June 21, 2023, Plant City, FL. — Kiria Tapia, who as an amateur, won Gold at the Pan American Games, Gold at the Central American and Caribbean Games, and was a member of the Puerto Rican Olympic Team, has been added to the ProBox TV card on July 26 at the Kissimmee Civic Center in Kissimmee, FL.
The July 26 main event will be a classic Puerto Rico vs. Mexico battle between Puerto Rico’s Orlando Gonzalez and Mexico’s Ramiro Cesena in a ten-round super featherweight bout.
Tickets, price from $25-$75, are available HERE
Kiria’s amateur career also includes wins over ultimate professional world champions Mikaela Meyer, Erika Cruz and Adriana dos Santos.
On July 26, Kiria will fight at lightweight in a bout scheduled for six rounds. This will be her second professional fight as she made her pro debut January 20 and won by unanimous decision, also in Kissimmee.
“I am looking forward to my second pro fight on July 26,” said Tapa. “I am very excited to be fighting in Kissimmee again and feeling the support of the Puerto Rican fans. I want to thank ProBox for giving me the opportunity to fight on this show and can’t wait for July 26.”
She is now trained by former world champion and Island icon Ivan Calderon and managed by 2022 BWAA Manager of the Year, Peter Kahn.
“I first met Kiria when she was twelve or thirteen and we sparred,” said Calderon. “She hit me with an uppercut and messed my jaw up. It didn’t break but that had never happened to me before and I’ll obviously never forget that. Fast forward to recently, as Kiria was making up to $2400 per month from sponsors fighting amateur bouts in Puerto Rico, she decided turn pro. Lady boxers like Amanda Serrano have paved the way for women to make more money professionally, so she thought now was the time. Kiria’s husband told her ‘if you want to be successful, you have to go to Ivan, so you will be technically prepared.’ So here we are.”
Orlando “Capu” Gonzalez (20-2, 12 KOs) was born and raised in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. The twenty-seven-year-old made his pro debut in 2016, has a two-fight win streak, and recently fought for the NABF title against current world champion Robelsy Ramirez.
Ramiro “Demon” Cesena (16-1-1, 13 KOs) from Loreto, Mexico is twenty-three-years-old and has been fighting professionally since 2018. Cesena looks to rebound from his sole loss when he fought for the WBC Continental Americas title in April. Prior to that fight Prior to that bout he was on a 4 knockout win streak.