By Larry Goldberg

Andy Dominguez was at the gym when his phone rang. He had just finished training. His manager, Vishare Mooney, was on the other end of the line, and the question she asked him changed the direction of his career.

“She called me and she said, would you like to fight Anthony Olascuaga?” Dominguez said. “I knew who Anthony Olascuaga is. I know who he is. And I didn’t hesitate. I said yes right away. Like, I didn’t even ask. I didn’t even ask when, because I was already ready to fight. I didn’t ask how much till later on. All you heard was yes from me. I didn’t ask when, where, and how much. All you heard was yes from me.”

On Saturday, July 11, 2026, at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza, Dominguez (13-1, 6 KOs) will fight WBO flyweight champion Anthony “Princesa” Olascuaga (12-1, 9 KOs) for a world title. The free outdoor card, promoted by iVisit Boxing, Sampson Boxing, and Paco Presents, is being marketed by iVisit Boxing CEO Ed Pereira as a bid to break the all-time boxing attendance record of 135,132 set at Tony Zale vs. Billy Pryor at Juneau Park in Milwaukee in 1941. For Dominguez, a Mexico-born fighter raised in the Bronx and now based in Las Vegas, it is the biggest opportunity of his career. He will tell you he is ready for it. He will tell you he has been ready for it for a long time.

The Champion He’s Chasing

Olascuaga has held the WBO flyweight title since July 2024 and enters July 11 on a three-fight knockout streak, most recently stopping Jukiya Iimura in the ninth round at Yokohama Buntai on March 15, 2026. The 27-year-old Los Angeles native, trained by Rudy Hernandez, has made five successful defenses, the bulk of them in Japan. His only professional loss came at 108 pounds against Kenshiro Teraji in April 2023, taken on short notice. He is the favorite on July 11.

“A Little Kid From Nothing”

The reality of what Dominguez was walking into did not land on him right away. It took the press conference for it to sink in.

“It didn’t hit me till the day of the press conference,” Dominguez said. “I’m so bad at interviews or cameras. I don’t know how to express myself. But in my head, I put myself outside the box and I see a little kid that comes from nothing, and now turning into the biggest fight that they’re trying to make. One of the biggest boxing events in San Francisco. I can’t believe it. But at the same time, yeah, it’s me. I’m making it happen. Because I didn’t tell myself I was going to be great. I told myself I was going to be someone that can never give up, no matter the hard times I’ve been through.”

Dominguez was born in the Mexico City area but does not consider himself a city kid. He describes himself as a farm kid. He moved to the Bronx at age 10, where he says he was picked on by classmates to the point that it landed him in regular schoolyard fights. He grew up in the streets, with a single mother and two brothers, and a path in front of him that he says could easily have gone a different direction. Friends who took the wrong turn. Gangs on the corner. He was 15 when he made the decision he says changed his life.

“It’s never too late to realize you can become someone,” Dominguez said. “And that person was me. I grew up in the streets, and later on, around 15 years old, I noticed I could become a world champion. I could achieve a lot of things. And that’s what I put in my head. I put it inside my head that I could be so much special and change my whole life. Not just me, but for my family. Boxing really gave me a lot of opportunities. I just feel like it could change my whole life. Not just for me, but for my mom and for my brothers.”

Years ago, in a 2022 interview, Dominguez offered his own reason for wanting a world title. He said he wanted “a platform to help and inspire other people.” Four years on, that answer has not changed.

Lupin

The man who got him there was Jose “Lupin” Guzman. Dominguez’s mother took him to the Willis Avenue Boxing Gym in the Bronx at age 13, hoping to redirect his energy out of the schoolyard. Guzman became more than a trainer.

“Lupin Guzman was the one that introduced me to boxing,” Dominguez said. “Thanks to him, I’m the person I am today. He basically raised me like his kid. There were times my mom would struggle paying monthly payments, and he was that type of trainer that didn’t care. He didn’t care how much. He didn’t care about money. He knew I had something special in me, and he treated me like a son. He would make me go run on Sundays close to his house. He’d give me breakfast and treat me like his own son. I still treat him like a father. I never had a dad. I grew up with no dad. And he basically became my dad. He was the one that was teaching me how to become a man. I’m grateful for him.”

Under Guzman, Dominguez built an amateur résumé that included 59 fights, three New York Golden Gloves titles, and multiple Ring Masters championships. He turned professional in August 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, when the New York fight scene was barely functioning. He took the fights that were available. He worked the New York club circuit when the New York club circuit was barely breathing. He was a regular headliner at Sony Hall in Manhattan, and was promoted six times by Boxing Insider Promotions on his way up. In December 2025, Ring 8, the New York State boxing veterans’ organization, named him New York State Fighter of the Year. The award was presented to Dominguez by Boxing Insider founder Larry Goldberg at the Ring 8 annual gala in Queens.

Eventually, Dominguez and his team made the move from the Willis Avenue Boxing Gym to Mendez Boxing in Manhattan, the storied gym that has produced and hosted fighters at every level of the sport. Mendez became his New York home base and the bridge to what came next.

The Bridge to Vegas

The next chapter of his career came through another connection in the boxing business. Marcelino Castillo, a longtime figure in the sport, brought Dominguez to Las Vegas for a training camp and put him in front of a trainer who would change his trajectory again.

“That was thanks to Marcelino Castillo,” Dominguez said. “He was the one that took me to Vegas for training camp, for sparring. And he was the one that introduced me to Ismael Salas. From there, I started training with Salas.”

Salas, the Cuban master coach who has worked with more than a dozen world champions across his career, became Dominguez’s lead trainer.

“Salas, man, he’s a legend,” Dominguez said. “He has a lot of world champions. He knows his things. He’s been through boxing for so many years. I can’t even tell you how many world champions he’s got. He just has a lot. Every time you ask him how many world champions he has, I don’t even think he could tell you. He just has so many.”

Joining Salas in Dominguez’s corner for the Olascuaga fight will be Henry Deleon, a New York trainer Dominguez has known for years, who has been in camp with him since January.

“Henry’s been in camp with me since January,” Dominguez said. “He’s been actually helping me a lot. He’s been focusing on me. I’m grateful. He’s one of my friends in New York. I’ve known him for so many years. I feel comfortable with him. And he’s following the same dream. He wants to become a great coach, and I’m trying to become a world champion. Me and him winning a world title together, I think it would be amazing.”

The Rojas Fight of the Year

Dominguez’s last fight came on July 25, 2025, when he won a 10-round split decision over Byron “Gallito” Rojas at the Tropicana Atlantic City to capture the WBC US Silver light flyweight title. Rojas, a 35-year-old Nicaraguan and a former WBA and IBO minimumweight world champion, came in 29-5-3 with 12 knockouts. The fight was scored 97-93 and 96-94 for Dominguez, with one judge scoring it 97-93 the other way. It was a 10-round war that had the crowd on its feet from the opening bell to the final seconds. Boxing Insider’s coverage tabbed it a Fight of the Year candidate.

“Rojas was actually one of my biggest fights,” Dominguez said. “He’s a former world champion. I beat him. He’s a tough dude. He’s one of the toughest opponents I ever faced.”

Mendez Boxing commissioned a bus to bring members down to Atlantic City to fill out the crowd. Dominguez gave them their money’s worth. He boxed sharply in the early rounds, weathered Rojas’ counter-uppercut work in the middle rounds when swelling closed in around both eyes, and pulled away on two scorecards in the championship rounds to take the decision. The win moved him into the WBO’s top-15 at light flyweight and put him on the radar for the kind of title shot he is about to take. Full results from that night are available separately.

The road to the Rojas fight had not been smooth. Two months earlier, on May 9, 2025, Dominguez was scheduled to challenge Nelvis Rodriguez for the same WBC US Silver title at Sony Hall on a Boxing Insider Promotions card streamed by DAZN. Rodriguez came in significantly over the 108-pound limit at the weigh-in. With the co-main event and several undercard bouts also falling off the card, the remaining scheduled rounds dropped below regulatory requirements for a sanctioned show, and the entire event was scrapped fight week. Dominguez kept training. Two months later, against a more dangerous opponent, he got the title shot he had been promised.

He is currently ranked No. 14 at light flyweight by the WBO and No. 15 at light flyweight by the WBC. The July 11 bout against Olascuaga will be his first attempt at a major world title, and his move up from 108 pounds to flyweight to challenge for the 112-pound belt.

His only professional loss came against Puerto Rican Olympian Yankiel Rivera by wide unanimous decision in 2024. Dominguez had Rivera badly hurt in the ninth round before Rivera survived to win on all three cards. He has won three straight since the Rivera loss.

Stylistic Matchup

Olascuaga is an orthodox boxer-puncher with a 75 percent knockout rate at flyweight. He has built his title reign on volume and precision counter work, with the right uppercut and left hook serving as his most reliable finishing tools. Hernandez has previously cited Olascuaga’s amateur background and his high-level sparring with Junto Nakatani, Kenshiro Teraji, and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez as the foundation of his fast professional development.

Dominguez, also orthodox, has campaigned primarily as a pressure fighter at flyweight and 108 pounds, with a deeper amateur foundation than the champion and a willingness to fight off the back foot when forced. The size and reach gap is minimal: both men measure 5-foot-4.

The bout is scheduled for 12 rounds.

To the Doubters

Olascuaga is the favorite. The champion has held the WBO flyweight title since July 2024, has made five successful defenses, and enters the fight on a three-fight knockout streak. He is the bigger puncher on paper and the more established name. Dominguez has heard the doubters. He has an answer for them.

“I’m a Mexican fighter, man,” Dominguez said. “I’ve been through war. I could go to war. I could box. Just don’t sleep on me. I feel like people don’t appreciate my boxing. They don’t appreciate me because I always give exciting fights. And that’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to be more than ready to fight and be a world champion, ladies and gentlemen.”

The Stage

Dominguez will fight outdoors, under the open San Francisco sky, on the plaza in front of City Hall. The promoters are not staging this card in an arena. They are not staging it in a casino ballroom. They are putting a 20-foot ring at the center of Civic Center Plaza and inviting the entire city to walk up for free. Pereira and his team have publicly stated they are chasing the all-time boxing attendance record of 135,132, set 85 years ago in Milwaukee, a mark that has stood untouched through generations of stadium fights, megafights, and pay-per-view spectacles. If they hit the number, July 11 will be the largest crowd ever assembled to watch a professional boxing match. And in the main event of that crowd, fighting for a world title, will be Andy Dominguez.

That is a long way from the farm kid who moved to the Bronx at 10 and used to run on Sundays near Lupin’s house, eating breakfast at his trainer’s table because his mom couldn’t always make the gym fee.