Welterweight boxer Nick Casal at his parents Niagara Falls gym. (Dan Cappellazzo / Niagara Falls) Click on photo for larger image

Casal nears critical juncture
BY Ernie Green
Wednesday, June 09, 2026



Nick Casal spent most of his fight in Joplin, Mo. on Saturday night trying to catch his opponent, Anthony Nelson.

Following his third-round technical knockout of Nelson, he’s set to chase down a chain of events which could make or break his career, even this early in the 18-year olds career.

Several people were impressed by Casal’s win in his first fight, including manager Shelly Finkel and Gary Shaw, who co-promoted the event with Tony Holden. Both jumped into the ring following the bout to celebrate the win with Casal.

“He started taking his glove off,” said Ray Casal of his son Nick. Ray is Nick’s trainer. “I don’t think Shelly’s ever done that.”

“I don’t do it often,” Finkel said. “But I was excited. I love young fighters.”

Finkel was even more excited at the way Casal handled himself in his first fight.

“It was very good,” he said. “The kid started cutting the ring off, hitting his opponent with body shots and ended up stopping him.”

“If he didn’t run around so much I would have knocked him out in the first round,” Casal said. “But I got to show my skills off a little bit instead of throwing a one-punch knockout. The crowd liked it a lot.”

So did Casal’s handlers.

“They treated me pretty good,” he said. “It’s almost like a family now. I’ve been inducted into the family.”

While Casal thinks he’ll be fighting in California in his next fight, the only thing certain in his career so far is he wants to fight every month for the first year.

Casal received a callback for the NBC reality television show “The Contender”, and will fly to Chicago sometime this month to have a second interview. He may know his status on the show sometime within the next two months.

“I want to get it over with,” Casal said about his status on the reality show, which is going to be produced by Slyvester Stallone. “It could affect my future fighting status.”

The producers of “The Contender” are unsure what weight class they’re going to use for the show. Casal, who weighed around 145 pounds for his first fight, might not be used if the weight class is too high.

“I’m not going to go any higher than 153,” he said. “Because when you fight the 160 guys, they weigh around 165-166 by the time the fight starts.”

At the very least, Casal has gotten invaluable exposure from the whole “Contender” gig.

“That’s good,” he said. “It’s going to move me along a lot faster.”

Casal wants to fight at least once a month, and hopes to have at least seven fights in by the end of the year.

Contact Ernie Green at (716) 693-1000, Ext. 111.
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