Manuel Medina (boxer)
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Manuel Rubio Medina (born March 30, 1971) is a Mexican 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 1985 to 2008. He is a five-time
featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...
champion, having held the IBF title thrice between 1991 and 2002, the WBC title in 1995, and the
WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...
title in 2003.


Professional boxing career

Manuel Medina began his professional boxing career on September 9, 1985, beating Daniel Flores by a four-round decision in
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, Mexico. Medina was only fourteen years old when his first professional fight took place. Medina won one more fight, then lost two bouts in a row: on December 5, he lost a four-round decision to Gerardo Martinez in his first fight abroad, held in
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, United States. On January 16, 1986, he suffered his first
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, ...
defeat, being stopped because of a cut by Alex Madrid in
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. After losing to Madrid, Medina had a streak of twenty seven wins in a row. That streak was stopped by Juan C. Salazar, who outpointed Medina over ten rounds on July 10, 1989, in
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. After two more victories, however, Medina contended for his first championship belt, the regional WBA "International"
super featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the New ...
title, which he won by a seventh round disqualification victory against Edgar Castro, on December 11 of that same year, in
Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria *Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewoo ...
. Medina retained that title twice, then defeated
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on May 21, 1990, also at Inglewood by a twelve-round decision. In his next fight on 5 July, he outpointed former world featherweight champion and
Barry McGuigan Finbar Patrick "Barry" McGuigan MBE (born 28 February 1961) is an Irish boxing promoter and former professional boxer. Born in Clones, County Monaghan, McGuigan was nicknamed ''The Clones Cyclone'' and held the WBA and lineal featherweight ...
conqueror, Steve Cruz over ten rounds.


1st Championship Reign

Medina won four bouts, then had his first chance at becoming a world champion, when, on August 12, 1991, he faced IBF featherweight champion
Troy Dorsey Troy Glenn Dorsey (born November 19, 1962) is a former U.S. boxer and kickboxer who competed in the bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight divisions. Known predominantly for his physical endurance and power, Dorsey began his martial arts tra ...
in Inglewood. Medina was knocked down twice early, but became a world champion by getting up and defeating Dorsey by a twelve-round decision. He made four defenses of his title, including victories against Tom Johnson, beaten by a nine rounds
technical decision A technical decision is a term used in boxing when a fight has to be stopped because of a headbutt. In mixed martial arts, a technical decision occurs when a fighter is rendered unable to continued by a foul and the majority of the final round ha ...
and
Fabrice Benichou Fabrice Benichou (born 5 April 1965) is a French former professional boxer. In 1987 Benichou was rated as the #4 bantamweight in the world. He become World Champion of boxing in 1989. He is three times super bantamweight World Champion, and two t ...
, another world champion boxer, outpointed by Medina over twelve rounds. His first reign as world featherweight champion took him to places like France and Italy. Medina lost the championship to Johnson by a twelve-round decision on their February 26, 1993 rematch, held in France. He turned to the super featherweight division, where he won one fight, then attempted to become world champion there also. But, on June 26 of the same year, he lost to IBF super featherweight champion
John John Molina Juan Molina (born March 17, 1965), better known as John John Molina in the world of boxing, is a former boxer whose career transcended boxing in Puerto Rico. A multiple time world champion, this boxer was also known as quite a socialite. Molina ...
by a twelve-round decision, in
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.


2nd Championship Reign

Medina then returned to featherweight, where he won two more fights before facing Johnson in a rubber match, held on January 28, 1995 at Atlantic City. Johnson retained the IBF featherweight title he had won from Medina by beating him via a twelve-round decision. In his next fight, Medina won the WBC's regional Fecarbox title by defeating Juan Polo Perez by a twelve-round unanimous decision on March 15 in
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. Medina's next fight was televised nationally in the United States, as he became world Featherweight champion for the second time, defeating Alejandro González on September 23 of '95, with a twelve-round unanimous decision, at
Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...
, for the WBC featherweight title. He lost the title in his first defense, losing a twelve-round decision to
Luisito Espinosa Luisito Pio Espinosa (born June 26, 1967) is a Filipino actor and former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2005. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight title from 198 ...
on December 11 at Tokyo, Japan. After a win, Medina tried to become a three time world featherweight champion by challenging
Naseem Hamed Naseem Hamed (Arabic: نسيم حميد; born 12 February 1974), nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002.Davies, Gareth A (8 June 2015)"Prince Naseem Hamed: 'I always thought they w ...
for Hamed's
WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...
title, but he was defeated by Hamed with an eleventh-round knockout on August 31, 1996 in
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. He followed that loss with a win, and another attempt at winning a world featherweight championship for a third time, this time around in a rematch with Espinosa. held on May 17, 1997. He lost to the Asian champion, this time by an eight rounds technical decision at
Intramuros Intramuros () is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila. Intramuros comprises a centuries-old hist ...
,
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. Medina then lost his next fight, by a ninth-round knockout on August 7, to future world champion Derrick Gainer. On October 18, he recovered from his two loss streak to defeat Jose Ayala in
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, winning the WBA's Fedecentro regional championship, and setting himself in a position to obtain another chance at winning the world featherweight title for the third time. He knocked Ayala out in the eighth round.


3rd Championship Reign

On April 24, 1998, Medina joined
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,
Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...
,
Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarde ...
,
Edwin Rosario Edwin "Chapo" Rosario Rivera (; March 15, 1963 – December 1, 1997) was a Puerto Rican professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 1997. He was a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC lightweight title from 1983 to 1984, ...
,
Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed championship (boxing), undisputed champion in the cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight division ...
and a small number of other boxers in the exclusive group of fighters to reign as world champions three or more times in the same division, when he outpointed defending IBF title holder Hector Lizarraga over twelve rounds in
San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...
. He retained the title on April 16, 1999, in
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with a nine rounds technical decision over former world super featherweight champion Victor Polo, then proceeded to lose the championship to
Paul Ingle Paul Andrew Ingle (born 22 June 1972) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 2000. He held featherweight world championships, including the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title from 1999 to 2000 and the lesser I ...
. The fight against Ingle, held on November 13 of the same year, in
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, England, went on to be considered one of the fights of the year by boxing fans, experts and magazine writers alike. Floored in the second and tenth rounds, Medina almost saved his title when he dropped Ingle in the twelfth and last round. He ended up losing a unanimous decision, however. Medina then met future world champion Frank Toledo, beating him in Las Vegas by a ten-round decision on May 19, 2000. Toledo then went on to win the IBF title by outpointing
Mbulelo Botile Mbulelo Botile (born 23 July 1972) is a South African former professional boxer who competed between 1989 and 2005. He is a weight class (boxing), world champion in two weight classes, having held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) bantam ...
, who had defeated Ingle. Medina, meanwhile, picked up two more wins, including a fourth-round knockout over future world title challenger
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.


4th Championship Reign

Medina and Toledo had a rematch on November 16, 2001, with Medina joining Robinson as a four-time world champion in the same division when he knocked Toledo out in the sixth round. His next fight was filled with controversy. Faced against former two division world champion
Johnny Tapia John Lee Anthony Tapia (February 13, 1967 – May 27, 2012) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2011. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the unified IBF and WBO super flyweight title ...
on April 27, 2002, Medina lost the title by a twelve-round majority decision at the
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in
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. The decision was criticized for months to come by writers from such publications as
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and
KO Magazine ''KO Magazine'' was a popular American boxing magazine. It was first published in 1980, to compete with '' The Ring''. It was founded by Stanley Weston Stanley Weston (né Weinburger; September 25, 1919 – April 11, 2002) was an American pub ...
. The official scorecards reflected a very close fight, with two judges scoring it 115-113 for Tapia and a third scoring the fight a 114-114 tie. Medina's first attempt at tying Robinson's record as the only boxer to win a world title in the same division five times came on February 1, 2003, when he and
Juan Manuel Márquez Juan Manuel Márquez Méndez (born August 23, 1973) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2014. He held multiple quadruple champion#Boxing, world championships in four weight classes, from featherweight to light welte ...
faced off in Las Vegas for the IBF championship vacated by Tapia. Medina was knocked out in the seventh round by Marquez, however.


5th Championship Reign

After two more wins, Medina got his second chance at becoming world featherweight champion for the fifth time against
WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...
champion Scott Harrison. The two boxers fought for the first time on July 12 at the
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in
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,
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. Medina made history and joined Robinson as the only two fighters in history to be five-time world champions in the same division, by defeating Harrison, who until then had been defeated only once, by a twelve-round split decision. A boxing magazine from the United States then called Medina ''the
gambler Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...
's nightmare'', because of his tendency to win world featherweight titles, lose them quickly, then regain them just as quick. Medina and Harrison were rematched on November 29 of the same year, and Harrison regained the WBO title with an eleventh-round knockout of Medina, again, at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow.


Super featherweight

Medina only fought once in 2004, defeating Leonardo Resendiz on July 23 at
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by a third-round knockout, to win the WBA's regional NABA
super featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the New ...
title. He was to fight
José Miguel Cotto José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...
on August 20, 2005 in
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. Had he beaten Cotto, he would have put himself in a position to challenge for the WBO super featherweight title. Cotto was not able to reduce weight to the super featherweight weight limit, however, so the fight was suspended. On 31-05-2006 he fought
Cassius Baloyi Cassius Baloyi (born 5 November 1974) is a retired professional boxer. He held the IBF super featherweight title twice between 2006 and 2009. Professional career Known as "Mr. Shy Guy", Baloyi turned pro in 1994 and captured the Vacant IBF Su ...
for the IBF super featherweight title, the same title he'd challenged Molina for back in 1993, and lost by 11th-round TKO. Medina returned to outpoint Kevin Kelley by a twelve-round majority decision, then fought a rematch with Baloyi on 05-07-2007 which was scored a technical draw after Medina suffered a cut from an accidental clash of heads. In his final fight, Medina lost by a two-round TKO to Malcolm Klassen. These final three bouts were all IBF super featherweight Title Eliminators. Medina has a record of 64 wins and 15 losses in 78 professional boxing bouts, with 30 wins by way of knockout.


Professional boxing record


See also

*
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:Medina, Manuel 1971 births Living people Boxers from Nayarit Featherweight boxers World Boxing Council champions International Boxing Federation champions World Boxing Organization champions Mexican male boxers People from Tecuala