‘El Tigre’ in the ring tonight

EDINBURG - Raul Casarez may be only 21, but he has the savvy of an older fighter.

"I turned pro when I was 16," he said shortly before Friday's news conference announcing tonight's Budweiser Boxing Blowout in Edinburg.

"El Tigre" will fight in the main event, a six-round super welterweight bout that is one of eight fights on the card tonight at Edinburg Baseball Stadium. Marines Promotions is putting on the event that pits a series of Rio Grande Valley-area fighters against a collection of Houston-area boxers.

Casarez is 11-2 with four knockouts. He says his opponent, Brandon Wooten, is a bit of a brawler and that's fine with him.

"He likes to slug it out," Casarez said. "I know he's a come-forward fighter. I'm pretty much going to give him a boxing lesson."

Wooten, 32, a plumber from Tulsa, Okla., didn't dispute the slugger label but disagrees on the outcome. Wooten is 4-10-1 with two knockouts.

"I'm going to win the fight," he said.

Normally a 170-pound fighter, Wooten is coming down about 15 pounds for tonight's bout. He was mum on his strategy for Casarez but admits he likes to favor his hook and jab.

"I love working the body," Casarez said. "I plan on working the body (today)."

Wooten retired when he was 25 but returned to the ring last year at age 31. He lost a unanimous decision to middleweight Kevin Finley in a bout that was a candidate for ESPN Fight of the Year one year ago Friday. This will be Wooten's seventh fight since returning to the ring in April 2007.

It will be just the third bout for Casarez since 2005. He has not knocked out an opponent since 2003.

The co-main event will feature Brownsville's Sergio Perales (4-0, 3 KOs). Perales, 20, turned pro last fall after reaching the quarterfinals of the U.S. Olympic Boxing trials in Houston. He is scheduled to face Houston bantamweight Jeremy Perez, who is making his pro debut tonight.

The doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the first bout scheduled for 7:45 p.m.

Tickets range from $15-$90 and are available at Wireless Toys or by calling (956) 206-9543. Tickets purchased at the gate will be $5 more.

Extra hits: Tonight is the second installment in the Budweiser Texas Cup series. The first one was last March in Brownsville. The Valley fighters took four of seven bouts from a group from San Antonio ... During the news conference, Marines Promotions signed Carson Jones of Oklahoma City to a fight contract. Jones (14-6-1, 7 KOs) won the North American Boxing Association junior middleweight belt in a bout televised on ESPN last month.

Saturday's card (Valley fighters are listed first. Houston fighters are second)
Main event
Raul Casarez (11-2) vs. Brandon Wooten (4-10-1)
6 rounds, super welterweight
Co-main event
Sergio Perales (4-0) vs. Jeremy Perez (pro debut)
4 rounds, bantamweight
Tito Ramos (6-0) vs. John Campbell (4-1)
4 rounds, super lightweight
Mario Hernandez (10-0) vs. Wayne Fletcher (5-24-2)
6 rounds, super lightweight
Homer Fonseca (3-2) vs. Freddy Gatica (3-5)
4 rounds, heavyweight
Gerardo Alvarado (1-5) vs. Isaac Guzman (pro debut)
4 rounds, welterweight
Saul Gutierrez (5-10) vs. Hugo Ramirez (24-4)
6 rounds, bantamweight
Rocky Rubaldino (2-3) vs. Rolando Contreras (1-0)
4 rounds, lightweight