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Loreto Garza (born May 23, 1962 in 
Sacramento, California
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...
) is an American former professional 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 ...
and world champion at 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, ...
.
Career
Amateur
Garza started boxing amateur at 18 years old and did it for three years. He won the Golden Gloves all three years, along with other big tournaments and was also on the U.S. boxing team.Professional
Garza turned pro in 1982 at the age of 21. Working his way up the ranks, he got his opportunity. In 1988, Garza won the WBC Americas light welterweight championship with a spectacular first-round knockout of former world championHarry Arroyo
Harry Arroyo (born October 25, 1957) is an American former professional boxer who held the IBF lightweight title from 1984 to 1985.
Early years
Arroyo, of Puerto Rican descent, was born on the south side of Youngstown, Ohio, a steel-man ...
. Arroyo was knocked down three times in the fight. Later on that year, Garza knocked out former world champion Charlie Brown
Charles "Charlie" Brown is the principal character of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', syndicated in daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser," Charlie Brown is one of the great American ar ...
(other wise known as "Choo Choo" Brown) in four rounds.
In 1989, Garza, with a single right hand in the 7th round, knocked out former world champion Joe Manley
Joe Louis Manley Jr. (born June 11, 1959) is an American former boxer who fought at light welterweight.
Amateur career
Manley qualified as a lightweight for the 1980 United States Olympic team, defeating Frankie Randall on his way to earning ...
. Manley was out cold. A couple of months later on August 12, 1989, Garza won a unanimous decision in a 12-round war to win the USBA championship over #1 ranked contender Frankie Warren; Garza fought the last five rounds with his left eye swelled shut. Many boxing annals argue that Garza vs. Warren should have been the fight of the year.
On August 17, 1990, with only two weeks notice, Garza flew to Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
, France, and won the WBA light welterweight world title by majority decision over the reigning three-time world champion Juan Coggi
Juan Martin Coggi (born 19 December 1961) is a former boxer from Argentina. A native of Santa Fe Province (he lived as a child until a few years Brandsen, Buenos Aires Province), which was also the birthplace of Carlos Monzón, Coggi was a thre ...
. Garza looked sharp with a beautiful display of counter punching. He came back to his hometown of Sacramento and defended his world title against former five-time world champion Vinny Pazienza
Vinny Paz (born Vincenzo Edward Pazienza, December 16, 1962), formerly Vinny Pazienza, is an American former professional boxer who held world titles at lightweight and light middleweight. The 2016 film ''Bleed for This'' is based on his comebac ...
. Garza out-smarted and out-boxed Pazienza and had his face bloody and battered. Pazienza was frustrated throughout the fight and in the 11th round, Pazienza picked up Garza and tried to slam him in the ring, so the referee disqualified Pazienza. The following year, Garza lost the belt to Edwin Rosario
Edwin "Chapo" Rosario Rivera (; March 15, 1963 – December 1, 1997) was a Puerto Rican professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 1997. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC lightweight title from 1983 to 1984, ...
via 3rd round TKO. Garza was down twice the first and twice in the third round.
Garza had three more fights after that and won them by knockout, and was promised another world title shot, but it seemed like all the world champions would duck when it came to Garza. He retired in 1993.
As a main event fighter, Garza also headlined two pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
fights.
Record: 32 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw, 28 knockouts
See also
*List of WBA world champions
This is a list of WBA world champions, showing every world champion certified by the World Boxing Association (WBA). The list also includes champions certified by the National Boxing Association (NBA), the predecessor to the WBA.
Boxers who won t ...
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garza, Loreto 1962 births Living people World boxing champions Boxers from Sacramento, California American male boxers Light-welterweight boxers