Joel Casamayor

Infobox Boxer
name=Joel Casamayor


imagesize=250px
realname=Joel Casamayor Johnson
nickname=El Cepillo
height=height|ft=5|in=7
weight=Lightweight
nationality=flagicon|Cuba Cuban
birth_date=birth date and age|1971|7|12|df=y
birth_place=Guantánamo, flag|Cuba
death_date=
death_place=
style=Southpaw
total=41
wins=36
losses=4
draws=1
no contests=0
KO=22|

Joel "El Cepillo" Casamayor Johnson (born July 12, 1971 in Guantanamo) is a Cuban boxer, who turned pro after defecting to the United States on the eve of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The nickname "El Cepillo", literally translated to "the brush", comes from his uppercut, which rakes his opponents across the face. Also, for his ability to "brush off" punches from his opponents.

Amateur career

*1989 - Gold medal (Bantamweight) at the Junior World Championships
*1992 - Gold medal (Bantamweight) at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain
**Defeated Venkatesan Devarajan (India) points
**Defeated Riadh Klaai (Tunisia) points
**Defeated Roberto Jalnaiz (Philippines) KO 1
**Defeated Mohammed Achik (Morocco) TKO 1
**Defeated Wayne McCullough (Ireland) points
*1993 - Silver medal (Bantamweight) at the 1993 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Tampere, Finland
**Defeated Agathangelos Tsiripidis (Greece) TKO 3
**Defeated Dirk Krueger (Germany) points
**Defeated Arthur Mikaelian (Armenia) points
**Defeated Vladislav Antonov (Russia) points
**Lost to Alexander Hristov (Bulgaria) points
*1994 - Bronze medal (Featherweight) at the World Cup in Bangkok, Thailand
**Defeated Brian Carr (Scotland) points
**Defeated Nourredine Medjihoud (Algeria) points
**Defeated Cristian Rodriguez (Argentina) points
**Lost to Falk Huste (Germany) points
*1994 - Silver Medal (Featherweight) at the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia
**Defeated Kai Kandelin (Finland) TKO 1
**Defeated Claude Chinon (France) points
**Lost to Ramazi Paliani (Russia) points
*1995 - Competed (Featherweight) at the 1995 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Berlin, Germany
**Lost to Raimkul Malachbekov (Russia) points

Professional career

He won the NABF Super Featheweight title in 1999. Later that year, he won the WBA Super Featherweight title. In 2002, he lost that title in a controversial unification bout with WBO champion Acelino Freitas. At one point in the fight, Casamayor slipped and the referee ruled it a knockdown. Casamayor also had a point deducted for a late hit. Many believe Casamayor should have won the fight. In 2004, Diego Corrales, whom Casamayor stopped in 2003, defeated him for the vacant WBO Super Featherweight title via a very close decision. Casamayor failed to take the WBC Lightweight title from José Luis Castillo later that year because the judges scored what seemed to be a clear win for Casamayor for Castillo. After the loss to Castillo, Casamayor's career appeared to be in a downward spiral and he was set up with undefeated rising prospect Almazbek Raiymkulov in June 2005. In a close, spirited battle the bout ended in a draw, with many believing that Casamayor's best days were behind him. After two victories against little known opposition, in October 2006, Casamayor yet again took on the popular Diego Corrales, and defeated him by split decision, winning the WBC Lightweight title and recognition as the world lightweight champion by Ring Magazine. He was stripped of the WBC title for signing to fight then WBO lightweight champion Freitas rather than defend against his mandatory challenger, WBC interim champion David Diaz. Diaz was named champion. (The Casamayor-Freitas lightweight title bout never took place. Freitas ended up fighting and losing to WBA champion Juan Diaz.) After Casamayor threatened the WBC with legal action, he was named as their interim champ.

He defended the interim championship as well as The Ring's title against Jose Armando Santa Cruz on November 11, 2007 and won a controversial split decision.

The WBC removed Casamayor's interim title when, instead of fighting a rematch with Santa Cruz, he signed to fight undefeated Michael Katsidis, the WBO interim lightweight titlist. On March 22, 2008, Casamayor became the first man to defeat the Australian Katsidis when he won the fight with a TKO in the 10th round. With the win, Casamayor retained his Ring Magazine world title and added the WBO interim championship to his collection.

Casamayor was defeated by Juan Manuel Marquez on September 13, 2008. Marquez won by TKO in the 11th round at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. Marquez (49-4-1, 36 KOs) floored Casamayor with a right hand that landed perfectly on Casamayor's chin. Casamayor rose from the canvas, and Marquez immediately jumped on him and started swinging with timed big blows. Casamayor swung back, but he went down again with about 7 seconds left in the round. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in and stopped the fight before Casamayor had a chance to stand up again. This caused some anger from fans, however, Casamayor was gracious in defeat and said, "Marquez was the best this night." The official judges had the fight scored 95-95, 95-95, and 97-93 for Marquez. [ [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j_s6M8w3QlpTHqVcE13qlVznVLjAD9369SK00 ap.google.com, Marquez floors Casamayor in big lightweight debut] ]

Casamayor is a unionized boxer, a member of the Joint Association of Boxers.

External links

*
* [http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=7542&more=1 Article about the Joel Casamayor-Diego Corrales rivalry]
* [http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:P-ZKYI5m6YAJ:www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1:77854290/Brush%2BWith%2BGreatness~C~%2BCuban%2Brefugee%2BJoel%2BCasamayor%2Beyes%2Ba%2Bshot%2Bat%2Bbecoming%2Bthe%2Bbantamweight%2Bto%2Bbeat~R~(Scorecard~S~Boxing)(Brief%2BArticle).html+casamayor+brush+cepillo&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3 On Casamayor's nickname]

References