ring and makes his debut on the top of the bill as he takes on Armando Frausto to cap a ten-bout card at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, California. The event, titled “The Next Generation of Fighters,” serves as the inaugural professional boxing offering by upstart Elite Underdog Promotions and Benjamin’s Boxing. Fighters weighed-in on Friday afternoon at Benjamin’s Boxing in nearby San Ramon. 

Garcia (11-0, 6 KOs) of Antioch, California will end a nine-month layoff against a well-built Frausto (10-6-1, 5 KOs) of La Marque, Texas in a six-round bout. Garcia, who weighed-in at 129.5 pounds on Friday, was last in action back in August when he scored a six-round unanimous decision over Giovanni Gutierrez. Frausto, who scaled 130, has a record that can deceive, as five of his six career defeats came against a quintet of prospects who entered their bouts with a combined record of 52-1-2. 

“I feel real excited,” says Garcia. “I’ve been training very hard and prepared myself mentally and physically. I am just ready to put on a show on Saturday night.” 

Garcia will end the longest non-COVID era layoff of his career on Saturday night and will do so as the main event for the first time as a pro, as he fights near home for the second time in a row.

“I went through a couple injuries over the last year, but we recovered well and just in time to get on to this card,” said Garcia, explaining his time away. “I am ready to show out and get back on the train track. Expect to see fireworks and a body bag.” 

In the co-main event, undefeated featherweight prospect Kyle Lacanlale (4-0, 2 KOs) of San Ramon fights in his home area code for the first time as a professional as he takes on tough Rodolfo Molina (0-1) of Antioch, California in a four-round bout. Lacanale, who trains out of Benjamin’s Boxing, was last in the ring in March, winning a shutout four-round decision over a rugged southpaw in Brandon Badillo. Lacanlale weighed-in at 124 ¾, while Molina made 125-pounds. 

Former amateur standout Kumar Prescod (2-0, 2 KOs) of Oakland, California will take on  Rueben Johnson (1-7, 1 KO) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in a four-round light heavyweight bout. Prescod was last in the ring this past March, scoring a fourth-round stoppage of Ernesto Gutierrez. Prescod came in at the division limit of 175-pounds, while Johnson scaled 172. 

In a competitively-matched bout between two veterans, Willie Shaw (14-6, 10 KOs) of Oakland will take on Salvador Briceño (18-10-1, 11 KOs) of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and fighting out of the Jose Morales Boxing Academy in Roseville, California in a six-round light welterweight bout. Shaw, who scaled 139-pounds on Friday, has been a road warrior for much of his career, but gets to fight back close to home for the first time in over five years. Briceño, who scaled 139 ½-pounds, hopes to end a three-fight skid against tough competition.  

Former amateur standout Sergio Gonzalez (1-0, 1 KO) of Sacramento, California and his debuting opponent Tyre Travon Reed of Las Vegas, Nevada engaged in one of the more contentious face-offs on Friday. The two will meet in a four-round light middleweight bout on Saturday. Gonzalez, who made 156-pounds, was last in the ring in March, scoring a second-round stoppage of Miguel Soto-Garcia in Lincoln, California. Reed, who was doing most of the talking, scaled 152-pounds. 

In a bout that was originally scheduled to take place last August in Oakland, Michael Portales (3-3-1, 1 KO) of San Jose, California will take on Alton Wiggins (1-1-1) of Modesto, California in what has the makings of an evenly-matched light middleweight bout. Portales, who trains out of Benjamin’s Boxing, weighed-in at 154 ½, while Wiggins, looking to rebound from his first career defeat, scaled 155 even. 

Polished prospect Braulio Ceja Navarro (4-0, 2 KOs) of Concord, California will take on Emond Driver (1-2, 1 KO) of Indianapolis, Indiana in a four-round light welterweight bout. Before a face-off so heated it continued in the parking lot after the weigh-in had ended, Ceja Navarro scaled 138, while Driver made 139 ½-pounds.  

Trained by the famed Guerrero Family, Isaiah Jesse Orozco (2-0, 2 KOs) of Gilroy, California will take on Juan Molina (1-2, 1 KO) of Oakland in a four-round lightweight bout. Orozco, who turned professional with two bouts in Tijuana, Mexico, made 132 ½, as did a very determined-looking Molina. 

Nicholas Saavedra (2-0) of Modesto will face Richard Esquibel (1-2, 1 KO) of Albuquerque, New Mexico in a four-round featherweight bout. The nineteen-year-old Saavedra, who will make his 2025 debut, weighed-in at 126 ½-pounds on Friday. Esquibel, who had the misfortune of turning professional against Floyd Schofield, but got into the win column last time out, also scaled 126 ½-pounds. 

Well-regarded Bay Area amateur standout Tiare Womack, who fights out of Benjamin’s Boxing, will make her highly-anticipated pro debut against Lauren Michaels (2-4) of Holidaysburg, Pennsylvania in a four-round super featherweight bout. Womack made 131-pounds, while Michaels scaled 128 ½ -pounds. 

Quick Weigh-in Results:

Super featherweights, 6 Rounds

Garcia 129 ½

Frausto 130

Featherweights, 4 Rounds

Lacanlale 124 ¾

Molina 125

Light heavyweights, 4 Rounds

Prescod 175

Johnson 172

Light welterweights, 6 Rounds

Shaw 139

Briceño 139 ½ 

Light middleweights, 4 Rounds

Gonzalez 156

Reed 152

Light middleweights, 4 Rounds

Portales 154 ½ 

Wiggins 155

Light welterweights, 4 Rounds

Ceja Navarro 138

Driver 139 ½ 

Lightweights, 4 Rounds

Orozco 132 ½ 

Molina 132 ½ 

Featherweights, 4 Rounds

Saavedra 126 ½ 

Esquibel 126 ½ 

Super featherweights, 4 Rounds

Womack 131

Michaels 128 ½ 

Tickets for the event, promoted by Elite Underdog Promotions and Benjamin’s Boxing, are available online at Eventbrite.com

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortegajr.mario@gmail.com 

SAN RAMON, CALIFORNIA – Undefeated featherweight prospect Kyle Lacanlale aims to defend his home turf when he returns to the ring this coming Saturday night against Rodolfo Molina at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in nearby Pleasanton, California. The four-round bout will serve as co-main event on the “Next Generation of Fighters” card presented by upstart promoters Elite Underdog Promotions and Benjamin’s Boxing. 

Lacanlale (4-0, 2 KOs) of San Ramon has fought in the Bay Area and elsewhere in Northern California before, but Saturday’s contest will take place less than 10 miles from Dougherty Valley High, where the young prospect attended school. Fighting so close to his home base for the first time has Lacanlale, whose nickname “Masanting” means handsome in Kapampangan, a Filipino language, looking forward to Saturday night. 

“I am really excited,” explains Lacanlale. “I grew up going to the Fairgrounds for the Fair and all the events they have there. To be the co-main event on a show there in Pleasanton, California and have all my family and friends and the local community behind me, it is something that I’ve been looking forward to.” 

For some young fighters, the responsibility that would come with being in the co-main event so close to home would be an intrusion on their preparation. However, the determined Lacanlale remained focused in camp and is ready to put on a show for his local following on Saturday night. 

“It is not a distraction,” says Lacanlale of fighting at home. “I take it as motivation. I am excited when my family comes out to support me and they get loud and a lot of people come through for me. It is just added fuel to the fire for me when I get in the ring.”

If preparing for his fifth pro bout was not enough of a workload, Lacanlale is simultaneously wrapping up his junior year at California State University, East Bay, where he studies kinesiology. Finding the balance between academics and athletics is something not foreign to the young pro.

“When I am not in the gym, I am at home taking care of my schoolwork,” explains Lacanlale. “I really have to manage my time and set my schedule straight to get everything I need to get done in a day. I went to Dougherty Valley High, which is a very academic school. I grew up doing this. Academics is something that has always been important in my family. I take care of business in the classroom and in the gym. It just shows how bad you want it. If you want it, you can get it. I put my 110% into everything I do from being in the classroom to being in the gym.” 

Last time out, Lacanlale scored a shutout four-round decision over a scrappy Brandon Badillo at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California this past March. All three judges scored every round for Lacanlale, who drew a sizable crowd to the Sacramento suburb. 

“That was my first southpaw in the pros,” says Lacanlale of Badillo. “I thought I performed very well. I beat him convincingly. He didn’t manage to win a round against me. I was able to box him and control the entire fight. I turned it up a little too late, otherwise I probably could have got him out of there, but I think I showed my skills on that night.” 

Saturday’s event is co-promoted by Juan Sanchez of Elite Underdog Promotions and Ali Benjamin, proprietor of Benjamin’s Boxing, where Lacanlale has trained for years. With Benjamin a longtime fixture in his corner, taking the co-main event slot on this card has some added significance for the San Ramon native. 

“To have Coach Ali putting this event together, along with Elite Underdog Promotions, means a lot and it is an honor for me to be the co-main event,” explains Lacanlale. “I just want to display my skills and put on a good show for everyone at the Fairgrounds.” 

Lacanlale will meet rugged Rodolfo Molina (0-1) of Antioch, California on Saturday night. Molina fought valiantly, but came up short in his pro debut against the well-regarded Irving Xilohua in Sacramento and was willing to sign for a bout with Lacanlale when many others passed on the opportunity. 

“I know he fought Irving in his first professional fight and we know Irving is a solid fighter,” explains Lacanlale. “We’ve seen him throughout the years. From Molina, I expect a tough fighter and we are not overlooking him. I train hard for every fight I step into the ring for and I think that my skills will carry me to a win.”  

Lacanlale, who will be one of the featured fighters taking part in a media day at Benjamin’s Boxing on Thursday afternoon, is determined to make his homecoming fight of sorts a memorable one for all of those who attend on Saturday night. 

“You can expect an exciting fight,” says Lacanlale. “I’ve been training hard and I am feeling sharp. I am ready and determined and I cannot wait to put on a show on May 24th.” 

Tickets for the event, promoted by Elite Underdog Promotions and Benjamin’s Boxing, are available online at Eventbrite.com 

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortegajr.mario@gmail.com