Juan Meza
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Juan Meza (born Jesus Fernández, March 18, 1956 – July 20, 2023), also known for his nickname Kid Meza, was a Mexican professional boxer who was world Super Bantamweight champion. Meza was born in
Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the States of Mexico, Mexican state of Baja California. The city, which is the seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali, Cale ...
, Mexico.


Short biography

Juan Meza was born as Jesus Fernández on March 18, 1956. Prior to beginning his career, and for undisclosed reasons, he changed his name officially to Juan Meza. Meza was a popular fighter among
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
ns, specially those of Mexican descent who lived in North America. His trainer was the well known boxing personality, Jimmy Montoya. Juan Meza died on July 20, 2023, at the age of 67.


Professional career

Juan Meza debuted on September 23, 1977,
knocking out A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
Elias Rodriguez in three rounds at
Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
. Meza lost for the first time on his second bout, being beaten on points after four rounds by Valentin Holguin on October 13 in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. Six days later, he knocked out Davey White in
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. Eight days later, he had a rematch with Holguin, over the extremely rare five rounds schedule distance. He avenged his first loss by outpointing Holguin. On November 3, he scored his first knockout in the first round, defeating Horacio Pintado in Los Angeles. But, in his next fight, on November 18, he lost by a four-round decision to Carlos Ortiz, (not to be confused with the Puerto Rican world champion boxer and Hall of Famer of the same name) in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
. Meza began rising in boxing's ranks when he knocked Ortiz out in the first round on December 16, also at San Diego. He won 29 of his next 31 bouts, earning fame, particularly in the West Coast of the United States. Meza got his first world championship try, when he faced
Wilfredo Gómez Wilfredo Gómez RiveraAtlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...
, for the WBC world Super Bantamweight title. Meza lost to Gómez by a sixth-round knockout. After losing to Gómez, Mesa took off one year from boxing. During this time, Gómez left the championship vacant; to challenge for the WBC's world Featherweight championship, and Jaime Garza won it by knocking out Bobby Berna for the vacant championship. Meanwhile, Meza returned to boxing on April 26, 1983, knocking out Roberto Castillo in four rounds at Las Vegas. Meza traveled to
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
during July of that year, to fight Pongpan Sorphayathai on the 13th. of that month. He beat the Thai fighter by a third-round knockout. On November 19, he fought Javier Barajas in Las Vegas, beating Barajas by a ten-round decision. The pair had a rematch, on May 16, 1984 in Las Vegas, and Meza won once again, by a ten-round decision. After that, he was ranked as the number one Super Bantamweight challenger once again by the WBC. On November 3, he was given a second try at the championship when he faced Garza, in
Kingston, New York Kingston is the only Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in, and the county seat of, Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grou ...
. Meza became the first challenger in boxing history to be dropped in round one, get up and knock the world champion out in the same first round, when he beat Garza to become the WBC world Super Bantamweight champion that day. On April 19, 1985 he and
Julio César Chávez Julio César Chávez González (; born July 12, 1962), also known as Julio César Chávez Sr., is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2005. A multiple-time world champion in three weight divisions, Chávez was liste ...
co-starred in an undercard, defending their world championships against
Mike Ayala Mike Ayala (born January 19, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1975 to 1991. He is the former NABF super bantamweight and NABF featherweight champion. Amateur career Ayala won the 1973 National Golden Gloves flywe ...
and Ruben Castillo, respectively, at the
Inglewood Forum The Kia Forum, also known as Los Angeles Forum and formerly Great Western Forum, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Inglewood, California, United States, adjacent to Los Angeles. Located on West Manchester Boulevard, with Pincay Drive to the ...
, in
Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...
. Both champions retained their titles with sixth-round knockout wins. On August 18, he and
Lupe Pintor José Guadalupe Pintor Guzmán (born April 13, 1955), better known as Lupe Pintor, is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1995. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC bantamweight title fro ...
squared off in a fight that garnered major interest among Mexican boxing fans. Meza lost his title in
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
that night, when Pintor dropped him twice, outpointing him over twelve rounds. Pintor lost his title, in turn, to
Samart Payakaroon Samart Popteeratham (, born ''Samart Thipthamai'', ; December 5, 1962), known professionally as Samart Payakaroon (), is a Thai former professional Muay Thai fighter, professional boxer, and entertainer. He is a former four-division Lumpinee Sta ...
, who gave Meza a chance to recover the WBC world Super Bantamweight championship on December 10, 1986 in
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, 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 estim ...
. Despite not fighting for more than a year, Meza lasted until the twelfth round with Payakaroon, who proceeded to knock him out in that round. Meza had two fights in 1987, beating Lenny Valdez in the first round by knockout, and then losing to Javier Marquez by a knockout in round eight on October 30. After his fight with Marquez, he retired for ten years. On February 14, 1997, he returned to boxing with a knockout victory, beating Esteban Lozoya in four rounds at Mexicali. But, in his next fight, he met fringe contender Wilfredo Negron of
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
, being knocked out by the Puerto Rican in the first round at
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
. Meza then retired for the second time.


Professional boxing record


See also

*
List of world super-bantamweight boxing champions This is a list of world super-bantamweight boxing champions, as recognized by the four major sanctioning organizations in boxing: * The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA). The WBA often rec ...
*
List of Mexican boxing world champions A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meza, Juan 1956 births 2023 deaths Mexican male boxers Boxers from Mexicali Super-bantamweight boxers World super-bantamweight boxing champions World Boxing Council champions 20th-century Mexican sportsmen