PRESS RELEASE: The boxing roster of Goossen Tutor Promotions has two more talented and determined pugilists in the fold with the addition of popular San Jose native Ricardo Cortes and Santa Barbara product Francisco Santana, it was announced today by promoter Dan Goossen. Goossen Tutor Promotions already boasts the Bay Area duo of 2004 Olympic Gold Medal Winner, the currently undefeated middleweight Andre Ward, from Oakland and former IBF featherweight titelholder Robert Guerrero, of Gilroy. Cortes brings to the stable a third member of the region with tremendous potential.
 

Cortes -- who turned 27 years old two days ago and has performed on four Goossen Tutor shows as part of its “Fight Night at the Tank” series at San Jose’s HP Pavilion -- has compiled an outstanding 19-1-1 record with 14 knockouts since turning professional in September of 2000.  

 
Known affectionately as “El Guero” (the white boy) for being the Mexican boxer at the San Jose Boxing Club with the fairest complexion, Cortes possesses an exciting, two-fisted, hard-hitting, boxer/puncher style combined with a granite chin and an enormous will to win.

 

Managed and trained by Ted Lucio, Cortes has fought primarily at super middleweight as a pro and will drop down to campaign as a middleweight as he pursues his dream to become a world champion under the Goossen Tutor banner.

 

As a pro, Cortes won the California State Super Middleweight title in his 13th fight with a ninth-round TKO over Christian Cruz in November, 2003.  The victory came just six weeks after his only career defeat – a disqualification loss to Errol Banner for landing an inadvertent rabbit punch which rendered his opponent unable to continue.  Cortes avenged that loss by stopping Banner in the third round in his first defense of his state title in March, 2004.

 

Five more wins followed before Cortes met Cruz again in June of last year – this time for a regional super middleweight belt. Well ahead on all judges’ scorecards, Cortes was awarded the title after Cruz sustained a bad cut from an accidental headbutt in the seventh round.  He stopped Paulino Avitia in the third round of his most recent bout last July in San Jose.

 

“We are very excited that we’re part of the best promotional company in the world, where their main objective is treating fighters right and making them world champions,” Lucio observed.  “I feel with their promotional power, we will get Ricardo the exposure necessary for becoming a boxing household name with the likes of our teammates that are already under promotion with Goossen Tutor. We expect great things with Dan and I believe Ricardo is well on his way on becoming a recognized world champion.”

 

The younger Santana, who has had all of his fights promoted by Goossen Tutor, is 5-0 with 3 knockouts as a super welterweight. 

 

Trained by former world bantamweight champion Wayne McCullough, and managed by wife Cheryl, Santana began his pro career in November, 2005 and knocked out his first three opponents inside of two rounds.

 

His last two fights have gone the four-round distance and resulted in unanimous decision wins.  His most recent outing was at Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California in November against Daniel Stanisavljevic.

 
“Francisco is a young kid who has natural talent,” Wayne McCullough said.  “If he listens and keeps working hard he has the potential to become a world champion. Having signed with, who I believe to be, the best boxing promoter out there, everyone is working hard to build Francisco up to conquer the world.  I have all the faith in Goossen Tutor to take Francisco to the top.” 

 
Goossen has high aspirations for the company’s latest additions to its impressive stable of boxers.

 

“Ricardo has displayed his abilities as a world class boxer, ticket-seller and crowd-pleaser albeit mainly in his hometown of San Jose,” Goossen stated.  “He has improved his performance each time out as a super middleweight, and now that he will be boxing as a middleweight we expect that he will find himself in the world title picture and public consciousness worldwide before long.
 

“On the other hand,” Goossen continued, “Francisco is just getting his career off the ground under the tutelage of the ‘Pocket Rocket’ who knows something about what it takes to be a world champion.  Wayne is very high on Francisco’s future and we have a great deal of respect for his judgment.”