Hugo “Tovy” Tovar is one of the Rio Grande Valley’s rising stars of boxing.
Since turning pro in 2015, the undefeated McAllen super featherweight has won four bouts, including his first three by knockout.
Tovar, who fights out of McAllen’s Bad Boys Gym, just won a four-round bout by unanimous decision against Hector Gutierrez on Sept. 2 at the Xtreme Fight Night 4 show in Palmhurst.
Not one to stay inactive for too long, Tovar is now scheduled to fight twice in the same month and face McAllen’s Ivan Ceron (2-7, one KO) in another four-round fight on the undercard of Friday’s All Star Fight Night 4 show at Brownsville’s Amigoland Convention Center.
He welcomes the challenge of keeping his ring record spotless.
“I feel great,” Tovar said. “Staying in the gym, staying consistent (and fighting frequently) is important. I was excited to fight in Palmhurst and I’m even more excited to be fighting on this card in Brownsville.
“It’s great to have back-to-back fights,” he added. “My family and friends are excited because they’re seeing me fight more often now. I went 11 months (beginning in late 2016 until Sept. 2) without fighting.”
Tovar’s cousin, Mission welterweight Raul Tovar (14-9-1, four KOs), took some time off from boxing to become a McAllen police officer and plans to return to the ring before too long, “Tovy” said.
The Tovar name is a familiar one to Valley fight fans. “Tovy” wants to continue making a name for himself in South Texas and beyond.
“It would mean a lot to me (to win again Friday),” he said. “First of all, it would prove a lot to myself, knowing that I’m getting back-to-back victories and I’m staying consistent (by fighting regularly). I just want to continue to work hard and climb that ladder (to ring success). I thank God because I’ve been blessed.”
The scheduled headliners of Friday’s All Star Fight Night 4 show are Brownsville’s Johnny “Blaze” Tapia (7-1, two KOs) and Mexico City’s Irving Tapia (4-0, four KOs). It will be a six-round main-event matchup of featherweights.
For ticket information regarding the boxing show, call (956) 668-0911.
UPCOMING
Weslaco super bantamweight Brandon Lee “Heartbreaker” Figueroa 13-0, nine KOs) will headline a boxing show Oct. 14 at the Mercedes Livestock Showgrounds presented by Triple-A Promotions. He will be fighting an eight-round Texas title bout.
Also scheduled to fight on the show are Weslaco heavyweight Eric “Drummer Boy” Molina (26-4, 19 KOs) and Harlingen cruiserweight/heavyweight Raphael “Machine Gun” Murphy (11-1, nine KOs). An additional fight on the card will feature Valley favorite heavyweight Homero “Oso” Fonseca (13-8-3, three KOs) of Driscoll. For ticket information, call Omar Figueroa Sr. at (956) 648-8305 or Joel Garcia at (956) 244-7306).
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess
