Alejandro Paulino continues to climb the ladder towards contender status at lightweight.
Paulino was undefeated this past Saturday night, defeating former featherweight champion Toka Kahn by majority decision at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. One judge scored it 95-95, while two other judges gave it 96-94 and 97-93 for Paulino, who improved to 19-0, 14.
In a clash between fighters based in the New England area, a near sellout crowd saw some strong exchanges between the two, but Paulino was the better fighter. Kahn did well in spots, connecting with several left hands to the head, but Paulino mixed his attacks to the head and body behind a consistent and effective jab.
Roland Estrada, who coaches and manages Paulino, was impressed with the way Paulino stuck to the game plan until the final bell rang.
“The show should have started strong,” Estrada told The Ring on Sunday evening. “I knew what their game plan was and that was to take (Alejandro) in the late rounds and wear him down. Alejandro was in good shape for this fight. Our strategy was to force Toka to retreat, since he is more effective going forward. We did that all night. We took him outside and paid attention to the left hand he threw, but towards the end, he was doing all the tricks of the veteran, like crouching inside and talking.
“I don’t agree with that 95-95 score card. I thought 98-92 was more accurate, would agree with that 97-93 score card. Toka gave Alejandro the experience of going 10 rounds. I didn’t want Alejandro to go in there and get him out early and people say Toka shouldn’t have gone in there.”
Paulino, who lives near New London, previously fought on September 7, knocking out Luis Porozo in the opening round. On March 23, Paulino won a flash knockdown in the opening round to knock out Estevan Falcao in the eighth round en route to a unanimous decision.
The 26-year-old, who hails from the Dominican Republic, has fought 15 times this year for the Boston Butchers of the Team Combat League (TCL), which ended in late July. Paulino would go on to lose only one fight to the Butchers.
Paulino started boxing at the age of 18 and won four fights this year. As for what’s next, Estrada will sit down with promoter Jimmy Burchfield, Sr. and outline the 2025 plan.
“Right now we are not ready for those big fights,” said Estrada. “We’re not ready for (Gervonta) ‘Tank’ Davis. But I’m sure people are already looking at Alejandro, especially from TCL. If there is one thing he has done better this year, it is that he has greatly improved his defense. His hands are high and the head movement is excellent. It’s gotten a lot better since he started.
“I will sit down with Jimmy. I hear he may have fight cards lined up for February. If it’s February and March, I would prefer March because of the strong training camps we have. But if there are cards scheduled for February and April, I would like Alejandro to fight in February. April is a long way off.”
Kahn, 32, who is originally from Monrovia, Liberia and now lives in Providence, Rhode Island, is down to 29-4, 19 KOs. Kahn has not fought since his November 2022 unanimous decision win over former title contender Jonathan Oquendo. In December 2020, Kahn lost a one-sided decision to Shakur Stevenson.
The 32-year-old was a mainstay on several Top Rank cards before suffering a knockout loss to Jhon Gemino in September 2016. He won his next six bouts before losing by decision to Galahad, who held the featherweight title.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has handled boxing in Southern California and internationally since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. They can be reached at [email protected]
