TommyGunn

Joan Guzman is a professional boxer from the Dominican Republic. He was born May 1st, 1976 and is the current WBO Super-Featherweight title holder and a 2-weight world champion. He is nicknamed 'The Little Tyson' and 'The Sycuan Warrior'. He is regarded by many as one of the most underrated boxer's in the world today.

Guzman had a very prestigous Amateur career winning 310 out of 320 Amateur fights. He competed in the 1996 Olympic's in Atlanta but was lost before getting to the medal's.

Guzman began his professional career in September 1997 in the DR, this resulted in a second round TKO victory. Guzman went onto gain a reputation of being a big puncher and won his first 20 fights with 16 wins coming by knockout. He won his first world title in his 21st fight, with a TKO7 win over Agapito Sanchez for the WBO Super-Bantamweight Title. He only defended the title once before he stepped up in weight, as he struggled to make the 122lbs limit.

Despite winning an eliminator for the WBO Featherweight title, Guzman decided to skip the 126lbs division and go straight upto Super-Featherweight, 130lbs. In his second fight at the weight he beat Jorge Barrios by SD to win the WBO Super-Featherweight title. He has since defended the belt twice, gaining wins over Antonio Davis and, most recently, beating highly regarded Humberto Soto via clear UD. Despite Guzman's power at the lower weights, he is no longer seen as a big puncher, due to the move up in weight and also hand problems.

Joan Guzman is now trained by Floyd Mayweather Snr and is looking for the big fights in the 130lbs division. Although a move upto 135 could be on the horizon, as Guzman has well documented problems in making the 130 Super-Featherweight limit. Future bouts for Guzman could include Juan Manuel Marquez, Manny Pacquiao, Edwin Valero or David Diaz at Lightweight.

Edited by LeedsLad (09/01/08)