Karlos Zenon Balderas Jr. (born August 24, 1996) is an American

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil.

Personal life

Balderas was born on May 24, 1996, in

Lompoc, California Lompoc ( ; Chumash: ''Lum Poc'') is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast, Lompoc has a population of 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called ...

. He was the first member of his family to be born in the United States; his grandfather first came to California, leaving his wife and children behind in

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

, Mexico, to work in strawberry fields, eventually earning the money to move the rest of the family to the United States. Whilst growing up in

Santa Maria, California Santa Maria (Spanish language, Spanish for "Mary, mother of Jesus, St. Mary") is a city near the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California in northern Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County. It is approximately no ...

, Balderas was first taken to a boxing gym as a punishment for fighting in the streets with his friends and getting suspended from school. His older brother Jose is also a boxer.

Career

Balderas is coached by his father Zenon and his uncle David. In December 2014, Balderas won the lightweight division of the US National Team Trials, qualifying him for the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

held in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, where he received a first round bye and was defeated in the quarterfinals by

Lindolfo Delgado Lindolfo Delgado Garza (born 31 December 1994) is a Mexican professional boxer. As an amateur, he competed in the men's lightweight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , e ...

of Mexico. Balderas represented the

USA Knockouts 250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards. The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...

in the

World Series of Boxing 250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards. The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...

(WSB). In 2015 he took part in five bouts, defeating

Fabio Introvaia Fabio is a given name descended from Latin ''Fabius'' and very popular in Italy and Latin America (due to Italian migration). Its English equivalent is Fabian (name), Fabian. The name is written without an accent in Italian and Spanish, but is usu ...

of Italy,

Dawid Michelus Dawid is a Polish masculine given name, related to David, and more rarely a surname. People with the name include: Given name * Dawid Abrahamowicz (1839–1926), Polish politician * Dawid Abramowicz (born 1991), Polish footballer * Dawid Moryc Ap ...

of Poland,

Brian Nunez Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

of Argentina and

Adrian Javier Martinez Morales Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main ...

of Puerto Rico but losing to Azerbaijan's

Albert Selimov Albert Shevketovich Selimov (; born 5 April 1986) is a Russian former amateur boxer of Lezgin descent. He is best known for being the only man to defeat Vasiliy Lomachenko in the amateur ranks. Competing for Russia he won the 2007 world title, ...

. In 2016 he won his first two bouts against Lindolfo Delgado and Moroccan Hamza Rabii. He qualified for the men's lightweight event at the

Brazil via his results in the WSB where he won the gold medal in his elite division and was named Outstanding Boxer of the event. Balderas was given his Olympic allocation by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) after two of the athletes ahead of him in the final WSB rankings instead qualified for the Olympics through the 2015 World Championships. Balderas won his first two Olympic matches but lost in the

quarterfinals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

to Cuban finalist

Lázaro Álvarez Lázaro Jorge Álvarez Estrada (born 28 January 1991) is a Cuban amateur boxer who won the world title in 2011, 2013 and 2015. He also won gold medals at the 2011, 2015, and 2019 Pan American Games and bronze medals at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 O ...

. On April 9, 2017, he won his pro debut by first-round TKO.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balderas, Carlos 1997 births Living people People from Santa Maria, California American male boxers Lightweight boxers Olympic boxers of the United States Boxers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2015 Pan American Games American boxers of Mexican descent Pan American Games competitors for the United States