Jesus Rojas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Jesus Manuel Rojas Diaz December 26, 1986 Caguas, Puerto Rico |
| Nationality | Puerto Rican |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) |
| Reach | 68 in (173 cm) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 33 |
| Wins | 27 |
| Wins by KO | 20 |
| Losses | 3 |
| Draws | 2 |
| No contests | 1 |
Jesus Manuel Rojas Diaz (born December 26, 1986, in Caguas, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican boxer who is the former WBA (Regular) featherweight champion.
After turning professional in 2006 Rojas amassed a record of 25–1–2–1 in 11 years before challenging and beating Dominican Claudio Marrero for the interim WBA featherweight title. [1] [2]
In July 2018 the World Boxing Association announced that Rojas has been upgraded to 'Regular champion' and that he will be making his first defense against Mexican American boxer Joseph Diaz. [3] Diaz however, came into the fight overweight, missing the required weight limit by 0.6 pounds. According to WBA rules, this meant that Rojas gets to keep his title regardless of the outcome of the fight. Diaz would end up handing Rojas his first defeat in 10 years, by a 12-round unanimous decision. [4]
In a fight deemed an early "fight of the year" candidate, Rojas was defending his WBA title against Chinese star and WBA #2 at featherweight Can Xu. [5] Xu edged out Rojas in a highly controversial unanimous decision. The official scorecards, 118–110, 117–111, and 116–112 were in wide favor of Xu, even though the punch output from Rojas suggested that the fight was much closer than that. [6]
| 33 fights | 27 wins | 3 losses |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 20 | 0 |
| By decision | 7 | 3 |
| Draws | 2 | |
| No contests | 1 | |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | Win | 27–3–2 (1) |  Luis Castillo Leal | TKO | 4 (10) | 05–18–2019 |  Coliseo Roger L. Mendoza, Caguas | |
| 32 | Loss | 26–3–2 (1) |  Xu Can | UD | 12 (12) | 01–26–2019 |  Toyota Center, Houston | Lost WBA (Regular) featherweight title |
| 31 | Loss | 26–2–2 (1) | Joseph Diaz | UD | 12 (12) | 08–11–2018 | Avalon Hollywood, Los Angeles | |
| 30 | Win | 26–1–2 (1) |  Claudio Marrero | KO | 7 (12) | 09-15–2017 | MGM Grand Marquee Ballroom, Las Vegas | Won WBA interim featherweight title |
| 29 | Win | 25–1–2 (1) | Abraham Lopez | TKO | 8 (10) | 05–05–2017 | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas | Won NABA featherweight title |
| 28 | Win | 24–1–2 (1) | Jesus A Valdez | TKO | 5 (10) | 09-17–2016 | Coliseo Héctor Solá Bezares, Caguas | Won vacant WBA Fedecaribe featherweight title |
| 27 | Win | 23–1–2 (1) | Kiun Evans | KO | 1 (10) | 03-19–2016 | Mario Morales Coliseum, Guaynabo | |
| 26 | Draw | 22–1–2 (1) | Jorge Lara | TD | 6 (10) | 09–08–2015 | Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles | |
| 25 | Win | 22–1–1 (1) | Braulio Santos | UD | 8 (8) | 05-16–2015 | Coliseo Pedrin Zorilla, San Juan | |
| 24 | Win | 21–1–1 (1) | Jose Angel Beranza | UD | 10 (10) | 08–30-2014 | Auditorio Juan Pachín Vicéns, Ponce | |
| 23 | Win | 20–1–1 (1) | Juan Carlos Pena | TKO | 6 (9) | 06-28–2014 | Sheraton Hotel, Santo Domingo | Won WBA Fedecentro super-bantamweight title |
| 22 | Win | 19–1–1 (1) | Juan Jose Beltran | KO | 1 (6) | 03-22–2014 | Auditorio Juan Pachín Vicéns, Ponce | |
| 21 | NC | 18–1–1 (1) | Jorge Arce | NC | 2 (10) | 06-09–2012 | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas | |
| 20 | Draw | 18–1–1 | Jose Luis Araiza | MD | 8 (8) | 01-07–2012 | Diplomat Resort & Spa, Hollywood | |
| 19 | Win | 18–1 | Miguelo Tavarez | TKO | 2 (6) | 08-06–2011 | Parque del Este, Santo Domingo | |
| 18 | Win | 17–1 | Isaac Hidalgo | UD | 6 (6) | 03-12–2011 | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas | |
| 17 | Win | 16–1 |  Reynaldo Lopez | SD | 6 (6) | 11-05–2010 | Coliseo Cosme Beitia Salamo, Catano | |
| 16 | Win | 15–1 | Luis Angel Paneto | KO | 1 (6) | 08-28–2010 | Coliseo Ruben Viera, Las Piedras | |
| 15 | Win | 14–1 |  Richard Pitt | KO | 2 (6) | 06-04–2010 | Coliseo Rafael G Amalbert, Juncos | |
| 14 | Loss | 13–1 | Jose Angel Beranza | UD | 8 (8) | 12-06–2008 | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas | |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 |  Anyetei Laryea | UD | 8 (8) | 07-26–2008 | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Alex Baba | TKO | 6 (8) | 06-28–2008 | Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Andres Ledesma | TKO | 4 (8) | 04–12–2008 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Carlos Diaz | TKO | 6 (6) | 11-10–2007 | Madison Square Garden, New York | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Baladan Trevizo | TKO | 4 (6) | 08-25–2007 | Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, Bayamon | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Torrence Daniels | UD | 6 (6) | 06-09–2007 | Madison Square Garden, New York | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 |  Ricardo Blackman | KO | 1 (6) | 05-11–2007 | Coliseo Angel 'Cholo' Espada, Salinas | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Enrique Quevedo | UD | 6 (6) | 03–03–2007 | Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Ubaldo Olivencia | TKO | 2 (4) | 12-02–2006 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Arturo Colon | KO | 1 (4) | 09-30–2006 | Coliseo Héctor Solá Bezares, Caguas | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Jose Gonzalez | TKO | 2 (4) | 08-04–2006 | Coliseo Pedrín Zorrilla, Hato Rey | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Jose Gonzalez | TKO | 2 (4) | 04-29–2006 | Mario Morales Coliseum, Guaynabo | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Christopher Sanchez | TKO | 1 (4) | 03-04–2006 | Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, Bayamon | Professional debut |
Juan Laporte, also known as Juan La Porte is a former boxer who was born in Guayama, Puerto Rico. In 1982, La Porte won the vacant WBC featherweight title, forcing undefeated Colombian Mario "Martillo" Miranda to quit on his stool. Throughout his 22-year-long career, La Porte fought some of the greatest fighters of each decade, including Hall of Fame members Salvador Sanchez, Eusebio Pedroza, Azumah Nelson, Wilfredo Gomez, Barry McGuigan, Kostya Tszyu & Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. He retired in 1999 with a record of 40–16, with many of his losses being highly competitive, and sometimes controversial, affairs.
The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO). The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded in the United States in 1921 by 13 state representatives as the NBA, in 1962 it changed its name in recognition of boxing's growing popularity worldwide and began to gain other nations as members.
Juan Manuel Márquez Méndez is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2014. He held multiple world championships in four weight classes, from featherweight to light welterweight, including the lineal championship at lightweight.
Yuriorkis Gamboa Toledano is a Cuban professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight title from 2009 to 2011, and the International Boxing Federation (IBF) featherweight title from 2010 to 2011. As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the flyweight division at the 2004 Olympics, and a bronze in the featherweight division at the 2005 World Championships.
Hugo Ruiz Dominguez is a Mexican professional boxer. He is the former WBC Super bantamweight.
Javier Fortuna Francisco is a Dominican professional boxer. The WBA (Regular) super featherweight title from 2015 to 2016, and challenged for the IBF lightweight title in 2018.
Amanda Serrano is a Puerto Rican professional boxer and mixed martial artist. As a boxer, she is the unified featherweight world champion, having held the WBO title since 2019, IBO title since 2021 and the WBA title since 2023. She held the IBF title between 2022 and 2024. She is the only female, and Puerto Rican, to win world titles in more than four weight classes, and holds the Guinness World Record for the most boxing world championships won in different weight-classes by a female, having held 9 major world titles across seven different weight classes.
Bryan Vázquez is a Costa Rican former professional boxer.
Tugstsogt Nyambayar is a Mongolian professional boxer who held the IBO featherweight title in 2019 and challenged for the WBC featherweight title in 2020. As an amateur, he won silver medals at the 2009 World Championships and 2012 London Olympics.
Joseph "JoJo" Pedroza Diaz Jr. is a Mexican-American professional boxer who held the IBF super featherweight title from 2020 to February 2021.
Carlos Zambrano Córdova is a Peruvian former professional boxer. He had an amateur record of 288 wins and 6 defeats (288-6-0).
Jesús Marcelo Andrés Cuéllar is an Argentine professional boxer. He held the WBA(regular) featherweight title from 2015 to 2016.
Claudio Marrero Guzman is a Dominican professional boxer.
Thammanoon Niyomtrong, known by his ring name Knockout CP Freshmart, is a Thai professional boxer and former Muay Thai fighter who held the World Boxing Association (WBA) mini-flyweight title from 2016 to 2020, and the from 2020 to 2024.
Xu Can is a Chinese professional boxer who held the World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight title from 2019 to 2021.
Daniela Romina Bermúdez is an Argentine professional boxer. She is a former world champion in three weight classes, having held the WBO female bantamweight title twice between 2013 and 2020; the WBO female super-flyweight title from 2014 to 2017; and the IBF female junior-featherweight title twice between 2018 and 2020. She is the older sister of former light-flyweight world champion of boxing, Evelyn Nazarena Bermúdez.
Chris Colbert is an American professional boxer who held the WBA interim super featherweight title from 2020 to August 2021.
Lamont Roach Jr. is an American professional boxer who has held the WBA super featherweight title since 2023.
Jonathan Oquendo Arnaldi is a Puerto Rican professional boxer who has challenged twice for a world title: the WBA (Regular) featherweight title in 2015, and the WBO junior lightweight title in September 2020. He has held multiple regional titles, including the WBO–NABO junior featherweight title in 2010 and the junior lightweight version from 2018 to 2019.
The history of the sport of boxing in Puerto Rico is a varied and extensive one. Boxing is a major sport in the Caribbean country, and the sport has produced many champions for the island, both in the amateur and professional ranks, and among men and women fighters.