Joel Casamayor Johnson (born July 12, 1971) is a

Cuban American Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cuban descent or t ...

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 from 1996 to 2011. He held world championships in two

weight classes Weight classes are divisions of competition used to match competitors against others of their own size. Weight classes are used in a variety of sports, especially combat sports (such as boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and wrestling). Altern ...

, including the WBA

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 from 2000 to 2002; and the

WBC WBC may stand for: Business *Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, a former large India broadcaster now folded into CBS *Westpac (New Delhi Exchange code: WBC), a multinational Financial services company *Wholesale Broadband Connect, BT Wholesale's ...

, ''

Ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

'' magazine and lineal

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 ...

titles between 2006 and 2008. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, Casamayor won a gold medal in the

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

division at the

1992 Olympics 1992 Olympics may refer to: *1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain *1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 ...

, after which he defected to the United States on the eve of the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Amateur career

Casamayor's amateur record stands at 363 wins and 30 losses. *1989 – Gold medal (Bantamweight) at the Junior World Championships *1992 – Gold medal (Bantamweight) at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

**Defeated

Venkatesan Devarajan Venkatesan Devarajan (born 22 July 1973) is an Indian boxer and Olympian. He won the bronze medal in the 1994 World Boxing Championship in Bangkok. He was the first Indian boxer win the world cup boxing championship Medalist at foreign soil. ...

(India) points **Defeated Riadh Klaai (Tunisia) points **Defeated

Roberto Jalnaiz Roberto Jalnaiz (born November 15, 1966) is a retired amateur boxer from the Philippines who is best known for winning his country's only gold medal at the 1990 Asian Games. Competing in the bantamweight (– 54 kg) division, he also ...

(Philippines) KO 1 **Defeated

Mohammed Achik Mohamed Abdelhak Achik (born February 1, 1965) is a former Moroccan amateur boxer who won a bronze medal in the men's bantamweight (54 kg) category at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. 1992 Olympic results Below are the results of M ...

(Morocco) TKO 1 **Defeated

Wayne McCullough Wayne Pocket Rocket McCullough (born Wayne William McCullough; 7 July 1970) is a former professional boxer from Northern Ireland who competed from 1993 to 2008. He held the WBC bantamweight title from 1995 to 1997, becoming the first boxer fr ...

(Ireland) points *1993 – Silver medal (Bantamweight) at the

1993 World Amateur Boxing Championships The Men's 1993 World Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Tampere, Finland from May 7 to 16. The seventh edition of this competition, held nearly a year after the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, was organised by the Tampere Boxing Assoc ...

Tampere, Finland Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa Regions of Finland, region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the Tampere u ...

**Defeated Agathangelos Tsiripidis (Greece) TKO 3 **Defeated Dirk Krueger (Germany) points **Defeated Arthur Mikaelian (Armenia) points **Defeated

Vladislav Antonov Vladislav Nikolayevich Antonov (russian: Владислав Николаевич Антонов; born 21 September 1991) is a Russian luger. Antonov, together with Alexander Denisyev, participated in doubles and in team relay competitions at the ...

(Russia) points **Lost to Alexander Hristov (Bulgaria) points *1994 – Bronze medal (Featherweight) at the World Cup in

Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated population ...

**Defeated

Brian Carr Brian Carr (born 20 June 1969, in Glasgow) is a Scottish amateur featherweight and professional super bantam/ feather/ super featherweight boxer of the 1990s and 2000s. Boxing career Amateur career As an amateur he won the 1990 Amateur ...

(Scotland) points **Defeated Nourredine Medjihoud (Algeria) points **Defeated Cristian Rodriguez (Argentina) points **Lost to

Falk Huste Falk Huste (born November 6, 1971 in Greiz, Thüringen) is a boxer from Germany, who won the bronze medal in the Men's Featherweight (– 57 kg) division at the 2000 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Tampere, Finland. He is the ...

(Germany) points *1994 – Silver Medal (Featherweight) at the

Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...

St. Petersburg, Russia Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

**Defeated Kai Kandelin (Finland) TKO 1 **Defeated Claude Chinon (France) points **Lost to

Ramaz Paliani Ramaz Paliani ( ka, რამაზ ფალიანი, born 21 August 1973 in Mestia, Georgia) is a Georgian boxer who has won World and European Championships in the men's featherweight division. He has represented Turkey, Georgia, and Russ ...

(Russia) points *1995 – Competed (Featherweight) at the

1995 World Amateur Boxing Championships The Men's 1995 World Amateur Boxing Championships were held in the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin, Germany from May 4 to May 15. The eighth edition of this competition, held a year before the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, was organised by the ...

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent ...

**Lost to

Raimkul Malachbekov Raimkul Khudoynazarovich Malakhbekov (russian: Раимкуль Худойназарович Малахбеков; born 16 August 1974 in Dushanbe, Tajik SSR) is one of highest titled boxing, boxers of Russia, who won two Olympic medals in the Men ...

(Russia) points

Professional career

He won the NABF Super Featherweight title in 1999 by beating Jose Luis Noyola. Later that year, he won the WBA Super Featherweight title by stopping Jong-Kwon Baek in 5 rounds. In 2002, he lost that title in a controversial unification bout with

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

champion

Acelino Freitas Acelino "Popó" Freitas (; born September 21, 1975) is a Brazilian politician and a former professional boxer who competed between 1995 to 2017. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBO super featherweight title from 19 ...

. At one point in the fight, Casamayor slipped and the referee ruled it a knockdown. Casamayor also had a point deducted for a late hit. Many believe Casamayor should have won the fight. In 2004,

Diego Corrales Diego "Chico" Corrales Jr. (August 25, 1977 – May 7, 2007) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2007. He was a multiple-time world champion in two weight divisions, having held the IBF super featherweight title from 199 ...

, whom Casamayor stopped in 2003 for the Vacant IBA super featherweight title, defeated him for the vacant WBO Super Featherweight title via a very close and controversial decision. Casamayor failed to take the

Lightweight title from

José Luis Castillo José Luis Castillo (born December 14, 1973) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1990 to 2014. Generally considered one of the best lightweights of his era, he is a two-time world champion at that weight, having held the WB ...

later that year because the judges scored what seemed to be a clear win for Casamayor over Castillo. After the disputed loss to Castillo, Casamayor's career appeared to be in a downward spiral and he was set up with undefeated rising prospect

Almazbek Raiymkulov Almazbek Raiymkulov, better known as Kid Diamond (born February 18, 1977 in Kyrgyzstan) was a boxer in the Lightweight division. He was NABF Champion, and among the first professional fighters from Kyrgyzstan to become known worldwide. He turned ...

in June 2005. In a close, spirited battle the bout ended in a draw, with many believing that Casamayor's best days were behind him. After two victories against little known opposition, in October 2006, Casamayor yet again took on the popular Diego Corrales, and defeated him by split decision, winning the

Lightweight title and recognition as the world lightweight champion by Ring Magazine. He was stripped of the WBC title for signing to fight then WBO lightweight champion Freitas rather than defend against his

mandatory challenger In professional boxing and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight or be forced to vacate their title as champion. A mandatory defence is the opposite of a voluntary defence, where the champi ...

, WBC interim champion David Díaz. Although the fight with Freitas never took place, David Díaz was still named WBC champion and Freitas went on to fight WBA champion Juan Díaz, losing via a 9th-round TKO. After Casamayor threatened the WBC with legal action, he was named as their interim champ. He defended the interim championship as well as The Ring's title against Jose Armando Santa Cruz on November 11, 2007 and won a controversial split decision. The WBC removed Casamayor's interim title when, instead of fighting a rematch with Santa Cruz, he signed to fight undefeated

Michael Katsidis Michael Alan Katsidis ( ; el, Μιχάλης Κατσίδης; born 15 August 1980) is an Australian former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017. He held the WBO interim lightweight title twice between 2007 and 2010, and challeng ...

, the WBO interim lightweight titlist. On March 22, 2008, in a great battle, Casamayor became the first man to defeat the Australian Katsidis when he won the fight with a TKO in the 10th round. With the win, Casamayor retained his Ring Magazine world title and added the WBO interim championship to his collection.

Casamayor vs. Marquez

Casamayor was defeated by

Juan Manuel Márquez Juan Manuel Márquez Méndez (born August 23, 1973) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2014. He is known for defeating Manny Pacquiao. He is the third Mexican boxer (after Érik Morales and Jorge Arce) to become a ...

on September 13, 2008. Marquez (49-4-1, 36 KOs) by Knockout in the 11th round at the

MGM Grand Garden Arena The MGM Grand Garden Arena (originally known as the MGM Grand Garden Special Events Center) is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose arena located within the MGM Grand Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. Sporting events From its opening on December 18, 1993 ...

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

. In the first four rounds of the bout, Marquez continually walked into counter lefts from Casamayor. It took Marquez until the fifth round to be able to find the range with his right hand. By the fifth round, a cut over Casamayor's right eye was opened from a clash of heads. Rounds five, six, seven and eight were rounds where Marquez landed straight punches from the outside, but he was also nailed by Casamayor whenever he lunged forward. Two minutes into the eleventh round, Casamayor was knocked down by a right hand as he pulled away from an intense exchange. Casamayor got up and immediately tried to smother Marquez, but Marquez let his hands go in furious combination. Casamayor swung back, but he went down again with about 7 seconds left in the round. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in and stopped the fight before Casamayor had a chance to stand up again. This caused some anger from fans, however, Casamayor was gracious in defeat and said, "Marquez was the best this night." The official judges had the fight scored 95-95, 95-95, and 97-93 for Marquez. Casamayor is a unionized boxer, a member of the Joint Association of Boxers.

Comeback

On November 6, 2009, Casamayor beat Jason Davis by unanimous decision. Casamayor fought

Mexican American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

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 ...

at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, on July 31, 2010. The 10 round bout was an undercard of the

Juan Manuel Márquez vs. Juan Díaz II Juan Manuel Márquez vs. Juan Díaz (boxer), Juan Díaz II, billed as ''The Rematch'', was a boxing lightweight bout for Márquez's WBA (Super), WBO, and The Ring (magazine), ''The Ring'' lightweight championship. This fight is a rematch of the R ...

event. The 39-year-old pugilist lost the match by unanimous decision: 98–89, 98–89, 97–90. Guerrero rocked Casamayor throughout the fight, sending him down in the second round. The Cuban got up and looked exhausted after two rounds. He recovered in the next rounds but Guerrero continued to put pressure, landing several combinations and outboxing him. In the last minute of the final round, the Cuban engaged on the offensive, with Guerrero being knocked down for the first time in his professional career.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* () * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Casamayor, Joel World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions Olympic boxers of Cuba Boxers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Cuba 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Guantánamo Olympic medalists in boxing Cuban male boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics The Ring (magazine) champions Light-welterweight boxers World super-featherweight boxing champions World lightweight boxing champions Competitors at the 1990 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Cuba Defecting sportspeople of Cuba Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in boxing Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games