Jason John Litzau (born June 29, 1983) is an American former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who competed between 2002 and 2016. He challenged once for 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 ...

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

title in 2008.

Early life

In his youth Litzau played

Little League Baseball Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

where he won a little league title by pitching a shutout. He attended Harding Senior High School in St. Paul, Minnesota. Litzau's brother Allen Litzau is also a professional boxer.

Amateur career

Known as "The American Boy", Litzau began boxing at 11 years old and reportedly compiled an amateur record of 125-10 Litzau is a former

Silver Gloves The Silver Gloves is an annual competition for amateur boxing in the United States. The contest is sponsored by Ringside, Inc. The Silver Gloves are open to all non-professional pugilists age 10 to 15 years old. The Silver Gloves is not the Go ...

national champion, having finished second at the 2001 U.S. Championships and earning a spot on the 2001 U.S. National team. Litzau turned pro in 2002.

Professional career

Litzau turned pro on November 16, 2002 and as of September 2013 had a record of 29-3 with 22 knockouts. He has garnered considerable fanfare due to his appearances on ESPN's fight cards. His first loss was against Jose Hernandez on December 16, 2006, on HBO. He lost to IBF World Featherweight Champ

Robert Guerrero Robert Joseph Guerrero (born March 27, 1983) is an American professional boxer. He has held world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF featherweight title twice between 2006 and 2008, and the IBF junior lightweight title from 20 ...

in a title match on

Leap Day February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to leap years. A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth's revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in m ...

, February 29, 2008.

The Hernandez Incident

Litzau was upset in his first spotlight appearance on HBO's

Boxing After Dark ''Boxing After Dark'' is an HBO boxing program, premiered on February 3, 1996, that usually showed fights between well-known contenders, but usually not "championship" or "title" fights. Unlike its sister program, ''HBO World Championship Boxin ...

in a fight against Jose Hernandez. The fight was intended to showcase Litzau's considerable talent and box office draw. Litzau was ahead on points (68-64 on all three cards) when Hernandez scored an eighth-round knockout over Litzau with a clubbing right hand to the head. Litzau had been dropped by a right hand in round one, but appeared well in control of the bout until getting knocked out in round 8.

IBF Featherweight Championship

Litzau lost via 8th-round TKO to

in his first shot at the title, on February 29, 2008.

NABF Lightweight Championship

On August 15, 2009, as an undercard to

Roy Jones Jr. Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American former professional boxer who holds dual American and Russian citizenship. He competed in boxing from 1989 to 2018, and held multiple world championships in four weight classes, inc ...

vs.

Jeff Lacy Jeffrey Scott Lacy (born May 12, 1977) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2015. He held the IBF super middleweight title from 2004 to 2006, and the IBO super middleweight title from 2005 to 2006. Lacy rose to p ...

, Litzau fought Verquan Kimbrough for the vacant NABF

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

title. Litzau won by RTD at the end of Round 3. Litzau moved up two weight classes for the fight.

NABF Super Featherweight Championship

On November 4, 2009 Litzau headlined an

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

Friday Night Fights The cable television network ESPN has occasionally broadcast boxing events over the majority of its history, as part of several arrangements, including contracts with specific promotions and consortiums such as Golden Boy Promotions, Premier Box ...

program against 15-4 Johnnie Edwards with the NABF

Super Featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although firs ...

title in play. Litzau won the fight by unanimous decision, winning a second NABF title. Litzau defended his title against

Rocky Juarez 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 styl ...

on April 3, 2010, winning by

technical decision A technical decision is a term used in boxing when a fight has to be stopped because of a headbutt. In boxing fights, referees have to pay deep attention to the action going on between the fighters, especially when the two combatants are fightin ...

when the fight was halted in the seventh round due to a bad cut on Litzau's cheek which referee

Jay Nady Jay Nady (born August 23, 1947) is a championship boxing referee and the uncle of former Major League Baseball outfielder Xavier Nady. Biography Nady boxed and played football at the University of Nevada, Reno in the 1960s. For his accomplis ...

ruled was caused by an accidental head butt. On the undercard of Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Michael Katsidis, Liztau beat former WBA and

champion,

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

's Celestino Caballero.

Professional record

, - style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:95%;" , align="center" colspan=8, 29 Wins (21 knockouts), 3 Losses, 0 Draw , - style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:95%;" , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Res. , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Record , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Opponent , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Type , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Rd., Time , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Date , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Venue and Location , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Notes , -align=center , Win , , 29-3-0 , , align=left, Ira Terry , , , 1 , , 2012-06-16 , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , Loss , , 28-3-0 , , align=left, Adrien Broner , , , 1 , , 2011-06-18, , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , Win , , 28-2-0 , , align=left, Celestino Caballero , SD , , 10 , , 2010-11-27 , , align=left, MGM Grand,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, U.S. , align=left, , -align=center , Win , , 27-2-0 , , align=left,

, TD , , 7 (3:00) , , 2010-04-03 , , align=left, Mandalay Bay,

, U.S. , align=left, , -align=center , Win , , 26-2-0 , , align=left, Johnnie Edwards , UD , , 10 (10) , , 2009-11-04 , , align=left, Corrosion Hangar, Camp Lejuene,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, U.S. , align=left, , -align=center , Win , , 25-2-0 , , align=left, Verquan Kimbrough , RTD , , 3 (3:00) , , 2009-08-15 , , align=left, Coast Coliseum,

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

, U.S. , align=left, , -align=center , Win , , 24-2-0 , , align=left, Phillip Payne , TKO , , 5 (0:52) , , 2009-04-18 , , align=left, Target Center,

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, U.S. , align=left, , -align=center , Loss , , 23-2-0 , , align=left,

, KO , , 8 (2:25) , , 2008-02-29 , , align=left, Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, Lemoore, California, U.S. , align=left, , -align=center , Win , , 23-1-0 , , align=left, Edel Ruiz , UD , , 10 , , 2007-11-23 , , align=left, Staples Center,

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, U.S. , align=left, , -align=center , Win , , 22-1-0 , , align=left, Emmanuel Lucero , TKO , , 2 (2:48) , , 2007-08-17 , , align=left, Harrah's Rincon Casino,

Valley Center, California Valley Center is a census-designated place (CDP) in northern San Diego County, California. The population was 9,277 at the 2010 census. History Valley Center was the site of the capture of the largest California Grizzly Bear in history. In 1866, ...

, U.S. , align=left, , -align=center , Win , , 21-1-0 , , align=left, Aldo Valtierra , UD , , 10 , , 2007-04-25 , , align=left, Roy Wilkins Auditorium,

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

, U.S. , align=left, , -align=center , Loss , , 20-1-0 , , align=left, José Hernández , KO , , 8 (2:52) , , 2006-12-16 , , align=left, Miccosukee Indian Gaming Resort,

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, U.S. , align=left, , -align=center , Win , , 20-0-0 , , align=left, Sammy Ventura , TKO , , 2 , , 2006-10-20 , , align=left, Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Illinois, U.S. , align=left, , -align=center , Win , , 19-0-0 , , align=left, Nicky Bentz , KO , , 1 (10), , , 2006-07-14 , , align=left, Harrah's Rincon Casino & Resort,

, U.S. , align=left, , -align=center , Win , , 18-0-0 , , align=left, Debendra Thapa , KO , , 2 (10), , , 2006-05-11 , , align=left, Schuetzen Park,

North Bergen, New Jersey North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 63,361. The township was founded in 1843. It was much diminished in territory by a ...

, U.S. , align=left, , -align=center

References

External links

*
Main Events Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Litzau, Jason 1983 births Living people Lightweight boxers Featherweight boxers Boxers from Saint Paul, Minnesota American male boxers