Manuel Medina (boxer)
Encyclopedia
Juan Manuel Rubio Medina (born March 30, 1971, in Tecuala
, Nayarit
, Mexico) is a boxer
, who is better known as Manuel Medina. He is a five-time world featherweight
champion. His nickname is "Mantecas", which can be loosely translated to "fat".
, Mexico. Medina was only fourteen years old when his first professional fight took place.
Medina won one more fight, then lost two bouts in a row: on December 5, he lost a four round decision to Gerardo Martinez
in his first fight abroad, held in San Jose, California
, United States. On January 16, 1986, he suffered his first knockout
defeat, being stopped because of a cut by Alex Madrid in San Diego
.
After losing to Madrid, Medina had a streak of twenty seven wins in a row. That streak was stopped by Juan C. Salazar, who outpointed Medina over ten rounds on July 10, 1989, in Tijuana
. After two more victories, however, Medina contended for his first championship belt, the regional WBA
"International" super featherweight
title, which he won by a seventh round disqualification victory against Edgar Castro, on December 11 of that same year, in Inglewood
. Medina retained that title twice, then defeated Tyrone Jackson
on May 21, 1990, also at Inglewood by a twelve round decision. In his next fight on 5 July, he outpointed former world featherweight champion and Barry McGuigan
conqueror, Steve Cruz over ten rounds.
featherweight champion Troy Dorsey
in Inglewood. Medina became a world champion by defeating Dorsey by a twelve round decision. He made four defenses of his title, including victories against Tom Johnson
, beaten by a nine rounds technical decision
and Fabrice Benichou
, another world champion boxer, outpointed by Medina over twelve rounds. His first reign as world featherweight champion took him to places like France and Italy.
Medina lost the championship to Johnson by a twelve round decision on their February 26, 1993 rematch, held in France. He turned to the super featherweight division, where he won one fight, then attempted to become world champion there also. But, on June 26 of the same year, he lost to IBF super featherweight champion John John Molina
by a twelve round decision, in Atlantic City
.
regional Fecarbox
title by defeating Juan Polo Perez by a twelve round unanimous decision on March 15 in Miami, Florida
.
Medina's next fight was televised nationally in the United States, as he became world Featherweight champion for the second time, defeating Alejandro González on September 23 of '95, with a twelve round unanimous decision, at Sacramento, California
, for the WBC featherweight title. He lost the title in his first defense, losing a twelve round decision to Luisito Espinosa on December 11 at Tokyo, Japan.
After a win, Medina tried to become a three time world featherweight champion by challenging Naseem Hamed
for Hamed's WBO title, but he was defeated by Hamed with an eleventh round knockout on August 31, 1996 in Dublin, Ireland. He followed that loss with a win, and another attempt at winning a world featherweight championship for a third time, this time around in a rematch with Espinosa. held on May 17, 1997. He lost to the Asian champion once again, this time by an eight rounds technical decision at Intramuros
, Philippines
. Medina then lost his next fight, by a ninth round knockout on August 7, to future world champion Derrick Gainer
.
On October 18, he recovered from his two loss streak to defeat Jose Ayala in Homestead, Florida
, winning the WBA's Fedecentro regional championship, and setting himself in a position to obtain another chance at winning the world featherweight title for the third time. He knocked Ayala out in the eighth round.
, Muhammad Ali
, Sugar Ray Robinson
, Edwin Rosario
, Evander Holyfield
and a small number of other boxers in the exclusive group of fighters to reign as world champions three or more times in the same division, when he outpointed defending IBF title holder Hector Lizarraga
over twelve rounds in San Jose, California
. He retained the title on April 16, 1999, in Las Vegas
with a nine rounds technical decision over former world super featherweight champion Victor Polo, then proceeded to lose the championship to Paul Ingle
.
The fight against Ingle, held on November 13 of the same year, in Hull
, England, went on to be considered one of the fights of the year by boxing fans, experts and magazine writers alike. Floored in the second and tenth rounds, Medina almost saved his title when he dropped Ingle in the twelfth and last round. He ended up losing a unanimous decision, however.
Medina then met future world champion Frank Toledo
, beating him in Las Vegas by a ten round decision on May 19, 2000. Toledo then went on to win the IBF title by outpointing Mbulelo Botile
, who had defeated Ingle. Medina, meanwhile, picked up two more wins, including a fourth round knockout over future world title challenger Mike Juarez.
His next fight was filled with controversy. Faced against former two division world champion Johnny Tapia
on April 27, 2002, Medina lost the title by a twelve round majority decision at the Madison Square Garden
in New York city. The decision was criticized for months to come by writers from such publications as Ring and KO Magazine
. The official scorecards reflected a very close fight, with two judges scoring it 115-113 for Tapia and a third scoring the fight a 114-114 tie.
Medina's first attempt at tying Robinson's record as the only boxer to win a world title in the same division five times came on February 1, 2003, when he and Juan Manuel Márquez
faced off in Las Vegas for the IBF championship vacated by Tapia. Medina was knocked out in the seventh round by Marquez, however.
in Glasgow
, Scotland
. Medina made history and joined Robinson as the only two fighters in history to be five-time world champions in the same division, by defeating Harrison, who until then had been defeated only once, by a twelve round split decision. A boxing magazine from the United States then called Medina the gambler
's nightmare, because of his tendency to win world featherweight titles, lose them quickly, then regain them just as quick.
Medina and Harrison were rematched on November 29 of the same year, and Harrison regained the WBO title with an eleventh round knockout of Medina, once again, at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow.
Medina only fought once in 2004, defeating Leonardo Resendiz on July 23 at Rancho Mirage, California
by a third round knockout, to win the NABA regional super featherweight title.
He was to fight José Miguel Cotto
on August 20, 2005 in Ponce, Puerto Rico
. Had he beaten Cotto, he would have put himself in a position to challenge for the WBO super featherweight title. Cotto was not able to reduce weight to the super featherweight weight limit, however, so the fight was suspended.
On 31-05-2006 he fought Cassius Baloyi
for the IBF super featherweight title, the same title he'd challenged Molina for back in 1993, and lost by 11th round TKO.
Medina returned to outpoint Kevin Kelley by a twelve round majority decision, then fought a rematch with Baloyi on 05-07-2007 which was scored a technical draw after Medina suffered a cut from an accidental clash of heads. In his final fight, Medina lost by a two round TKO to Malcolm Klassen. These final three bouts were all IBF super featherweight Title Eliminators.
Medina has a record of 64 wins and 15 losses in 78 professional boxing bouts, with 30 wins by way of knockout.
Tecuala
Tecuala is both a municipality and a town in the Mexican state of Nayarit. The population of the municipality was 42,237 in a total area of 1,137 km² while the population of the town and municipal seat was 14,584...
, Nayarit
Nayarit
Nayarit officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its capital city is Tepic.It is located in Western Mexico...
, Mexico) is a boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, who is better known as Manuel Medina. He is a five-time world featherweight
Featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class division in the sport of boxing. There are similarly named divisions under several Mixed Martial Arts organizations and in Greco-Roman wrestling.-Professional boxing:...
champion. His nickname is "Mantecas", which can be loosely translated to "fat".
Professional boxing career
Manuel Medina began his professional boxing career on September 9, 1985, beating Daniel Flores by a four round decision in MexicaliMexicali
Mexicali is the capital of the State of Baja California, seat of the Municipality of Mexicali, and 2nd largest city in Baja California. The City of Mexicali has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the population of the entire metropolitan area reaches 936,826.The city...
, Mexico. Medina was only fourteen years old when his first professional fight took place.
Medina won one more fight, then lost two bouts in a row: on December 5, he lost a four round decision to Gerardo Martinez
Gerardo Martínez
Gerardo Eugenio Martínez Dibene is a Mexican high jumper. His personal best jump is 2.30 metres, achieved in April 2007 in Walnut. This is the current Mexican record....
in his first fight abroad, held in San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, United States. On January 16, 1986, he suffered his first knockout
Knockout
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
defeat, being stopped because of a cut by Alex Madrid in San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
.
After losing to Madrid, Medina had a streak of twenty seven wins in a row. That streak was stopped by Juan C. Salazar, who outpointed Medina over ten rounds on July 10, 1989, in Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
. After two more victories, however, Medina contended for his first championship belt, the regional WBA
World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...
"International" super featherweight
Super Featherweight
Super featherweight is a weight division in professional boxing. The maximum weight for this division is 130 pounds or 59 kilograms....
title, which he won by a seventh round disqualification victory against Edgar Castro, on December 11 of that same year, in Inglewood
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
. Medina retained that title twice, then defeated Tyrone Jackson
Tyrone Jackson
Tyrone Jackson is a fictional character from the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. The role was portrayed by Phil Morris, son of actor Greg Morris from the 1966-1973 espionage television series Mission: Impossible. Phil Morris appeared as Tyrone from 1984 to 1986.-Fictional character...
on May 21, 1990, also at Inglewood by a twelve round decision. In his next fight on 5 July, he outpointed former world featherweight champion and Barry McGuigan
Barry McGuigan
Finbarr Patrick McGuigan MBE , known as Barry McGuigan and nicknamed The Clones Cyclone, is a former Irish and British professional boxer who became a world featherweight champion.-Background:...
conqueror, Steve Cruz over ten rounds.
1st Championship Reign
Medina won four bouts, then had his first chance at becoming a world champion, when, on August 12, 1991, he faced IBFInternational Boxing Federation
The International Boxing Federation or IBF is one of four major organizations recognized by IBHOF which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC and WBO.- History :...
featherweight champion Troy Dorsey
Troy Dorsey
Troy Glenn Dorsey is a former professional boxer and martial arts fighter. He is the only man in history to hold world titles in both karate and boxing.-Martial arts career:...
in Inglewood. Medina became a world champion by defeating Dorsey by a twelve round decision. He made four defenses of his title, including victories against Tom Johnson
Tom Johnson (boxer)
Tom Johnson was a boxer in the Featherweight division. Known as "Boom boom" ,Johnson turned pro in 1986 and in 1991 challenged Manuel Medina for the IBF Featherweight Title, losing a technical decision. In 1993 he rematched Medina and was able to win the title with a narrow split decision victory...
, beaten by a nine rounds technical decision
Technical decision
A technical decision is a term used in boxing when a fight has to be stopped because of a headbutt.In boxing fights, referees have to pay deep attention to the action going on between the fighters, especially when the two combatants are fighting close to each other...
and Fabrice Benichou
Fabrice Benichou
-Amateur career:In 1984 Benichou made it to the finals for the French National Bantamweight championship, but lost.-Pro Boxing career:Benichou won the IBF World Super Bantamweight championship in 1989. He lost it the following year to Welcome Ncita....
, another world champion boxer, outpointed by Medina over twelve rounds. His first reign as world featherweight champion took him to places like France and Italy.
Medina lost the championship to Johnson by a twelve round decision on their February 26, 1993 rematch, held in France. He turned to the super featherweight division, where he won one fight, then attempted to become world champion there also. But, on June 26 of the same year, he lost to IBF super featherweight champion John John Molina
John John Molina
Juan Molina , better known as John John Molina in the world of boxing, is a former boxer whose career transcended boxing in Puerto Rico. A multiple time world champion, this boxer was also known as quite a socialite...
by a twelve round decision, in Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
.
2nd Championship Reign
Medina then returned to featherweight, where he won two more fights before facing Johnson in a rubber match, held on January 28, 1995 at Atlantic City. Johnson retained the IBF featherweight title he had won from Medina by beating him via a twelve round decision. In his next fight, Medina won the WBC'sWorld Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
regional Fecarbox
Fecarbox
Fecarbox refers to Federacion Centroamericana de Boxeo Profesional--a Central American sanctioning body within José Sulaimán's World Boxing Council. Some consider this an alphabet soup sanctioning body.-Other world organizations:...
title by defeating Juan Polo Perez by a twelve round unanimous decision on March 15 in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
.
Medina's next fight was televised nationally in the United States, as he became world Featherweight champion for the second time, defeating Alejandro González on September 23 of '95, with a twelve round unanimous decision, at Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, for the WBC featherweight title. He lost the title in his first defense, losing a twelve round decision to Luisito Espinosa on December 11 at Tokyo, Japan.
After a win, Medina tried to become a three time world featherweight champion by challenging Naseem Hamed
Naseem Hamed
Naseem Hamed is an English former professional boxer.He is the former WBO, WBC, IBF, & Lineal featherweight champion, and European bantamweight champion....
for Hamed's WBO title, but he was defeated by Hamed with an eleventh round knockout on August 31, 1996 in Dublin, Ireland. He followed that loss with a win, and another attempt at winning a world featherweight championship for a third time, this time around in a rematch with Espinosa. held on May 17, 1997. He lost to the Asian champion once again, this time by an eight rounds technical decision at Intramuros
Intramuros
Intramuros is the oldest district in the present day city of Manila, the capital of the Republic of the Philippines. Nicknamed the "Walled City", Intramuros is the historic fortified city of Manila, the seat ot the government during the Spanish Colonial Period. Its name in Latin, intramuros,...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. Medina then lost his next fight, by a ninth round knockout on August 7, to future world champion Derrick Gainer
Derrick Gainer
Derrick "Smoke" Gainer is a US born boxer who started out in the featherweight division and now fights in the lightweight division. In 2000, he defeated Freddie Norwood to win the World Boxing Association featherweight title and after four defenses lost to Juan Manuel Márquez, who became super...
.
On October 18, he recovered from his two loss streak to defeat Jose Ayala in Homestead, Florida
Homestead, Florida
Homestead is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States nestled between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and a major agricultural area....
, winning the WBA's Fedecentro regional championship, and setting himself in a position to obtain another chance at winning the world featherweight title for the third time. He knocked Ayala out in the eighth round.
3rd Championship Reign
On April 24, 1998, Medina joined Carlos De LeónCarlos De Leon
Carlos De León, also known as "Sugar" De Leon, is a Puerto Rican former boxer who made history by becoming the first Cruiserweight to win the world title twice. Subsequently, he kept breaking his own record for the most times as Cruiserweight champion by regaining it twice more.- Career :De León,...
, Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
, Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson was an African-American professional boxer. Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, Robinson's performances in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight...
, Edwin Rosario
Edwin Rosario
Edwin "El Chapo" Rosario was a Puerto Rican boxer. He was the WBC world lightweight champion from 1983–84 and the WBA world champion in 1986–87 and again in 1989–90...
, Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield is a professional boxer from the United States. He is a former undisputed world champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, earning him the nickname "The Real Deal"...
and a small number of other boxers in the exclusive group of fighters to reign as world champions three or more times in the same division, when he outpointed defending IBF title holder Hector Lizarraga
Hector Lizarraga
Hector Lizarraga was a Mexican boxer in the Featherweight division. He is a former WBC Continental Americas, IBF Inter-Continental, and the IBF Featherweight Champion.-Pro career:...
over twelve rounds in San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
. He retained the title on April 16, 1999, in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
with a nine rounds technical decision over former world super featherweight champion Victor Polo, then proceeded to lose the championship to Paul Ingle
Paul Ingle
Paul Andrew Ingle is a retired featherweight boxer. As an amateur he competed for Great Britain at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. As a professional he won the IBF, European, British, & Commonwealth featherweight titles.-Amateur career:As an amateur, Ingle was a member of the 1992...
.
The fight against Ingle, held on November 13 of the same year, in Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
, England, went on to be considered one of the fights of the year by boxing fans, experts and magazine writers alike. Floored in the second and tenth rounds, Medina almost saved his title when he dropped Ingle in the twelfth and last round. He ended up losing a unanimous decision, however.
Medina then met future world champion Frank Toledo
Frank Toledo
Frank Toledo is an American boxer who held the International Boxing Federation featherweight championship in 2001....
, beating him in Las Vegas by a ten round decision on May 19, 2000. Toledo then went on to win the IBF title by outpointing Mbulelo Botile
Mbulelo Botile
Mbulelo Botile is a former South African boxer in the Bantamweight division. -Professional career:...
, who had defeated Ingle. Medina, meanwhile, picked up two more wins, including a fourth round knockout over future world title challenger Mike Juarez.
4th Championship Reign
Medina and Toledo had a rematch on November 16, 2001, with Medina joining Robinson as a four-time world champion in the same division when he knocked Toledo out in the sixth round.His next fight was filled with controversy. Faced against former two division world champion Johnny Tapia
Johnny Tapia
John Lee "Johnny" Tapia is a Mexican-American five-time world boxing champion.-Childhood:Johnny Tapia's life began with tragedy. His father had reportedly been murdered while his mother was pregnant with him. At the age of 8, his mother Virginia was kidnapped, raped, hung, repeatedly stabbed, and...
on April 27, 2002, Medina lost the title by a twelve round majority decision at the Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
in New York city. The decision was criticized for months to come by writers from such publications as Ring and KO Magazine
KO Magazine
KO Magazine is a popular United States boxing magazine. It was first published in 1979, to compete with The Ring.During the 1980s, KO Magazine, nicknamed "The knockout boxing magazine", ran some popular features, such as a round-by-round section where the most important fights were described punch...
. The official scorecards reflected a very close fight, with two judges scoring it 115-113 for Tapia and a third scoring the fight a 114-114 tie.
Medina's first attempt at tying Robinson's record as the only boxer to win a world title in the same division five times came on February 1, 2003, when he and Juan Manuel Márquez
Juan Manuel Márquez
Juan Manuel Márquez Méndez , is a Mexican professional boxer. He is the fourth Mexican-born boxer to become a three-division world champion, where he won eight world titles in three different boxing weight classes.Currently, Marquez is the WBA Super, WBO and The Ring lightweight champion...
faced off in Las Vegas for the IBF championship vacated by Tapia. Medina was knocked out in the seventh round by Marquez, however.
5th Championship Reign
After two more wins, Medina got his second chance at becoming world featherweight champion for the fifth time against WBO champion Scott Harrison. The two boxers fought for the first time on July 12 at the Braehead ArenaBraehead Arena
The Braehead Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Renfrewshire, Scotland, in the western part of the Glasgow conurbation. The arena was built in 1999, and is located within the Braehead Complex....
in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Medina made history and joined Robinson as the only two fighters in history to be five-time world champions in the same division, by defeating Harrison, who until then had been defeated only once, by a twelve round split decision. A boxing magazine from the United States then called Medina the gambler
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
's nightmare, because of his tendency to win world featherweight titles, lose them quickly, then regain them just as quick.
Medina and Harrison were rematched on November 29 of the same year, and Harrison regained the WBO title with an eleventh round knockout of Medina, once again, at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow.
Medina only fought once in 2004, defeating Leonardo Resendiz on July 23 at Rancho Mirage, California
Rancho Mirage, California
Rancho Mirage is a resort city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 17,218 at the 2010 census, up from 13,249 at the 2000 census, but the seasonal population can exceed 20,000. In between Cathedral City and Palm Desert, it is one of the eight cities of the Coachella...
by a third round knockout, to win the NABA regional super featherweight title.
He was to fight José Miguel Cotto
José Miguel Cotto
José Miguel Cotto Vázquez is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. He is the brother of the four-time World Champion boxer Miguel Angel Cotto...
on August 20, 2005 in Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
. Had he beaten Cotto, he would have put himself in a position to challenge for the WBO super featherweight title. Cotto was not able to reduce weight to the super featherweight weight limit, however, so the fight was suspended.
On 31-05-2006 he fought Cassius Baloyi
Cassius Baloyi
Cassius Baloyi, , is a professional boxer.-Professional career:Known as "Mr. Shy Guy", Baloyi turned pro in 1994 and captured the Vacant IBF Super Featherweight Title in 2005 with a TKO win over Manuel Medina...
for the IBF super featherweight title, the same title he'd challenged Molina for back in 1993, and lost by 11th round TKO.
Medina returned to outpoint Kevin Kelley by a twelve round majority decision, then fought a rematch with Baloyi on 05-07-2007 which was scored a technical draw after Medina suffered a cut from an accidental clash of heads. In his final fight, Medina lost by a two round TKO to Malcolm Klassen. These final three bouts were all IBF super featherweight Title Eliminators.
Medina has a record of 64 wins and 15 losses in 78 professional boxing bouts, with 30 wins by way of knockout.