Rocky Juarez

Rocky Juarez
Born	Ricardo Juárez (1980-04-15) April 15, 1980 Houston, Texas, U.S.
Nationality	American
Other names	Rocky
Statistics
Weight(s)	Featherweight Super featherweight
Height	5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Reach	69 in (175 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	42
Wins	30
Wins by KO	21
Losses	11
Draws	1
Medal record Representing United States Men's amateur boxing Olympic Games 2000 Sydney Featherweight World Amateur Championships 1999 Houston Featherweight

Ricardo "Rocky" Juárez (born April 15, 1980) is an American former professional boxer. He is a former WBC Silver featherweight champion and a multiple-time world title challenger. Juarez was known over his career for his aggressive fighting style and incredible durability.

Amateur career

Juarez had a lustrous amateur career with a 145–17 record, which included a 68 fight winning streak, a Featherweight Olympic silver medal and a Junior Olympic World and National gold medal. In 1999 he won the world title at the 1999 World Amateur Boxing Championships in his home town. During the 2000 Olympics Gold medal round, Juarez loss controversially against Bekzat Sattarkhanov who was warned several times for holding and not penalized. It should be also noted that by the end of the second round Juarez was losing 11 points and had only 4 points to lose the match by RSC. Juarez accepted the silver medal.

• 1998 United States Amateur Featherweight champion. Results were:
  • Undepited Daniel Chavez points
  • Defeated Darling Jimenez points
  • Defeated Aaron Torres points
  • Defeated Hong Gu points
• 1999 United States Amateur Featherweight champion. Results were:
  • Defeated Jose Santa Cruz points
  • Defeated Francisco Valentin TKO 3
  • Defeated Ray Martinez points
  • Defeated Aaron Torres points
  • Defeated Steve Luevano points
• 2000 United States Amateur Featherweight champion
• Member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team as a Featherweight, winning a silver medal. Results were:
  • Defeated Bijan Batmani (Iran) RSC-3
  • Defeated Falk Huste (Germany) points
  • Defeated Somluck Kamsing (Thailand) RSC-4
  • Defeated Kamil Dzamalutdinov (Russia) points
  • Lost to Bekzat Sattarkhanov (Kazakhstan) points

Professional career

Juarez turned pro on January 25, 2001, with a unanimous decision against Pascali Adorno. A highly touted prospect, Juarez rose up the ranks with wins against Hector Velazquez, and Joe Morales. Juarez's 10th-round knockout of Antonio Diaz was named Ring Magazine Knockout of the Year for 2003. His first challenge came from 1996 Olympian Zahir Raheem on July 17, 2004, in which he won by controversial decision, possibly due to the fight taking place at Juarez's hometown in Houston, Texas. Juarez's first career loss came to Humberto Soto, who was a late sub replacement to In Jin Chi. Soto won the Interim version of the WBC featherweight title. Juarez bounced back with back-to-back wins against Reynaldo Hurtado and Backlin Medrano and earned a shot against Mexican legend, Marco Antonio Barrera for his WBC Super featherweight title.

Juarez fought Barrera on May 20, 2006, in the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Barrera used his jab to win the early rounds, but it was obvious from the start that Juarez wasn't backing down hurting Barrera's nose in the process. During the second half of the fight Juarez took control by rocking Barrera and making him spit out his mouthpiece several times. In a very close fight, the bout was announced originally as a draw, but later it was revealed that two of the judges scorecards had an error, as Barrera was granted the win by split decision. Despite losing, Juarez gained notoriety by standing toe to toe with one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world. Although not required by contract, Barrera and Juarez met in a rematch on September 16, this time Barrera winning comfortably on points through a unanimous decision (117-111, 115–113, 115–113).

As a replacement for Jorge Rodrigo Barrios, Rocky Juarez stepped in and fought Juan Manuel Márquez for the WBC Super Featherweight title on November 3, 2007. He lost to Marquez on a unanimous decision. Juarez fought most of the fight with a bad cut above his left eye due to an accidental headbutt in the first round.

On September 6, 2008, Rocky Juarez, (27-4, 19 KO's) won by TKO at 2:55 in the 11th round of the 12-rounder over former WBO Junior Lightweight Champion Jorge Rodrigo Barrios, (47-3-1, 34 KO's).

In his fourth attempt at a title, Juarez fought Chris John to a controversial draw on February 28, 2009, in his hometown of Houston. Most ringside observers thought John won. The two were supposed to fight a rematch on June 27 of that year but John withdrew from the fight due to problems with his blood tests. The rematch finally took place on September 19 and the fight was won by John.

Rocky Juarez fought Jason Litzau on April 3, 2010, losing by a controversial technical decision when the fight was halted in the seventh round due to a cut on Litzau's cheek which referee Jay Nady ruled was caused by an accidental head butt. The judges scored it 68-65 and 67-66 twice, in favour of the winner, Jason Litzau.

Professional boxing record

42 fights	30 wins	11 losses
By knockout	21	0
By decision	9	11
Draws	1

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
42	Loss	30–11–1	Robinson Castellanos	UD	12	26 Jan 2015	Cowboys Dance Hall, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.	Lost WBC Silver featherweight title
41	Win	30–10–1	René Alvarado	UD	12	26 May 2014	Fort Bliss Arena, El Paso, Texas, U.S.	Won WBC Silver featherweight title
40	Win	29–10–1	Antonio Escalante	TKO	8 (10), 1:29	27 Oct 2012	Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
39	Loss	28–10–1	Andrew Cancio	UD	10	2 Jun 2012	Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.
38	Loss	28–9–1	Vicente Escobedo	UD	10	23 Sep 2011	Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.
37	Loss	28–8–1	Alejandro Sanabria	UD	12	19 Feb 2011	Auditorio Ernesto Rufo, Rosarito, Mexico	For vacant WBC Continental Americas super featherweight title
36	Loss	28–7–1	Jorge Linares	UD	12	31 Jul 2010	Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.	For WBA Fedelatin interim lightweight title
35	Loss	28–6–1	Jason Litzau	TD	7 (10), 3:00	3 Apr 2010	Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.	For NABF super featherweight title; Unanimous TD: Litzau cut from accidental head clash
34	Loss	28–5–1	Chris John	UD	12	19 Sep 2009	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.	For WBA (Super) featherweight title
33	Draw	28–4–1	Chris John	UD	12	28 Feb 2009	Toyota Center, Houston, Texas, U.S.	For WBA featherweight title
32	Win	28–4	Jorge Barrios	TKO	11 (12), 2:55	6 Sep 2008	Toyota Center, Houston, Texas, U.S.	Won vacant WBO Latino super featherweight title
31	Loss	27–4	Juan Manuel Marquez	UD	12	3 Nov 2007	Desert Diamond Casino, Tucson, Arizona, U.S.	For WBC super featherweight title
30	Win	27–3	José Hernández	UD	12	5 May 2007	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.	Won vacant WBA Fedelatin super featherweight title
29	Win	26–3	Emmanuel Lucero	TKO	5 (10), 1:05	9 Feb 2007	Desert Diamond Casino, Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
28	Loss	25–3	Marco Antonio Barrera	UD	12	16 Sep 2006	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.	For WBC super featherweight title
27	Loss	25–2	Marco Antonio Barrera	SD	12	20 May 2006	Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S.	For WBC super featherweight title
26	Win	25–1	Backlin Medrano	TKO	4 (10), 3:00	21 Jan 2006	Coushatta Casino Resort, Kinder, Louisiana, U.S.
25	Win	24–1	Reynaldo Hurtado	TKO	3 (10), 1:13	9 Dec 2005	American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
24	Loss	23–1	Humberto Soto	UD	12	20 Aug 2005	Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois, U.S.	For WBC interim featherweight title
23	Win	23–0	Juan Carlos Ramírez	TKO	1 (10), 2:59	4 Mar 2005	Pechanga Resort & Casino, Temecula, California, U.S.
22	Win	22–0	Guty Espadas Jr.	KO	2 (12), 2:24	3 Dec 2004	Bally's, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Retained WBC Continental Americas featherweight title
21	Win	21–0	Zahir Raheem	UD	12	17 Jul 2004	Reliant Arena, Houston, Texas, U.S.	Retained WBC Continental Americas featherweight title
20	Win	20–0	Joe Morales	UD	10	24 Apr 2004	Reliant Park, Houston, Texas, U.S.
19	Win	19–0	Héctor Velázquez	UD	12	22 Nov 2003	Reliant Park, Houston, Texas, U.S.	Won vacant WBC Continental Americas featherweight title
18	Win	18–0	David Murillo	KO	1 (10), 0:26	13 Sep 2003	Pechanga Resort & Casino, Temecula, California, U.S.
17	Win	17–0	Antonio Díaz	KO	10 (10), 1:33	19 Jul 2003	Reliant Park, Houston, Texas, U.S.
16	Win	16–0	Frankie Archuleta	TKO	6 (10), 2:39	3 May 2003	Flamingo Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
15	Win	15–0	Jason Pires	TKO	9 (10), 0:16	1 Feb 2003	Mohegan Sun, Montville, Connecticut, U.S.
14	Win	14–0	Natalio Ponce	TKO	9 (10), 1:15	6 Dec 2002	Riverside Convention Center, Victoria, Texas, U.S.
13	Win	13–0	Hector Acero Sánchez	UD	10	19 Oct 2002	Reliant Park, Houston, Texas, U.S.
12	Win	12–0	Ivan Alvarez	TKO	6 (8), 2:48	30 Aug 2002	Park Performing Arts Center, Union City, New Jersey, U.S.
11	Win	11–0	Isidro Tejedor	TKO	2 (8), 2:01	13 Jul 2002	Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall,, Tunica, Mississippi, U.S.
10	Win	10–0	Len Martinez	TKO	1 (6), 2:38	25 May 2002	Lowes Speedway, Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
9	Win	9–0	Javier Ortiz	KO	5 (8), 2:01	27 Apr 2002	Mohegan Sun, Montville, Connecticut, U.S.
8	Win	8–0	Jorge Garcia	UD	6	15 Feb 2002	Radisson Hotel, Houston, Texas, U.S.
7	Win	7–0	Frankie Martinez	TKO	4 (6), 1:11	5 Jan 2002	Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
6	Win	6–0	Corey Alarcon	TKO	2 (6), 1:57	10 Nov 2011	Reliant Arena, Houston, Texas, U.S.
5	Win	5–0	Juan Rafael Gutierrez	UD	6	1 Sep 2001	Don Haskins Center, El Paso, Texas, U.S.
4	Win	4–0	Fabian Espinosa	TKO	3 (4), 2:33	20 Jul 2001	Memorial Civic Center, Canton, Ohio, U.S.
3	Win	3–0	Edward Utorov	TKO	4 (4), 0:38	19 May 2001	Mohegan Sun, Montville, Connecticut, U.S.
2	Win	2–0	Mike Jones	KO	1 (4), 0:44	2 Mar 2001	Texas Station, North Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
1	Win	1–0	Pascali Adorno	UD	4	13 Jan 2001	Mohegan Sun, Montville, Connecticut, U.S.

External links

• Boxing record for Rocky Juarez from BoxRec (registration required)