Joel Jalil Julio Mejia (born January 18, 198
in
Montería
Montería () is a municipality and city located in northern Colombia and is the capital of the Department of Córdoba. The city is located away from the Caribbean sea, by the Sinú River. The city and region are known for their distinct cultur ...
,
Colombia) is a professional
Colombian
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
* Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
*Boxer (dog), a breed of dog
Boxer or boxers may also refer to:
Animal kingdom
* Boxer crab
* Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans
* Boxer snipe ee ...
rated as a
junior middleweight
Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the International Boxing Federation, IBF or ...
. In 2005, he was named
ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc.
History
Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...
's Boxing
Prospect of the Year and he has appeared on
Ring Magazine's New Faces feature, as well as in
ShoBox.
Professional career
Julio's first loss was a 12 round unanimous decision to
Puerto Rican boxer
Carlos Quintana on June 24, 2006. He has since moved up to Junior Middleweight and bounced back with 5 consecutive wins, a disputed split decision over Cosme Rivera and 3 impressive KO wins over Francisco Campos, Thomas Davis and Mauro Lucero.
On July 11, 2007, Julio faced
Cornelius Bundrage
Cornelius Bundrage (born April 25, 1973) is an American professional boxer. He is a two-time former world champion, having held the IBF junior middleweight title twice between 2010 and 2015. In 2006 he was a contestant on season two of the '' ...
of
Contender fame. Julio's skill and accuracy became evident early in the fight as he outlanded the slower Bundrage. Julio scored knockdowns in the third and eighth rounds, ultimately winning via eighth round TKO.
Julio took on another former "Contender" participant
Ishe Smith
Ishé Oluwa Kamau Ali Smith ( ; born July 22, 1978) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2019. He held the IBF junior middleweight title in 2013, and is the first boxer from Las Vegas to become a professional world ...
on April 30, 2008 in Vancouver. Smith's defensive style nullified Julio's power but it was not enough to get him the win, with Julio taking a close 10 round unanimous decision.
On August 13, 2008, at the
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in
Hollywood, Florida, Julio defeated Jose Varela by sixth round technical knockout. Julio knocked down his opponent five times before Varela's corner stopped the fight after the conclusion of round six.
[ ]
On November 1, 2008 Julio suffered the second loss of his career to southpaw
Sergiy Dzindziruk
Sergiy Dzinziruk ( Ukrainian: Сергій Дзиндзирук; born 1 March 1976) is a Ukrainian professional boxer and a former WBO super welterweight champion.
Amateur
As an amateur he won a silver medal at the 1997 World Amateur Boxing Ch ...
via 12 round unanimous decision.
He was stopped by fellow power-punching prospect
James Kirkland in his next bout, March 7, 2009.
He was knocked out by
Alfredo Angulo
Alfredo Angulo López (born August 11, 1982) is a Mexican professional boxer who held the WBO interim light middleweight title from 2009 to 2010. As an amateur he represented Mexico at the 2004 Olympics, reaching the first round of the mid ...
during their bout on April 24, 2010.
Titles Won
Julio hasn't held a major title, but captured the following regional titles:
*
WBA FEDEBOL Welterweight Title (2003)
*
WBC Continental Americas Light Welterweight Title (2003)
*
WBA Fedecentro Welterweight Title (2006)
*
WBO Latino Welterweight Title (2006)
Professional boxing record
References
External links
Interview with Joel Julio*
ESPN.com article naming Joel Julio 2005 Prospect of the Year
1985 births
Living people
Colombian male boxers
Light-middleweight boxers
People from Montería
21st-century Colombian people
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