Tampa’s first homegrown world boxing champion will have a sizable contingent of family, friends and kids she mentors anxiously watching as she puts her belt on the line Saturday in Orlando.
Jasmine “Animal” Artiga plans to keep her emotions at bay despite the fight’s significance. The bout against challenger Linn Sandstrom is her first title defense, the first under Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) and just 80 miles away from her “roots.”
Artiga’s great-grandparents immigrated from Cuba to work in Ybor City’s cigar factories. The Tampa Bay History Center displays the gloves she wore from her title fight, and Mayor Jane Castor proclaimed May 27 as Jasmine Artiga Day…