Carlos Zenon Balderas Jr. (born August 24, 1996) is an American boxer who competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[1]

Carlos Balderas
Born (1996-08-24) August 24, 1996 (age 28)
Other namesKarlos
Statistics
Weight(s)lightweight
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Reach1.85 m (73 in)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights16
Wins14
Wins by KO12
Losses2

Personal life

edit

Balderas was born on June 24, 1996, in Lompoc, California. He was the first member of his family to be born in the United States;[2][3] his grandfather first came to California, leaving his wife and children behind in Oaxaca, Mexico, to work in strawberry fields, eventually earning the money to move the rest of the family to the United States.[2][3] Whilst growing up in Santa Maria, California, Balderas was first taken to a boxing gym as a punishment for fighting in the streets with his friends and getting suspended from school.[2][3] His older brother Jose is also a boxer.[4]

Career

edit

Balderas is coached by his father Zenon and his uncle David.[4]

In December 2014, Balderas won the lightweight division of the US National Team Trials, qualifying him for the 2015 Pan American Games held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where he received a first round bye and was defeated in the quarterfinals by Lindolfo Delgado of Mexico.[5] Balderas represented the USA Knockouts in the World Series of Boxing (WSB). In 2015 he took part in five bouts, defeating Fabio Introvaia of Italy, Dawid Michelus of Poland, Brian Nunez of Argentina and Adrian Javier Martinez Morales of Puerto Rico but losing to Azerbaijan's Albert Selimov. In 2016 he won his first two bouts against Lindolfo Delgado and Moroccan Hamza Rabii.[6]

He qualified for the men's lightweight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro Brazil via his results in the WSB where he won the gold medal in his elite division and was named Outstanding Boxer of the event. Balderas was given his Olympic allocation by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) after two of the athletes ahead of him in the final WSB rankings instead qualified for the Olympics through the 2015 World Championships.[4][7] Balderas won his first two Olympic matches but lost in the quarterfinals to Cuban finalist Lázaro Álvarez. On April 9, 2017, he won his pro debut by first-round TKO.[8]

Professional boxing record

edit
15 fights 14 wins 1 loss
By knockout 12 1
By decision 2 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
15 Win 14-1   Esteban Sanchez TKO 8 (8), 1:02 Nov 12, 2022   Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, U.S.
14 Win 13–1   Ruben Cervera UD 6 May 21, 2022   Resorts World Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
13 Win 12–1   Aelio Mesquita KO 2 (6), 0:38 Mar 4, 2022   Save Mart Center, Fresno, California, U.S.
12 Win 11–1   Julio Cortez TKO 4 (6), 2:13 Nov 20, 2021   Michelob Ultra Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
11 Win 10–1   Fidel Cervantes TKO 2 (6), 2:03 Aug 14, 2021   Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
10 Loss 9–1   Rene Tellez Giron KO 6 (8), 0:10 21 Dec 2019   Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, U.S.
9 Win 9–0   Robert Frankel TKO 7 (8), 1:34 13 Jul 2019   Minneapolis Armory, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
8 Win 8–0   Luis May KO 4 (8), 1:07 20 Apr 2019   Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California, U.S.
7 Win 7–0   Jose Cen Torres RTD 3 (6), 3:00 16 Feb 2019   Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
6 Win 6–0   Giovanni Caro KO 4 (6), 2:09 28 Jul 2018   Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
5 Win 5–0   Alex Silva KO 1 (6), 2:25 9 Jun 2018   Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
4 Win 4–0   Jorge Rojas Zacazontetl UD 4 17 Feb 2018   Don Haskins Center, El Paso, Texas, U.S.
3 Win 3–0   Carlos Flores KO 1 (8), 0:32 15 Dec 2017   Pioneer Event Center, Lancaster, California, U.S.
2 Win 2–0   Eder Amaro Fajardo KO 1 (6), 1:36 30 Jul 2017   Rabobank Arena, Bakersfield, California, U.S.
1 Win 1–0   Thomas Smith RTD 1 (6), 3:00 9 Apr 2017   The Novo, Los Angeles, California, U.S.

References

edit
  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Carlos Balderas". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on August 25, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Litman, Laken (March 10, 2016). "First-generation American Carlos Balderas hopes to put U.S. Boxing back on the medal stand in Rio". USA Today. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c McDonald, Scott (November 12, 2015). "First-Generation American Carlos Balderas Qualifies For Rio Olympics, Fulfills His American Dream". United States Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on November 16, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "Lightweight Carlos Balderas Is First U.S. Boxer To Qualify For 2016 Olympics". United States Olympic Committee. November 9, 2015. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  5. ^ "Boxing - Athlete Profile Balderas Carlos". Official Website of the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  6. ^ "Light Balderas Jr. Carlos". World Series of Boxing. Archived from the original on June 2, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  7. ^ Velin, Bob (November 8, 2015). "Carlos Balderas, 19, first to qualify for U.S. Olympic men's boxing team". USA Today. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  8. ^ "BoxRec: Carlos Balderas".
edit