Alejandro Paulino continues to climb the ladder towards contender status at lightweight.

Paulino remained unbeaten this past Saturday night, defeating former featherweight contender Toka Kahn by majority decision at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. One judge scored the bout 95-95, while the other two judges submitted scorecards of 96-94 and 97-93 for Paulino, who improved to 19-0, 14 knockouts.

In a clash between fighters who reside in the New England area, an almost sell-out crowd witnessed solid exchanges between the two, but Paulino was the more effective fighter. Kahn did well in spots, connecting with a few left hands to the head, but Paulino mixed his attack to the head and body behind a consistent and effective jab.

Roland Estrada, who trains and manages Paulino, was impressed in how Paulino stuck to and carried out an effective game-plan until the final bell sounded.

“The game-plan was always to start strong,” Estrada told The Ring Sunday evening. “I knew what their game-plan was and it was to take (Alejandro) into the later rounds and get him tired. Alejandro was in great shape for this fight. Our plan was to force Toka to go backwards, since he’s more effective moving forward. We did that all night. We out-jabbed him and were mindful of the left hand he throws, but towards the end, he was doing all the veteran tricks, like clenching on the inside and talking.

“I disagree with that 95-95 scorecard. I thought 98-92 was more accurate, could agree with that 97-93 scorecard. Toka gave Alejandro the experience of going 10 rounds. I didn’t want Alejandro to go in there and take him out early and then people would say Toka shouldn’t have been in there.”

Paulino, who resides in nearby New London, previously fought on September 7, knocking out Luis Porozo in the opening round. On March 23, Paulino overcame a flash knockdown in the opening round to knock Estivan Falcao down in round eight en route to a unanimous decision victory.

The 26-year-old, who is originally from the Dominican Republic, 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 only lose one fight for the Butchers.

Paulino took up boxing at the age of 18 and won four fights this year. As far as what is next, Estrada will sit down with promoter Jimmy Burchfield, Sr. and outline a plan for 2025.

“We are not ready for those big fights yet,” said Estrada. “We aren’t ready for (Gervonta) ‘Tank’ Davis. But I’m sure people are now keeping an eye on Alejandro, especially from the TCL. If there’s one thing he’s done better this year is that he’s improved his defense a lot. His hands are up and he has way better head movement. It’s a significant improvement since he started.

“I’m going to sit down with Jimmy. I’m hearing he might have fight cards lined up in February. If it’s February and March, I would prefer March because of the rigorous training camps we have. But if there are cards lined up for February and April, I’d want to have Alejandro fight in February. April is too far out.”

Kahn, 32, originally from Monrovia, Liberia and now resides in Providence, Rhode Island, fell to 29-4, 19 KOs. Kahn has not fought since a Nov. 2022 unanimous decision win over former title challenger Jonathan Oquendo. In December 2020, Kahn lost a one-sided decision to Shakur Stevenson.

The 32-year-old was once a staple on several Top Rank cards before losing by knockout to Jhon Gemino in September 2016. He won his next six bouts before losing by decision to Galahad, a former featherweight titleholder.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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