César René Cuenca (born January 18, 1981) is an Argentine professional boxer who held the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

light welterweight title from 2015 to 2016.

Professional career

On March 20, 2009, Cuenca won a twelve-round

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter ...

against undefeated contender

Alex de Jesús Alexander "Alex" de Jesús (February 2, 1983 – April 3, 2016) was a Puerto Rican professional boxer. As an amateur, de Jesús represented the island of Puerto Rico in international events, including the 2003 Pan American Games, the 2002 ...

. On May 3, 2014, Cuenca defeated Albert Mensah to become the

mandatory challenger In professional boxing and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight or be forced to vacate their title as champion. A mandatory defence is the opposite of a voluntary defence, where the champi ...

for the IBF junior welterweight belt, held by American

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. On July 18, 2015, he defeated Ik Yang in

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by unanimous decision, in a bout he dominated and dropped his opponent, despite being knocked down himself. In the process, he won the vacant

light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, after a thirteen-year career, that spanned 49 fights prior, including two 'no contests'. Cuenca lost his world title in his next fight on November 4, 2015, when he faced Eduard Troyanovsky in

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. Cuenca, who was 48–0 at the time of the fight, was unable to get in range for the majority of the boxing match. Troyanovsky had re-hydrated much more than Cuenca and he seemed bigger in the ring, he used his size advantage well. After five rounds Cuenca had won just one, in a close fight, his left eye was cut open. In the sixth round, Troyanovsky landed a hard uppercut and Cuenca grabbed him at the waist, Troyanovsky leaned on the Argentine and he tumbled down, then as Troyanovsky was moving away it is possible that his foot hit Cuenca in his right eye. Immediately afterwards the American referee asked Cuenca if he could continue fighting, to which Cuenca told him in Spanish that his right eye was injured from the tumble and he needed time to recover, but the referee (who could not understand Spanish) asked him again more sternly and Cuenca repeated himself, gesturing to his right eye. The referee then waved off the fight, to the displeasure of Cuenca and his corner.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuenca, Cesar Living people 1981 births Argentine male boxers Light-welterweight boxers Southpaw boxers International Boxing Federation champions World light-welterweight boxing champions