BoztheMadman Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Joan Guzman was no Tyson, but a very complete fighter who hit hard at super bantamweight and at that weight he truly was a ko artist like Tyson. As he moved up in weight, he became more of a slick boxer who still liked to come forward and mix it up. He had it all, including a solid chin, and was never stopped as a pro. We can safely say there hasn’t yet been a Dominican that is as good a boxer as he was. However, his career later became marred with weight making problems, as well as testing positive for a banned substance and therefore he didn’t win as many world titles as he could, but he remained undefeated for a long time and only lost once, at the end of his career. Born on 1 May 1976 in Santo Domingo, the capital of Dominican Republic, he started boxing at the age of nine and won 310 out of 320 amateur fights, including a gold medal at the 1995 Pan American Games. He also qualified for the 1996 Olympics but lost in the first round of competition against Omar Narvaez, later multiple world champion. The 5’7 (170 cm) Guzman started his professional career in Phoenix on 23 September 1997 and knocked out Juan Miguel Rivera in two rounds. After winning one more fight against Henry Bowden by another KO2 in December that year, he took a break from boxing and returned on 11 March ‘99, fighting out of his hometown. On 5 October that year, he won the Dominican featherweight title by TKO11 against Francisco De Leon but later relinquished it to compete at super bantamweight. On 9 August 2001, he won both the Dominican and vacant WBO NABO titles with a stunning knockout in 2 rounds against Hector Avila, an accomplished amateur. This gave him a crack at the WBO belt and he went to Cardiff to fight for it against Fabio Daniel Oliva, after original champion Agapito Sanchez got stripped. It was on 17 August ‘02 that Guzman became the champion for the first time, knocking out Oliva in only 3 rounds. After scoring two first round knockouts in non-title fights, he defended for the first time against Agapito Sanchez, who was coming off a long layoff. Since Sanchez also was a Dominican, it was a great domestic showdown, but the fight was held in San Diego, 26 February ‘04. Guzman dropped the shorter Sanchez in the second round and dominated the fight before winning by TKO7. He made one more defense against Fernando Beltran, 22 April ‘05 in Hidalgo, TX, and won by UD. He vacated the title to return to his original featherweight division and scored important victories against Terdsak Kokietgym and Javier Jauregui, both by UD, before moving up to super featherweight to challenge the WBO champion Jorge Rodrigo Barrios on 16 September ‘06. The fight was held at MGM Grand and after 12 rounds, Guzman was proclaimed the winner by split decision. He again made two defenses, against Antonio Davis and Humberto Soto, both by UD, before he again had to vacate because he couldn’t make the weight anymore. He won the WBA eliminator against hard hitting Ammeth Diaz on 20 December 2008 and on 28 November next year he fought against the 6’1 Ali Funeka for the vacant IBF title. The fight ended a draw, despite many feeling Funeka deserved the nod. A rematch happened on 27 March 2010 and this time, Guzman came in over the weight limit, so he could not win the title. Ironically, he put on a very good performance this time and dropped Funeka in round 6 before winning by SD. Once again, he was forced to move to another division, his final one- light welterweight. He made his debut at this weight against Jason Davis, at the undercard of Khan vs Maidana, 11 December 2010. He won by a second round TKO, but a month later, he was found to have tested positive for a diuretic called Furosemid, which was banned by Nevada State Athletic Commission and hence, the result was changed into a no contest. He was suspended for 8 months and returned on 18 November ‘11 against Florencio Castellanos, impressively scoring a KO1, which showed his power had improved at 140. He however constantly weighed in above 140 in his bouts after moving up there. After knocking out Luis Pabon in 8 rounds and Jorge Pimentel, he finally landed another world title shot, fighting for the vacant WBA title against the new hot contender, Khabib Allakhverdiev of Russia. That fight took place on 30 November ‘12 at BD&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. The 36-yearold Guzman found himself outpaced by the younger Russian and was down in round 3 but came back to make the fight competitive in rounds 6 and 7 until it got stopped in round 8 after Guzman tripped and suffered an injured knee. The result was a technical decision loss for Guzman, his first as a pro. Two judges had Allakhverdiev ahead and the third had Guzman the winner. Thus, even though he lost, it was more due to bad luck than not being good enough. He came back to the ring for the last time on 31 October 2014, fighting as a middleweight but ironically coming over that weight as well, and stopping the 11-69 Kevin Carter by TKO5 in Nashville. He was 38 when he retired, with a record of 34 wins, 21 by ko, 1 loss and 1 draw. He now works as a trainer in Gleason’s Gym in NY, where he started his professional career. Joan Guzman was a true boxing prodigy or marvel, he had great movement and defense and read his opponents very well. He had power as well and could take a good punch and has only been down against Allakhverdiev, I believe. But, his weight struggles might indicate he wasn’t dedicated enough in training or maybe he didn’t hold the right diet and he had that case of doping, even if for one fight only. His legacy will however remain an outstanding one, but of a boxer that probably could’ve achieved even more, had he been able to make the weight. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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