The comeback of mixed martial arts fighter David “DJ” Fuentes was two years in the making.
It was certainly worth the wait as the Valley fighter, a native of Edinburg, won by unanimous decision against Joel Scott of Nederland during a preliminary card match on Friday’s Combate Americas 19 show at Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio.
The scores of the three-round bantamweight match (135 pounds) were 29-28, 29-28, 29-28. Fuentes improved to 13-10, while Scott is now 6-7.
Fuentes fights out of Green Ghost Hero Academy in Los Fresnos. He now has won five straight fights dating back to his last loss in 2013.
Fuentes’ most recent fight prior to Friday was a second-round technical knockout victory against Jeremiah Castillo (11-28) of Hereford on Sept. 26, 2015, during the Hero FC Best of the Best 6 show in El Paso.
“It’s been two years since my last fight in El Paso for Hero FC, and I took this fight on three week’s notice with really (only) two weeks of intense training,” said Fuentes, who is also an instructor of his sport in Los Fresnos. “It took a while to get the ring rust off, but I feel I kept my composure and fought a great fight.
“It feels great to be back, and it’s just the beginning,” Fuentes added. “I want to thank my wife and family for their support, my students from Green Ghost Hero Academy and (my sponsor) Charlie Clark Nissan. I also want to thank my corners for the fight — my brother Randy Fuentes, my boxing coach Jose A. Benavidez and my Brazilian jiu-jitsu professor Jason Yerrington. Also thanks to Chuck Manuel and my team from San Antonio Ohana Academy.”
Combate Americas is the world’s premier Hispanic-based combat sports promotion and Friday’s top matches were televised by the Telemundo network.
In Friday’s main event matching 105-pound female fighters, Kyra Batara (7-4) of Vancouver, Washington, won by unanimous decision against Paulina Granados (4-3) of Corpus Christi.
UPCOMING
Brownsville bantamweight Sergio “Time to Shine” Perales (24-2, 16 knockouts) takes on Bryan “La Roca” De Gracia (21-1-1, 17 KOs) of Panama on Dec. 14 on the Tormenta Perfecta boxing show at Panama City, Panama. Perales is making a comeback as his last fight took place in April of 2014.
