Jerson Ravelo (born July 30, 1977) is a boxer from the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
, who represented his native country at the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.
National Golden Gloves
The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nationa ...
Middleweight champion. Ravelo also represented the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
as a Middleweight at the 2000 Sydney Olympic games, he was eliminated in the opening round by Paul Miller of Australia, on an 8-7 decision.
Professional career
Upon turning professional, Ravelo signed a promotional deal with Lou Dibella's Dibella Entertainment. He made his debut as a professional on January 27, 2001, in Madison Square Garden in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, where he defeated America's Miguel Gutierrez. He became the first 2000 Olympian to reach double digit wins as a pro. In 2004 Ravelo was upset by David Alfonso Lopez by TKO.
Ravelo says, "Before that fight I didn't want to fight anymore. I didn't have no confidence because that was prior to me getting the surgeries and that was when I was coming back. It helped me come back to get my confidence back up and come back to reality. Before that fight, I was walking on a cloud."
Numerous injuries to his back and right hand hampered his career, and he didn't see any action in the year 2005 as a result.
In that time period, things soured with Jerson's promotional situation. The contract contained a clause stating that if Jerson was injured for over a year, Dibella Entertainment could terminate the contract. Ravelo was subsequently released by Dibella.
"Once a fighter has back problems", says Ravelo, "he's always going to have back problems. I can go 6 months, a year without feeling my back at all. But I can wake up one day and for a week my back will be hurting me."
In 2006, Jerson signed a promotional contract with The Contender Group. "They care about their fighters," Ravelo said. "They're not trying to make a quick buck out of a fighter, they're looking long term." Returning from substantial layoffs, Ravelo reeled off three consecutive first round knockouts.
The next order of business was a showdown with then-undefeated
Allan Green
Allan Lamar Green (born September 20, 1979) is an American professional boxer. He is a former NABO super middleweight champion, and has challenged for world titles at both super middleweight and light heavyweight.
Amateur career
Green had a ...
of Tulsa, Oklahoma on October 14, 2006. Jerson was stopped in the eighth round. In that fight, Ravelo suffered another injury to his right hand.
Ravelo rebounded in 2007 with a unanimous decision over England's Paul Buchannan, whom he knocked down in the third round. That fight was a part of The Contender's USA versus UK special.
Ravelo has gone through a who's who of trainers in his career, including
Mark Breland
Mark Anthony Breland (born May 11, 1963) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1997, and held the WBA welterweight title twice between 1987 and 1990. He later became an actor with a wide range of movie and television ...
,
Tommy Brooks
Tommy Brooks (born June 6, 1954 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is a boxing trainer and a former boxer. He is best known as the trainer of Evander Holyfield.
Amateur boxing career
As an amateur Brooks was the 1975 National AAU Middleweight champion.
...
, Tommy Parks,
Charles Murray Charles Murray may refer to:
Politicians
*Charles Murray, 1st Earl of Dunmore (1661–1710), British peer
*Charles Murray (author and diplomat) (1806–1895), British author and diplomat
*Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore (1841–1907), Scotti ...
, Anthony Ham, Bouie Fischer and Oscar Suarez. He is currently trained by Nettles Nasser, who also guides
Henry Crawford
Henry Crawford is one of the main characters in Jane Austen's 1814 novel, '' Mansfield Park''. He is depicted as a man who, though not conventionally handsome, has great charisma. He is lively, witty and charming, a great asset at dinner part ...
and
Omar Sheika
Omar Sheika (born February 20, 1977) is an American former professional boxer and multiple time super middleweight world title challenger. He is of Palestinian descent.
Raised in Paterson, New Jersey, Sheika attended Eastside High School an ...
.
Of Nasser, Ravelo says, "He's a good trainer. He teaches the right things. He tells you what to do. He motivates his fighters. I know he don't get a lot of credit because he's young. I think he's one of the better coaches out there."