José Antonio Rivera
 |
| Jose Antonio Rivera | |
|---|---|
.jpg) José Antonio Rivera in October 2007 | |
| Statistics | |
| Nickname(s) | El Gallo |
| Weight(s) | |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | April 7, 1973 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 50 |
| Wins | 43 |
| Wins by KO | 25 |
| Losses | 6 |
| Draws | 1 |
| No contests | 0 |
José Antonio Rivera (born April 7, 1973) is an American professional boxer of Puerto Rican descent. He is a former WBA welterweight and super welterweight world champion.
Professional career
He turned professional in October 1992. He won the Massachusetts State Champion twice, the USBA Regional Championship, the IBO world title, and the NABA title.
On September 13, 2003, in Germany, Jose fought unbeaten European champion Michel Trabant and won the WBA welterweight world title.
On April 2, 2005, in his defense of the WBA title, he lost a very close split decision to his challenger Luis Collazo.
On May 6, 2006, he would move up a weight class to junior middleweight and fight WBA welterweight world champion Alejandro Garcia. He managed to knock him down five times and won to become the new WBA champion.
On January 6, 2007, Jose defended his new WBA title against Travis Simms but lost in a ninth-round technical knockout.
In October he was ko'd by Daniel Santos. He had announced his intention to retire before that fight.
Jose made a brief one-fight comeback in August 2008, beating Clarence Taylor in an 8-round decision. He completed for the last time in 2019, defeating Travis Scott in Worcester, Massachusetts. He is interviewed in an episode of the Amazon audiobook Everipedia Boxing Show with Matthew E. O'Neil. It was released on Amazon in 2021 in 13 countries.
See also
External links
- Boxing record for José Antonio Rivera from BoxRec (registration required)
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