| Rocky Juarez | |
| Realname: | Ricardo Juárez |
| Nickname: | Rocky |
| Weight: | Featherweight Super featherweight |
| Height: | 5 ft 5 in |
| Reach: | 69 in |
| Nationality: | American |
| Birth Date: | April 15, 1980 |
| Birth Place: | Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Style: | Orthodox |
| Total: | 42 |
| Wins: | 30 |
| Ko: | 21 |
| Losses: | 11 |
| Draws: | 1 |
Ricardo "Rocky" Juárez (born April 15, 1980) is an American former professional boxer. He is a former WBC Silver featherweight champion and a multiple-time world title challenger. Juarez was known over his career for his aggressive fighting style and incredible durability.
Juarez had a lustrous amateur career with a 145–17 record, which included a 68 fight winning streak, a Featherweight Olympic silver medal and a Junior Olympic World and National gold medal. In 1999 he won the world title at the 1999 World Amateur Boxing Championships in his home town. During the 2000 Olympics Gold medal round, Juarez loss controversially against Bekzat Sattarkhanov who was warned several times for holding and not penalized. It should be also noted that by the end of the second round Juarez was losing 11 points and had only 4 points to lose the match by RSC.[1] Juarez accepted the silver medal.
Juarez turned pro on January 25, 2001, with a unanimous decision against Pascali Adorno. A highly touted prospect, Juarez rose up the ranks with wins against Hector Velazquez, and Joe Morales. Juarez's 10th-round knockout of Antonio Diaz was named Ring Magazine Knockout of the Year for 2003. His first challenge came from 1996 Olympian Zahir Raheem on July 17, 2004, in which he won by controversial decision, possibly due to the fight taking place at Juarez's hometown in Houston, Texas. Juarez's first career loss came to Humberto Soto, who was a late sub replacement to In Jin Chi. Soto won the Interim version of the WBC featherweight title. Juarez bounced back with back-to-back wins against Reynaldo Hurtado and Backlin Medrano and earned a shot against Mexican legend, Marco Antonio Barrera for his WBC Super featherweight title.
Juarez fought Barrera on May 20, 2006, in the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Barrera used his jab to win the early rounds, but it was obvious from the start that Juarez wasn't backing down hurting Barrera's nose in the process. During the second half of the fight Juarez took control by rocking Barrera and making him spit out his mouthpiece several times. In a very close fight, the bout was announced originally as a draw, but later it was revealed that two of the judges scorecards had an error, as Barrera was granted the win by split decision.[2] Despite losing, Juarez gained notoriety by standing toe to toe with one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world. Although not required by contract, Barrera and Juarez met in a rematch on September 16, this time Barrera winning comfortably on points through a unanimous decision (117-111, 115–113, 115–113).[3]
As a replacement for Jorge Rodrigo Barrios, Rocky Juarez stepped in and fought Juan Manuel Márquez for the WBC Super Featherweight title on November 3, 2007. He lost to Marquez on a unanimous decision. Juarez fought most of the fight with a bad cut above his left eye due to an accidental headbutt in the first round.[4]
On September 6, 2008, Rocky Juarez, (27-4, 19 KO's) won by TKO at 2:55 in the 11th round of the 12-rounder over former WBO Junior Lightweight Champion Jorge Rodrigo Barrios, (47-3-1, 34 KO's).[5] [6]
In his fourth attempt at a title, Juarez fought Chris John to a controversial draw on February 28, 2009, in his hometown of Houston. Most ringside observers thought John won.[7] The two were supposed to fight a rematch on June 27 of that year but John withdrew from the fight due to problems with his blood tests. The rematch finally took place on September 19 and the fight was won by John.[8]
Rocky Juarez fought Jason Litzau on April 3, 2010, losing by a controversial technical decision when the fight was halted in the seventh round due to a cut on Litzau's cheek which referee Jay Nady ruled was caused by an accidental head butt. The judges scored it 68-65 and 67-66 twice, in favour of the winner, Jason Litzau.[9]
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | Loss | 30–11–1 | Robinson Castellanos | UD | 12 | 26 Jan 2015 | ||
| 41 | Win | 30–10–1 | René Alvarado | UD | 12 | 26 May 2014 | ||
| 40 | Win | 29–10–1 | Antonio Escalante | TKO | 8 (10), | 27 Oct 2012 | ||
| 39 | Loss | 28–10–1 | Andrew Cancio | UD | 10 | 2 Jun 2012 | ||
| 38 | Loss | 28–9–1 | Vicente Escobedo | UD | 10 | 23 Sep 2011 | ||
| 37 | Loss | 28–8–1 | Alejandro Sanabria | UD | 12 | 19 Feb 2011 | ||
| 36 | Loss | 28–7–1 | Jorge Linares | UD | 12 | 31 Jul 2010 | ||
| 35 | Loss | 28–6–1 | Jason Litzau | 7 (10), | 3 Apr 2010 | |||
| 34 | Loss | 28–5–1 | Chris John | UD | 12 | 19 Sep 2009 | ||
| 33 | Draw | 28–4–1 | Chris John | 12 | 28 Feb 2009 | |||
| 32 | Win | 28–4 | Jorge Barrios | TKO | 11 (12), | 6 Sep 2008 | ||
| 31 | Loss | 27–4 | Juan Manuel Marquez | UD | 12 | 3 Nov 2007 | ||
| 30 | Win | 27–3 | José Hernández | UD | 12 | 5 May 2007 | ||
| 29 | Win | 26–3 | Emmanuel Lucero | TKO | 5 (10), | 9 Feb 2007 | ||
| 28 | Loss | 25–3 | Marco Antonio Barrera | UD | 12 | 16 Sep 2006 | ||
| 27 | Loss | 25–2 | Marco Antonio Barrera | 12 | 20 May 2006 | |||
| 26 | Win | 25–1 | Backlin Medrano | TKO | 4 (10), | 21 Jan 2006 | ||
| 25 | Win | 24–1 | Reynaldo Hurtado | TKO | 3 (10), | 9 Dec 2005 | ||
| 24 | Loss | 23–1 | Humberto Soto | UD | 12 | 20 Aug 2005 | ||
| 23 | Win | 23–0 | Juan Carlos Ramírez | TKO | 1 (10), | 4 Mar 2005 | ||
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | Guty Espadas Jr. | KO | 2 (12), | 3 Dec 2004 | ||
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Zahir Raheem | UD | 12 | 17 Jul 2004 | ||
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Joe Morales | UD | 10 | 24 Apr 2004 | ||
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Héctor Velázquez | UD | 12 | 22 Nov 2003 | ||
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | David Murillo | KO | 1 (10), | 13 Sep 2003 | ||
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Antonio Díaz | KO | 10 (10), | 19 Jul 2003 | ||
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Frankie Archuleta | TKO | 6 (10), | 3 May 2003 | ||
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Jason Pires | TKO | 9 (10), | 1 Feb 2003 | ||
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Natalio Ponce | TKO | 9 (10), | 6 Dec 2002 | ||
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Hector Acero Sánchez | UD | 10 | 19 Oct 2002 | ||
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Ivan Alvarez | TKO | 6 (8), | 30 Aug 2002 | ||
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Isidro Tejedor | TKO | 2 (8), | 13 Jul 2002 | ||
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Len Martinez | TKO | 1 (6), | 25 May 2002 | ||
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Javier Ortiz | KO | 5 (8), | 27 Apr 2002 | ||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Jorge Garcia | UD | 6 | 15 Feb 2002 | ||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Frankie Martinez | TKO | 4 (6), | 5 Jan 2002 | ||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Corey Alarcon | TKO | 2 (6), | 10 Nov 2011 | ||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Juan Rafael Gutierrez | UD | 6 | 1 Sep 2001 | ||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Fabian Espinosa | TKO | 3 (4), | 20 Jul 2001 | ||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Edward Utorov | 4 (4), | 19 May 2001 | |||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Mike Jones | 1 (4), | 2 Mar 2001 | |||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Pascali Adorno | 4 | 13 Jan 2001 | |||