Richard Torrez Jr. (born June 1, 1999) is an American professional boxer. As an amateur, Torrez qualified to represent the United States at the

2020 Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

where he won a silver medal. As a professional, he is 13–0 with 11 knockouts.

Early life and education

Torrez graduated from Palo Verde Elementary School in his native Tulare, California, in 2013. He competed on the chess team for

Mission Oak High School Mission Oak High School is a public high school in Tulare, California. Along with Tulare Union High School and Tulare Western High School Tulare Western High School () is a public high school in Tulare, California, United States. Tulare Weste ...

, where he graduated as valedictorian in 2017. Torrez and his friends in the school's robotics club were nearly suspended for trying to develop more efficient rocket fuel. "At high school, I think what surprised me most is I liked hanging out with the nerds more than I liked hanging out with the athletes," he said. Citing how

Vasyl Lomachenko Vasiliy Anatolyevich Lomachenko (also spelled Vasyl Anatoliyovych Lomachenko; , ; born 17 February 1988) is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed between 2013 and 2024. He has held multiple world championships in three weight class ...

learned dance to improve his boxing footwork, Torrez began studying ballet at the

College of the Sequoias College of the Sequoias (COS) is a public two-year community college in Visalia, California. The college is named for the Giant Sequoia trees native to the nearby Sierra Nevada mountain range. History College of the Sequoias was originally es ...

. He fell in love with it, and eventually played the part of Gaston in a production of ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

,'' an experience he found more terrifying than the Olympics.

Amateur career

He won a bronze medal at the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games (), officially the XVIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Lima 2019, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization held in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019, with preliminar ...

Super Heavyweight Super heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and bodybuilding, competitive bodybuilding. Boxing In amateur boxing, the super heavyweight division is a weight class division for fighters weighing in excess of 91 kilograms (200 pounds). Int ...

and placed 5th at the

2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships The 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships were held in Yekaterinburg, Russia from 9 to 21 September 2019. Weight classes have been adjusted to match those confirmed for the Boxing at the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2020 Olympic boxing tournament. Meda ...

in the same weight class. He won a silver medal at the 2020 Olympics, losing to a professional boxer

Bakhodir Jalolov Bakhodir Isomiddin oʻgʻli Jalolov (; born 8 July 1994) is an Uzbek professional boxer who won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships, and gold medals at the 2019 World Championships, 2023 World Championships, 2020 Summer Olympics and ...

in the final.

Professional career

Early career

On March 3, 2024 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, AZ, Torrez defeated Donald Haynesworth via first-round TKO. Torrez was scheduled to face Brandon Moore on May 18, 2024 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, CA. Torrez won the fight by TKO in the fifth round. Torrez was scheduled to face Joey Dawejko at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, AZ on September 20, 2024. He won the fight via fifth-round disqualification of his opponent, who lost his mouthpiece multiple times throughout the bout. Torrez is scheduled to face Guido Vianello in Las Vegas on April 5, 2025. Torrez Jr would win the fight by unanimous decision (98-91, 98-91, 97-92). Vianello was deducted a point for holding in the second round. Due to the high volume of holding and the sporadic nature of the action, the fight was criticized by the boxing press as being "ugly" though Torrez's ability to pressure and land his right hook out of his southpaw stance was commended.

Personal life

Torrez Jr. represents the third generation of a boxing family from

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. His great-grandfather, Juan Torrez, emigrated from

Fresnillo Fresnillo () is a city in north central Mexico, founded in 1554 by Francisco de Ibarra. It is the second largest city in Zacatecas state and the seat of Fresnillo municipality. As a rail and highway junction, Fresnillo is the center of a rich ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in 1920. His grandfather Manuel Torrez, was a southwest (USA) Golden Gloves champion and his father and coach Richard Torrez Sr. reached the quarterfinals in the U.S. Trials for the

1984 Olympics The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an i ...

. In his spare time, Torrez Jr. enjoys building rockets with his friends from high school.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Richard Torrez Jr.
at

USA Boxing USA Boxing is the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing. It is overseen by the United States Olympic Committee and World Boxing, which sets its rules. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA Boxing is a non-profit organizati ...

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torrez, Richard 1999 births Living people Boxers at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in boxing American male boxers American boxers of Mexican descent Boxers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in boxing Olympic boxers for the United States Boxers from California 21st-century American sportsmen