Juan Pedro de la Rosa (born August 7, 1986 in

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

) is a Mexican professional boxer, and is the brother of welterweight boxer James de la Rosa.

Personal life

De la Rosa's father is Mexican and his mother is an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

. His paternal grandfather played a pivotal role in his formative years and, as a tribute, De la Rosa wears his portrait in a

lanyard A lanyard is a cord, length of webbing, or strap that may serve any of various functions, which include a means of attachment, restraint, retrieval, and activation and deactivation. A lanyard is also a piece of rigging used to secure or lowe ...

around his neck just before and after every fight.

Professional career

De la Rosa turned professional at the age of 15.

''The Contender''

He was the youngest contestant on reality TV show '' The Contender'' at the age of 18. On the show, he was placed on the "East Coast" team and fought

Tarick Salmaci Tarick Salmaci (born February 28, 1972) is a Lebanese-American former professional boxer and North American Boxing Organization (NABO) middleweight champion. He was one of 16 boxers chosen worldwide to participate on season 1 of NBC's reality t ...

in the second to last First Round fight. This bout of Youth versus Experience and was won by the young Mexican. Juan later drew criticism for allowing himself to be withdrawn from the competition with apparently minor injuries. His withdrawal left room for

Ahmed Khaddour Ahmad "Babyface" Kaddour (born January 1, 1982, Lebanon) is a professional boxer. Personal life Born in Tripoli, Lebanon, Kaddour's parents fled the 1982 Lebanon War and Ahmad grew up in Denmark where he got his start in boxing. He has moved b ...

to strut his way back into the show. Since starring on ''The Contender'', De la Rosa's promise has somewhat diminished. Although he has continued to fight, his two losses to Mikel Williams have led some to question whether he has been a protected fighter. De la Rosa lost to Mexican veteran Fernando Vela via split decision at the Casa de Amistad in Harlingen, Texas in March 2008, returned a year later to defeat a solid journeyman Guadalupe Martínez. He was also scheduled to fight Glen Tapia on October 27, 2012 but pulled out 2 weeks before the fight citing an injury. On November 2, 2013 De la Rosa finally made his return to the ring, after more than 4 1/2 years away from competition, in the co-main event at State Farm Arena,

Hildalgo Hidalgo (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Hidalgo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Hidalgo) is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 84 municipalities ...

Texas. De la Rosa fought toe-to-toe with undefeated Anatoli Muratov until Muratov folded under De la Rosa's brutal body attack in the 5th round.

Professional boxing record

References

External links