Jesús Chávez

Infobox Boxer


name=Jesús Chávez
realname=Jesús Gabriel Sandoval Chávez
nickname=El Matador
height=5 ft 5 in
weight=Lightweight
nationality= flagicon|Mexico Mexican
birth_date=Birth date and age|1972|11|12|mf=y
birth_place=Parral, Mexico
hometown=Austin, Texas, U.S.
reach=65 in
style=Orthodox
total=47
wins=43
KO=30
losses=4
draws=0
no contests=0

Jesús Gabriel Sandoval Chávez (born November 12, 1972) is a Mexican professional boxer. He was born in Hidalgo del Parral in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Chávez has a career record of 43 wins, (30 knockouts) and 4 losses.

Chávez's first title opportunity came against WBC Super Featherweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. where he was knocked out in the 9th round after an entertaining and close, competitive bout. He rebounded to win Mayweather's vacated WBC title, but lost it to then two-time champion Erik Morales. In another exciting fight, Chávez rocked Morales early in the first round. Morales recovered and knocked Chávez down twice in the 2nd round, but Chávez came back and fought hard for the rest of the fight, despite having an injured hand. Morales pulled out a close decision, but Chávez gained further respect for his effort. In his next fight, he took on former IBF Champion Carlos Hernández, who in turn had also lost his own title to Morales. In an exciting 12-round war, Chávez pulled out a close decision. He then moved up to the Lightweight division to take on IBF champion Leavander Johnson. In an unfortunate bout, Chávez outhustled Johnson throughout the entire fight, beating him severely for the entire fight until the referee finally stepped in and ended it. Johnson died several days later when he went into a coma. Johnson's family have encouraged Chavez to keep fighting. In 2007, Chavez lost his IBF title to Julio Diaz.

His nickname is "El Matador", meaning The Killer. He was given the nickname not because of anything he did in the ring, but in honor of the gym he fought out of, "the Matador". He is trained by Richard Lord.

Chavez was raised in Chicago and became a legal U.S. resident as a child, but at age sixteen he was convicted of being an accessory to armed robbery, spent four years in prison, and was subsequently deported back to Mexico. His struggle to attain legal U.S. residence and work his way up the boxing ranks was documented in the film "Split Decision". [ [http://www.frif.com/new2000/split2.html Split Decision ] ] His life story was also documented in the book "Standing Eight: The Inspiring Story of Jesus El Matador Chavez". [ [http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2006/jul/27/standing-eight-inspiring-story-jesus-el-matador-ch/ San Diego Reader | Standing Eight: The Inspiring Story of Jesus �El Matador� Chavez, Who Became Lightweight Champion of the World ] ] In 2004, Chavez married US National Guard intelligence officer Anuisa Stroklund before she was deployed to the war in Iraq. The couple now resides in Austin, Texas. [ [http://www.laprensa-sandiego.org/archieve/may07-04/chavez.htm Jesus Chavez To Wed Soldier On Eve Of Iraqi Deployment ] ]

On September 6, 2008, Jesus "El Matador" Chavez, (44-4 with 31 Win by TKO) knocked out visiting Andres Ledesma, (44-4 with 31 Win by TKO) of Colombia 42 seconds into the 9th round of their lightweight event, at the Toyota Center, in Houston, Texas. Chavez, of Austin, also floored Ledesma in the 7th round. [ [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=130423 abs-cbnnews.com, Diaz takes IBO lightweight belt via split decision] ]

References

* Jan Reid, [http://www.texasmonthly.com/preview/1998-04-01/feature5 The Contender] , " [http://www.texasmonthly.com/index.php Texas Monthly] ", April 1998.
* Belinda Acosta, [http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2001-02-09/screens_feature.html The Inspiration of Jesus Chavez] , " [http://www.austinchronicle.com The Austin Chronicle] ", February 9, 2001.
* Jan Reid, "The Bullet Meant for Me: A Memoir", Broadway, 2002, ISBN 0-7679-0595-4.
* Marcy Garriott, Feature documentary [http://www.sonrisa.com/splitdecision.htm SPLIT DECISION] , First Run Features, 2004, ASIN B00013F2U4.
* Adam Pitluk, "Standing Eight: The Inspiring Story of Jesús "El Matador" Chávez, Who Became Lightweight Champion of the World", Da Capo Press, 2006, ISBN 0-306-81454-4.

See also

* List of lightweight boxing champions
* List of WBC world champions
* Reigning boxing champions

External links

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