Victor José Bisbal Melero (born 2 July 1980) is a Puerto Rican

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 ...

. As an amateur, he won a gold medal at the

2002 Central American and Caribbean Games The 19th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in San Salvador, El Salvador from November 22 to December 8, 2002 and included 4,301 competitors from 31 nations, competing in 32 sports. The main stadium for these championships was the Est ...

in the heavyweight divisionPaese, Gabrielle (2003)
Puerto Rico Gears Up For Pan Am Games
, '' Puerto Rico Herald'', August 1, 2003. Retrieved November 23, 2013 and bronze at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America. Al ...

. He also participated at the 2004 Olympics in the super heavyweight division.

Personal life

Victor Bisbal began in the sport at the age of 15 years. Before beginning boxing, he competed in hurling and discus, winning four LAI championship rings in University competition and holding many Puerto Rican distance records. He graduated in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in Physical Education from Turabo University in Puerto Rico. Victor got married on March 13, 2010 to Mariler Mejias, a volleyball player. Victor has three siblings, brothers Ricardo and Gerardo and sister Mayela. His brother Gerardo Bisbal is also a boxer and National Champ of Puerto Rico, bronze medallist in 2002 in 81 kg, 2006 in +91 kg and 2010 gold medallist

Central American and Caribbean Games The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for countries in Cent ...

, having participated in 2003 in 91 kg and 2007 in +91 kg Pan American Games. Bisbal worked with the Sports and Recreation Department and the Salinas municipal gym for years. However, he was ousted when Ricardo Rosselló won the 2016 elections. Afterwards, Bisbal joined his brother (who is a mechanic by profession, like their father) in operating a workshop at Salinas.

Amateur achievements

Record 60–11 Puerto Rican National Champ 1999–2004 Bisbal began boxing as an amateur at 18 years old; he had victories against

Jason Estrada Jason Moses Estrada (born November 30, 1980) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2015. As an amateur, he competed at the 2004 Olympic Games in the super heavyweight division. He also won the gold medal at the 2003 ...

(USA) (2 times), David Cadieux (CAN) (2 times), Davin King (USA) (1-1), George Garcia (USA,MEX)(1-1) He was defeated by Manuel Azar (ARG)(once),

Pedro Carrion Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning " ...

and Michel López Núñez (CUB)(once), Davin King, George Garcia and Calvin Brock (USA)(once), Andrey Derevtsov (RUS)(once), Bermane Stiverne (CAN), Sebastian Koeber (GER), Jaroslav Jakstov (LIT)(once) He participated in 1999 Pan American Games Qualification Tournament for Central American - Salinas, Puerto Rico. These were his first amateur fights. Results were: won against

Benjamin Garcia Benjamin Garcia (born 5 April 1993) is a French professional rugby league footballer who plays as a forward and for the Catalans Dragons in the Super League and France at international level. He spent time with the Penrith Panthers as part ...

(MEX) 11:10 quarterfinal won against Leon Palmer (JAM) RSC 3 semifinal won against Juan Romans (COS) 9:6 final Participated in

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...

in Winnipeg, Canada with only 7 fights, results were: +91 kg lost against Manuel Azar (ARG) 14:7 quarterfinal Participated in 2000 Boxing Olympic Qualifications, results were: lost against Calvin Brock (USA) RSCH 3 Participated in

, Cartagena, Colombia results were: 91 kg won gold medal won against Cesar Uribe (MEX) KO 1, bodyshot, quarter final won against Elibert Cova (VEN) walkover, semifinal won against Kertson Manswell (TRI) RSCO 4, final Participated

2002 World cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

, Azerbaijan results were: +91 kg Participated with Mexican team because Puerto Rico did not participate. Mexico vs Korea won against Mouzafar Saipov (KOR) walkover Mexico vs Russia Lost against Andrey Derevtsov (RUS) 21:19 After this fight the spectators booed the decision. *

, Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana results were: +91 kg won bronze medal **won against David Cadieux (CAN) 19:12 quarter-final **lost against Michel López Núñez (CUB) 17:13 semifinal * 2004 Titan Games Atlanta, USA result were: **lost against Sebastian Koeber (GER) 25-18 * 2004 Boxing Olympic Qualifications Tijuana, Mexico results were: **lost against Bermane Stiverne (CAN) points doubtful decision **after Bermane Stiverne lost against George Garcia (MEX) * 2004 Boxing Olympic Qualifications Rio de Janeiro, Brasil results were: **won against Freeman Smith (BER) RSCO semifinal **won against George Garcia (MEX) 23-19 final *

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens, Greece result were: **lost against Jaroslavas Jaksto (LTU) 26:17 preliminaries

Professional career

Bisbal signed with

Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muh ...

for his professional debut in the year 2005,Rafael, Dan (2005)
Diaz hits books, then opponent
, ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'', January 19, 2005. Retrieved November 23, 2013 but after a defeat he continued his career without a promoter. He continued fighting and his manager was Evangelista Cotto, Bisbal posting a record of 13-1 11 knockouts. In 2009, a year since his fight number 15, Victor Bisbal began with a new manager Orlando Piñeiro, who also manages Juan Manuel Lopez, hoping that his career will reach many championship titles. Victor and Juan Manuel are very good friends, Victor can always be seen in the ring before and after Juan Manuel's importants fights.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

Yahoo! Sports
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bisbal, Victor 1980 births Living people People from Salinas, Puerto Rico Super-heavyweight boxers Heavyweight boxers Boxers at the 2003 Pan American Games Boxers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Puerto Rico Puerto Rican male boxers Pan American Games bronze medalists for Puerto Rico Pan American Games medalists in boxing Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Puerto Rico Competitors at the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in boxing Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games