Joel Casamayor Took Olympic Gold Into Two Professional
Joel Casamayor won Olympic bantamweight gold for Cuba at Barcelona in 1992 before becoming a professional world champion at super featherweight and lightweight.
From Guantánamo to the WBA title
Born in Guantánamo on July 12, 1971, Casamayor won the men’s bantamweight tournament at the Barcelona Games. His professional career later brought a WBA super featherweight championship reign from 2000 to 2002.
He captured that championship against Jong-Kwon Baek in Kansas City on May 21, 2000, winning by fifth-round technical knockout. Four successful defenses followed before the reign ended in January 2002.
A lightweight championship breakthrough
Casamayor added the WBC lightweight championship by defeating Diego Corrales in Las Vegas on October 7, 2006. The victory made him a professional champion in a second weight division.
His championship progression linked three distinct stages: Olympic success at bantamweight, the WBA super featherweight reign and the WBC lightweight title.
His amateur honors also included World Junior Championship gold in 1989 and World Championship silver in 1993. At Barcelona, he beat Ireland’s Wayne McCullough in the final after stopping Mohammed Achik in the semifinals. As a professional southpaw, Casamayor later recorded victories over Roberto García and Nate Campbell as well as two wins against Corrales. Those opponents connected his technical amateur background with sustained success against established professional champions.
Sources
- Olympedia: Casamayor’s Olympic gold and professional championship divisions
- BoxRec: Casamayor’s WBA reign and four defenses
- BoxRec: the May 2000 Baek championship result
- Cleto Reyes: Casamayor’s October 2006 lightweight championship victory
