Juan Fernando Urango Rivas (born October 4, 1980), best known as Juan Urango, is a Colombian former

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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed from 2002 to 2012. He held the IBF

junior welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

title twice between 2006 and 2010, and challenged once for the WBC

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

title in 2009. His nickname of "Iron Twin" is a reference to his twin brother, Pedro Urango, who is also a former boxer.

Professional career

Urango made his professional debut on April 30, 2002, scoring a second-round

knockout 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, ...

against Efrain Sotomayor. On August 5, 2004, Urango challenged

Mike Arnaoutis Michalis John Arnaoutis 6 September 1979">.html"_;"title="6">6<_a>_September.html" ;"title="6.html" ;"title="6">6 September">6.html" ;"title="6">6 September 1979]is a Greek professional boxer who challenged for the WB ...

for the World Boxing Organization, WBO– NABO

light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

title, but their fight ended in a

majority draw A majority draw is an outcome in several full-contact combat sports, including boxing, mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporatin ...

. In his next fight, on December 16, 2004, Urango stopped Ubaldo Hernandez to win the vacant WBC Latino light welterweight title. He unified this with the IBF Latino title by knocking out Francisco Campos in five rounds on April 22, 2005. Urango won his first world championship—the vacant IBF light welterweight title—on June 20, 2006, by scoring a

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

(UD) over

Naoufel Ben Rabah Naoufel Ben Rabah (born 18 November 1977) is a Tunisian former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2013. He twice challenged for the IBF light welterweight title between 2006 and 2007. Born in Tunisia, Ben Rabah represented his nativ ...

, but would lose by the same result in his first defense, on January 20, 2007, against

Ricky Hatton Richard John Hatton (born 6 October 1978) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 1997 and 2012, and has since worked as a boxing promoter and boxing trainer, trainer. During his boxing career he held multiple world champi ...

(who had vacated the title in March 2006). 2009 was a busy year for Urango: on January 30, 2009, he regained the IBF title (which was again vacant) by defeating

Herman Ngoudjo Herman Ngoudjo (born 25 June 1979) is a Cameroonian-Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2010, and challenged twice for the IBF junior-welterweight title in 2008 and 2009. As an amateur he represented Cameroon at the 200 ...

via UD. On May 30, Urango briefly moved up to

, but lost an uncompetitive UD to WBC champion

Andre Berto Andre Michael Berto (born September 7, 1983) is a professional boxer who holds dual Haitian and American citizenship. A two-time former welterweight world champion, he held the World Boxing Council, WBC and International Boxing Federation, IBF t ...

. Returning on August 28, Urango faced

Randall Bailey Randall Bailey (born September 13, 1974) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2016. He is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBO light welterweight title from 1999 to 2000, and the IBF we ...

in defense of his IBF light welterweight title. In an action-packed fight, Urango was knocked down for the first time in his career, but responded by knocking down Bailey three times to score a late stoppage in the eleventh round. On March 6, 2010, Urango attempted to unify his IBF title with that of WBC champion

Devon Alexander Devon Alexander (born February 10, 1987) is an American professional boxer. Nicknamed "Alexander the Great", he is a former WBC and IBF light welterweight champion, as well as a former IBF welterweight champion. Biography Alexander grew up in ...

. The fight was competitive through eight rounds, until Alexander landed a hard right

uppercut The uppercut (formerly known as the undercut) is a punch used in boxing that starts low and travels upwards vertically aiming at the opponent's chin or upper abdomen (so-called " solar plexus"). It is, along with the cross, one of the two main p ...

to send Urango to the canvas. Despite being badly hurt, Urango managed to beat the referee's count and continue momentarily, but was then floored again. He got up for a second time, only for the referee to deem him unable to continue. Urango would spend more than two years away from the sport, retiring to work on a

pig farm Pig farming, pork farming, pig production or hog farming is the raising and breeding of domestic pigs as livestock, and is a branch of animal husbandry. Pigs are farmed principally for food (e.g. pork: bacon, ham, gammon) and skins. Pigs a ...

he had bought in Colombia. He had two comeback fights against

journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...

opposition on April 26 and September 14, 2012, but has not fought since.

Personal life

Urango is a devout

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, and was raised on his family's farm in

Montería Montería () is a municipality and city located in northern Colombia and the capital of the Departments of Colombia, Department of Córdoba Department, Córdoba. The city is located away from the Caribbean sea, by the Sinú River. The city and r ...

.Palmer Jr., Socrates (January 29, 2009)
"Juan Urango Follows His Faith"
. boxingtalk.com. Retrieved July 15, 2016.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Urango, Juan 1980 births International Boxing Federation champions Welterweight boxers Living people Colombian male boxers Colombian twins World light-welterweight boxing champions Colombian Christians Sportspeople from Montería 21st-century Colombian sportsmen