Lifelong friends and two of San Antonio’s best-produced fighters will headline separate events nearly 1,200 miles apart Saturday when WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios takes on Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas and Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez faces Phumelele Cafu in a super flyweight title unification bout in Frisco, Texas.

It’s a dream come true for the San Antonio-born-and-bred boxers. Barrios, 30, and Rodriguez, 25, grew up training together as Mexican-American kids, played video games at each other’s houses, and competed in the same amateur tournaments. Now, Barrios (29-2-1, 18 KOs) and Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs) are fathers and world champions, motivating each other to reach new heights while putting their underappreciated city back on the boxing map.

“July 19 is going to be a very big night for boxing, and especially for San Antonio,” Barrios told The Ring. “Here I am, a Brown kid from San Antonio fighting a legend. I'm so stoked and excited to defend my title.

“Bam, his brother Joshua, Ramon Cardenas, and I – we all grew up together. We’ve been able to accomplish and show that San Antonio is a hotbed for boxing. We had to push each other. We’re a tight-knit community. We uplift each other and support each other.”

The Alamo City is a boxing-rich metropolis that’s enjoying a recent revival thanks to Rodriguez, Barrios, Cardenas, another San Antonio-bred fighter who’s coming off a valiant performance against Naoya Inoue in May, and Floyd Schofield Jr., a New Jersey transplant who’s lived and trained in the city for nearly five years and just knocked out Tevin Farmer in 78 seconds. The retired Joshua Franco, Rodriguez’s older brother, was a 115-pound titleholder from 2020 to 2023.

Before the current corps, the only other world champions produced by San Antonio were Jesse James Leija, John Michael Johnson and the late Robert Quiroga, the first for the city over 30 years ago.

Brothers Tony, Mike, Paulie, and Sammy Ayala also represented San Antonio as title challengers and contenders on the national stage. There were other credible fighters like Golden Johnson, Raul Martinez, and Gabriel Elizondo, but San Antonio has rarely been atop anyone’s list when it comes to mentioning locales around the United States that produce top talent.

“We just needed the opportunity and platform to go out there and show everyone how good we are,” Rodriguez told The Ring. “Now we're on the big stage putting on big fights. I'm excited to be the headliner in my home state again.”

The Alamodome in San Antonio has been a vibrant home to many memorable nights for boxing throughout the years.

The controversial majority draw between Pernell Whitaker and Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. in 1993 was the first sporting event ever staged in the domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in front of over 63,000 fans.

The Alamodome has hosted Canelo Alvarez vs. Austin Trout, Marcos Maidana vs. Adrien Broner, Gervonta Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz, and Canelo Alvarez vs. Callum Smith. Coaches such as Arturo Ramos, local promoters like Lester Bedford, and the late great ring announcer Bill Merriman have been a bed rock for the city. But San Antonio – home to the NBA’s Spurs and superstar Victor Wembanyama, a boxing fan who trains at Leija’s gym in the offseason – hasn’t had many big nights of fights in recent years.

Top Rank boss Bob Arum has previously stated that San Antonio – the 31st largest media market in the United States, according to Nielsen – “has fallen off the map” when it comes to the sport.

Perhaps the skeletons of the past still haunt the community as well.

Tony Ayala Jr. is one of the biggest "what ifs" in boxing history. He wasted his promising career behind bars as an undefeated fighter who was on the cusp of title fights against Davey Moore and Roberto Duran in 1983. Ayala was convicted of rape at the age of 19 and was behind bars until he was 37. He got out of prison in 1999 and was never the same during a comeback campaign. Following another 10-year incarceration, Ayala died of a heroin overdose at his family-owned gym on May 12, 2015.

“Just because it was a generation ago, people don't forget – once people have an image, they keep an image,” Cardenas told The Ring. “San Antonio as a whole had a bad reputation in boxing, and no one wanted to come here. Promoters knew that there was talent, but they stayed away and didn't want to sign fighters. But Mario, Bam, and I are cleaning up the image of the San Antonio boxing scene, and we're setting up the next generation for success.”

At 59, the former junior lightweight champion Leija still stands as the face of the sport in San Antonio. “The Texas Tornado’s” career spanned 56 fights against the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Kostya Tszyu, Arturo Gatti, Micky Ward, Gabriel Ruelas, and four times versus Azumah Nelson.

“There was a dry spell for the longest time, and it’s inspiring for the youth to see where these guys are at now,” Leija told The Ring. “One person doesn’t make a city, and just like any other sport, there is a spark, a shift, and a resurgence every 10 years or so. I love all of these guys and what they are all doing in the ring. But outside of the ring, personally speaking, I wish the current guys would be more involved with the community and pay it forward to the next generation. Being tied to the community will take them a long way after their careers are over. Having the respect and love from the city means more to me than winning my world championship.”

Barrios promoter Tom Brown, the head of TGB Promotions, has a history of promoting shows in San Antonio, recently for PBC and years before that with his late brother-in-law Dan Goossen.

“I’ve always enjoyed promoting events in San Antonio. It’s a great fight town with passionate and sophisticated fans,” Brown told The Ring. “You have to put on great fights or else you’ll get booed out of there quick. There are great fighters that have come out of there. It’s just too bad that the market hasn’t recovered since the pandemic.”

Boxing manager Michael Miller has handled the careers of Leija, Nonito Donaire, Timothy Bradley Jr., and Kelly Pavlik, among others. He was raised in the Mexican border town of Eagle Pass and has lived in San Antonio since graduating from law school in 1989.

Miller now manages Cardenas and Schofield and says fans far and wide across a large swath of Texas will show up to the city for the right fights.

“It’s evident that boxing has had a dramatic resurgence in San Antonio,” Miller told The Ring. “It’s a great fight town. San Antonio needs at least one really big card a year. These guys have to headline at home. We’re hungry for really good fights. We hold our own in San Antonio and can compete against anybody.”

Schofield, The Ring’s No. 6-rated lightweight, grew up in New Jersey and lived in Austin, Texas for three years before moving to San Antonio in 2021. Although he goes by the nickname “Kid Austin” he now calls San Antonio home and trains out of the nearby Davies Boxing and Fitness. Schofield has also become fast friends with Barrios, who trains in Las Vegas, and Rodriguez and Cardenas, who both train in Southern California.

“I love the atmosphere and how peaceful it is in San Antonio,” Schofield told The Ring. “It’s my home now. You don’t have to worry about being hounded and hassled, and when fans approach you, it’s always respectful.”

If the minus-370 betting-favorite Barrios beats the living legend Pacquiao, his profile will balloon even bigger, and the red carpet will be rolled out.

“It would be a great homecoming and we could pack any arena down there with Barrios as the headliner if he beats a Hall of Famer like Pacquiao,” said Brown.

San Antonio just so happens to be the location in which Pacquiao enjoyed his breakthrough performance in 2003 by stopping Marco Antonio Barrera.

Barrios wasn’t even born yet in 1995 when the eight-division champion Pacquiao made his pro debut. Now, Barrios is preparing with a “kill or be killed” mentality against a 46-year-old fighter he grew up admiring in a Prime Video PPV event.

Rodriguez will headline a Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, which is nearly a five-hour drive from San Antonio. He headlined shows at San Antonio’s Boeing Center at Tech Port in 2022 and 2023.

Rodriguez has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the last three years crushing the likes of Juan Francisco Estrada, Sunny Edwards, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, and Carlos Cuadras to become a two-division champion and The Ring’s No. 7-ranked pound-for-pound fighter.

“The last time I fought in Frisco was in 2020, and my name was misspelled on the fight poster,” said Rodriguez. “That just goes to show you how far I've come since then. My career has grown so much, and I have become a better fighter.”

If The Ring and WBC 115-pound champion Rodriguez beats the WBO beltholder Cafu (11-0-3, 8 KOs) – Rodriguez is a near minus-3000 betting favorite – a date with WBA and IBF champion Fernando Martinez for the undisputed title is already set for November 22 in Riyadh.

“El Azteca” Barrios, on the other hand, is no stranger to the bright lights either. He headlined PPVs as the B-side in losses to Gervonta Davis and Keith Thurman, has been featured several times on PBC PPV undercards, and is coming off a split draw after trading knockdowns against Abel Ramos on the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul undercard in November.

Barrios holds a career-best win in 2023 against Yordenis Ugas, who beat Pacquiao and forced the Filipino into retirement in 2021. But Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs), who’s seen it all and done it all and last scored a win against Thurman at the age of 40 in 2019, believes Barrios and Father Time are beatable opponents.

The fast-ascending Rodriguez is one of Barrios’ favorite fighters now, and Barrios said he’s going to be glued to the TV in his dressing room at the MGM Grand if Bam fights before he does.

Schofield plans to be ringside in Frisco, and Cardenas in Las Vegas.

“It's been a crazy journey,” said Cardenas. “We always knew that we could fight, and our success speaks for itself. No one really gave us a chance. You think it's impossible, until the guy next to you does it.”

A party is in store for the Fiesta City on Saturday night.

The River Walk will reverberate with resounding cheers once the hometown heroes make their ringwalks.

“We’re on the road to greatness,” said Barrios. “It's good to see all of us together at the top level – 210 stand up.”