Jonathan Oquendo Explained

Jonathan Oquendo
Real Name:Jonathan Oquendo Arnaldi
Nickname:Polvo
Weight:
Height:5 ft 4 in
Reach:67 in
Nationality:Puerto Rican
Birth Date:3 August 1983
Birth Place:Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Style:Orthodox
Boxrec:260542
Total:40
Wins:31
Ko:19
Losses:9

Jonathan Oquendo Arnaldi (born August 3, 1983) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer who has challenged twice for a world title: the WBA (Regular) featherweight title in 2015, and the WBO junior lightweight title in September 2020. He has held multiple regional titles, including the WBO–NABO junior featherweight title in 2010 and the junior lightweight version from 2018 to 2019.

Professional career

Oquendo made his professional debut on June 25, 2004, scoring a third-round technical knockout (TKO) victory against Yuniel Ramos at the Civic Center in Kissimmee, Florida.[1]

After compiling a record of 14–1 (9 KOs) he faced future two-weight world champion Juan Manuel López for the WBO Latino junior featherweight title on February 23, 2008, at the Coliseo Héctor Solá Bezares in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Oquendo suffered his second professional defeat, losing by third-round TKO. At the time of the stoppage he was behind on the scorecards, with all three judges scoring the bout in López' favor at 20–15, 19–16, and 19–17.[2]

He bounced back from defeat with three wins, two by stoppage, before making a second attempt at the WBO Latino title, facing Jose Angel Beranza on February 27, 2010, at the Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Oquendo captured his first professional title, defeating Beranza via unanimous decision (UD) over twelve rounds, with the judges' scorecards reading 118–108, 117–109, and 114–112.[3]

In his next fight he faced Eden Sonsona for the vacant WBO-NABO junior featherweight title on July 10, 2010, at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum. Oquendo captured his second regional title, defeating Sonsona via ninth-round knockout (KO). At the time of the stoppage Oquendo was ahead on the two of the judges' scorecards at 75–73 and 74–73, while the third judge scored the bout 75–74 in favour of Sonsona.[4]

Following two more KO wins he made his third attempt for the WBO Latino title, this time facing Jose Luis Araiza for the vacant title on October 1, 2011, at the Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez.[5] Oquendo dropped his opponent to the canvas in the first round en route to a second-round KO victory.[6]

For his next fight he returned to the Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, facing former world champion Wilfredo Vázquez Jr. for the vacant WBO International junior featherweight title on October 6, 2012. In a fight which Oquendo was winning on the scorecards, he was forced to go down to the canvas on one knee following a series of punches in round seven. He stayed down until the referee finished the count of ten, handing him a TKO defeat.[7]

He came back from defeat to score two wins, one by stoppage, before suffering his fourth defeat at the hands of former two-weight world champion Abner Mares in July 2014.[8] Eight months later he faced Gabino Cota for the WBO Latino interim featherweight title on March 6 at the Civic Center in Kissimmee, Florida. Oquendo captured the interim regional title with a wide UD win over ten rounds, with two judges scoring the bout 99–91 and the third scoring it 98–92.[9]

Following a ten-round majority decision (MD) victory against former two-weight world champion Jhonny González in September,[10] Oquendo got his first chance to fight for a world title, challenging WBA (Regular) featherweight champion Jesús Cuellar. The bout took place on December 5, 2015, at the Barclays Center in New York City, and served as part of the undercard for the Daniel Jacobs vs. Peter Quillin world title fight. Oquendo was sent down to the canvas in the fourth round en route to a UD loss, with one judge scoring the bout a shutout at 120–107 and the other two scoring it 116–111.[11]

After his defeat to Cuellar, Oquendo he moved up a division to junior lightweight. He scored two stoppage wins before fighting for his first title at the weight—the WBO-NABO junior lightweight title—against Jose Lopez on October 6, 2018, at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan. Oquendo suffered a knockdown in the first round, only to go on to win the bout in the seventh round after a flurry of unanswered punches forced the referee to step in and call a halt to the contest, handing Oquendo a TKO win and the regional WBO title.[12]

Following an eight-round UD victory against Deivi Julio Bassa in a non-title fight in December,[13] he made a defense of his title against Lamont Roach Jr., with Roach's WBO International title also on the line. The bout took place on May 4, 2019, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, and served as part of the undercard for the Canelo Álvarez vs. Daniel Jacobs world title fight. Oquendo suffered his sixth professional defeat, losing by a wide UD over ten rounds, with one judge scoring the bout 96–93 and the other two scoring it 97–92.[14]

He came back from defeat to capture the vacant WBO Latino junior lightweight title on November 14, 2019, defeating Charles Huerta via UD over ten rounds at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles, California, with all three judges scoring the bout 100–90.[15]

He was set to make a second attempt at a world title, challenging WBO junior lightweight champion Jamel Herring. The bout was scheduled to take place on July 2, 2020, at the MGM Grand Conference Center, in Paradise, Nevada, however, after Herring tested positive for COVID-19, the bout was postponed to July 14. After Herring gave a negative test prior to July 14, he was given the go ahead to travel to the MGM Grand and enter 'the bubble'—a predesignated containment area at the MGM Grand for fighters, trainers and officials involved in the event[16] —before taking another test for COVID-19. The second test, however, gave another positive result, causing the fight to be postponed once again with the new date being scheduled for September 5.[17]

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
40Loss31–9Jordan WhiteTKO1 (10), May 18, 2024
39Loss31–8Toka Kahn Clary UD10Nov 19, 2022
38Loss31–7Jamel HerringDQ8 (12), Sep 5, 2020
37Win31–6Charles HuertaUD10Nov 14, 2019
36Loss30–6Lamont Roach Jr.UD10May 4, 2019
35Win30–5Deivi Julio BassaUD8Dec 8, 2018
34Win29–5Jose LopezTKO6 (10), Oct 6, 2018
33Win28–5Daulis PrescottTKO2 (8)Aug 4, 2018
32Win27–5Orlando Rizo5 (10), Jul 21, 2017
31Loss26–5Jesús CuellarUD12Dec 5, 2015
30Win26–4Jhonny González10Sep 12, 2015
29Win25–4Gabino CotaUD10Mar 6, 2015
28Loss24–4Abner MaresUD10Jul 12, 2014
27Win24–3Guillermo AvilaUD12Mar 14, 2014
26Win23–3José Miguel TamayoTKO4 (8), Aug 17, 2013
25Loss22–3Wilfredo Vázquez Jr.7 (12), Oct 6, 2012
24Win22–2Jose Luis AraizaKO2 (12), Oct 1, 2011
23Win21–2Adolfo LanderosKO1 (10), Jun 3, 2011
22Win20–2Cecilio SantosKO1 (10), Jan 22, 2011
21Win19–2Eden SonsonaTKO9 (10), Jul 10, 2010
20Win18–2Jose Angel BeranzaUD12Feb 27, 2010
19Win17–2Juan José BeltránTKO2 (8), Oct 24, 2009
18Win16–2Felix FloresTKO5 (8), Jun 26, 2009
17Win15–2Jose Angel BeranzaUD10Oct 17, 2008
16Loss14–2Juan Manuel LópezTKO3 (12), Feb 23, 2008
15Win14–1Andrés LedesmaTKO2 (8), Dec 8, 2007
14Win13–1Pedro Rincon MirandaKO1 (4), Aug 25, 2007
13Loss12–1Oscar Andrade6 (10), Apr 20, 2007
12Win12–0Alejandro MontielTKO1 (10), Dec 16, 2006
11Win11–0Paulino VillalobosUD8Sep 15, 2006
10Win10–0Arturo BracamontesTKO4 (6), Jul 15, 2006
9Win9–0Torrence DanielsUD8May 6, 2006
8Win8–0Terrance RoyTKO3 (8), Jan 27, 2006
7Win7–0David Vasquez2 (6)Oct 21, 2005
6Win6–0Elvis Luciano MartinezUD6Sep 1, 2005
5Win5–0Tim CarrizalesTKO2 (6), Jul 16, 2005
4Win4–0Alexander AlonzoUD4Apr 29, 2005
3Win3–0Ray RyanTKO2 (4), Mar 11, 2005
2Win2–0Robert DaLuz4Feb 4, 2005
1Win1–0Yuniel Ramos3 (4), Jun 25, 2004

Notes and References

  1. Web site: BoxRec: Jonathan Oquendo vs. Yuniel Ramos. August 13, 2020. BoxRec.
  2. Web site: BoxRec: Jonathan Oquendo vs. Juan Manuel López. August 13, 2020. BoxRec.
  3. Web site: BoxRec: Jonathan Oquendo vs. Jose Angel Beranza. August 13, 2020. BoxRec.
  4. Web site: BoxRec: Jonathan Oquendo vs. Eden Sonsona. August 13, 2020. BoxRec.
  5. Web site: September 25, 2011. Juanma-Oliver: The Full Supporting Card is Finalized. August 13, 2020. BoxingScene.com. en-us.
  6. Web site: Donovan. Jake. October 1, 2011. JuanMa Lopez Annihilates Mike Oliver In Two Rounds. August 13, 2020. BoxingScene.com. en-us.
  7. Web site: Donovan. Jake. October 7, 2012. Wilfredo Vazquez Jr Rallies, Knocks Out Oquendo In Seven. August 13, 2020. BoxingScene.com. en-us.
  8. Web site: Rosenthal. Michael. July 12, 2014. Abner Mares defeats Jonathan Oquendo by a unanimous decision. August 13, 2020. The Ring.
  9. Web site: Donovan. Jake. March 7, 2015. Oquendo Tops Cota In Telemundo Season Premiere. August 13, 2020. BoxingScene.com. en-us.
  10. Web site: Reeno. Rick. September 12, 2015. Jonathan Oquendo Drops, Stuns Jhonny Gonzalez. August 13, 2020. BoxingScene.com. en-us.
  11. Web site: Gerbasi. Thomas. December 5, 2015. Jesus Cuellar Retains, Wins Decision Over Oquendo. August 13, 2020. BoxingScene.com. en-us.
  12. Web site: October 7, 2018. Jonathan Oquendo Breaks Down, Stops Jose Lopez. August 13, 2020. BoxingScene.com. en-us.
  13. Web site: BoxRec: Jonathan Oquendo vs. Deivi Julio Bassa. August 13, 2020. BoxRec.
  14. Web site: Manzano. Gilbert. May 4, 2019. Lamont Roach Tested in Decision Over Jonathan Oquendo. August 13, 2020. BoxingScene.com. en-us.
  15. Web site: Donovan. Jake. November 15, 2019. Jonathan Oquendo Shuts Out Charles Huerta at Belasco. August 13, 2020. BoxingScene.com. en-us.
  16. Web site: Kim. Steve. July 24, 2020. Steve Kim: My experience watching boxing inside 'The Bubble'. August 13, 2020. ESPN. en.
  17. Web site: Salazar. Francisco. August 13, 2020. Jamel Herring vs. Jonathan Oquendo to be rescheduled once again for Sept. 5. August 13, 2020. The Ring.