Jesus "Jesse" Valdez (born December 7, 1947) is a retired

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. He was selected a member of the All-American AAU boxing team for 1973, and was named the top welterweight amateur boxer in the nation in 1973 by the National AAU Boxing Committee.

Amateur career

At sixteen years-old, Valdez won the National AAU Welterweight Championship in 1964 by upsetting Olympic bronze medalist Quincey Daniels. That same year, he qualified for the U.S. Olympic team as an alternate. In 1967, he won a bronze medal at the

Pan-American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

. Valdez also won the National AAU Light Middleweight Championship in 1970, while boxing out of the

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. In 1967 he was the

National Golden Gloves Light middleweight champion This is a list of United States national Golden Gloves champions in the light middleweight division, along with the state or region they represented. The weight limit for light middleweights was contested at until the division was discontinued af ...

and in 1972 he was the

National Golden Gloves Welterweight Champion This is a list of United States national Golden Gloves champions in the welterweight division, along with the state or region they represented. The weight limit for welterweights was first contested at , but was increased to in 2003.

. The Jesse Valdez Fan club was started by Rudy Ramirez. In 1972, Valdez, who is of Mexican-American descent, qualified for the U.S. national team by defeating future world light-heavyweight champion

Eddie Mustafa Muhammad Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (born Edward Dean Gregory; April 30, 1952) is a former professional boxer and the former WBA Light Heavyweight Champion of the World. He is currently a boxing trainer. He has also been an occasional actor. Amateur care ...

. At the, 1972

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Olympic games, Valdez was eliminated from the finals by eventual gold medalist Emilio Correa in a disputed split decision. Valdez would go on to win a bronze medal.

1972 Olympic results

Below is the record of Jesse Valdez, an American welterweight boxer who competed at the 1972 Munich Olympics: *Round of 64: Defeated Kolman Kalipe (Togo) by unanimous decision, 5–0 *Round of 32: Defeated Carlos Burga (Peru) by majority decision, 4–1 *Round of 16: Defeated David Jackson (Uganda) by majority decision, 4–1 *Quarterfinal: Defeated Anatoly Khohlov (Soviet Union) by unanimous decision, 5–0 *Semifinal: Lost to Emilio Correa (Cuba) by split decision, 2–3 (was awarded bronze medal)

Pro

Valdez never turned pro after his impressive amateur career but remained in the Air Force as a career military man.

References

External links

Jesse Valdez
at

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Valdez, Jesse 1947 births Living people Boxers at the 1972 Summer Olympics American boxers of Mexican descent Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers National Golden Gloves champions American male boxers Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in boxing Boxers at the 1967 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in boxing Welterweight boxers Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games