Athletes - Jesse James Leija

Home > Listing Index > Athletes > Jesse James Leija

	Athletes - Jesse James Leija

Jesse James Leija (born July 8, 1966), is a professional boxer from Texas. Named both after the famous cowboy Jesse James and after his grandfather, Jesse Leija, Jesse James has had a career that spans three decades. Jesse James Leija's nickname is "The Texas Tornado".

Jesse James Leija began his professional boxing career on October 2, 1988, beating Oscar Davis by knockout in round one, in Leija's native San Antonio. On January 1, 1989, he defeated Joe Mitchell by a decision in four at the Trump Plaza hotel in New Jersey. This marked Leija's debut outside Texas. On his fourth fight, Leija beat future Shane Mosley challenger Manuel Gomez in San Antonio, by decision in four, on April 10.

During the early 1990s, Leija began to become famous in the boxing world, winning his first fifteen fights, ten by knockout. His first blemish came on October 8, 1990, when he was held to a ten round draw (tie) by Edward Parker, in San Antonio.

Leija won his next three bouts, and then, he had an upgrade in opposition quality when he met the experienced Miguel Arrozal, on May 31, 1991. He beat Arrozal by an eighth round disqualification. On October 18, he met Steve McCrory, the former WBA world Bantamweight champion, in Houston, beating McCrory by a ten round decision.

Leija got his first championship try on the fight that proceeded his win over McCrory. On March 3 of 1992. he met Jose Luis Martinez for the regional, NABF Bantamweight championship. This fight was held in San Antonio, and it resulted in a nine round technical draw decision.

Leija proceeded to win three bouts, two of them against former world champions. Having defeated Jesus Poll by a decision in twelve rounds and Troy Dorsey by a knockout in six, he was matched, on March 23, 1993, with Louie Espinoza, a former two time world Featherweight champion. Leija won this fight by a twelve round decision, and with this, the NABF title and the right to challenge for the world title for the first time.

On September 10, 1993, Leija participated at The Alamodome's first ever event, when he challenged Azumah Nelson for the WBC world Jr. Lightweight title. What was a star studded boxing card that included the Chavez-Whitaker bout, turned instead into a controversy filled evening: approximately one hour before Chavez and Whitaker boxed to a draw that has been disputed for years by fans and boxing writers alike, Leija had been announced as new world champion by a decision, only to find out, twenty minutes later, that a judge had supposedly miscalculated his scoring card, and the fight was really a draw.

On March 23, 1994, Leija returned to the ring with a third round knockout win over the highly rated Tommy Valdez. Then, on May 7, he got a rematch with Nelson. Leija became the WBC world Jr. Lightweight champion when he defeated Nelson by a twelve round unanimous decision in Las Vegas.

Soon after he became world champion, Leija also became a father, when his wife gave birth to their first baby, a boy. Another outside the ring event happened when a popular Spanish television gossip show mistakenly announced that Leija had been murdered. However, this mistake brought no large consequences, and it was quickly forgotten.

On September 17, he defended his title against Gabriel Ruelas, once again, in Las Vegas. Leija lost his world title, and his record as an undefeated fighter, when he lost to Ruelas by a twelve round unanimous decision.

Leija rebounded with two wins, including one over Jeff Mayweather, and then, on December 15, 1995, he received a chance at becoming world champion for the second time, when he challenged Oscar De La Hoya for De La Hoya's WBO world Lightweight title, at New York's Madison Square Garden. The fight was televised by HBO Boxing, as HBO had De La Hoya under contract. Despite losing by a second round knockout, Leija would soon become a staple of the boxing show's programming, and he remains a popular performer on that television show.

On June 1, 1996, Leija challenged Nelson, who had regained the WBC world Jr. Lightweight title by knocking Ruelas out, for the WBC championship that once had belonged to Leija. Leija was defeated by Nelson when he lost by a knockout in six, in another fight that was televised by HBO. This fight was also held in Las Vegas. Leija returned to the boxing ring on December 10, outpointing Roberto Avila. After a string of wins against relatively insignificant competition, Leija won the NABF's regional Lightweight title, defeating Joel Perez by a decision in twelve rounds, in San Antonio on January 20, 1998.

After a second round knockout victory over Troy Crain, Leija fought Nelson for the fourth time. In what was Nelson's final career bout, Leija won the IBA's Lightweight title by defeating Nelson by a twelve round decision on July 11. The belt at stake had smaller significance than the bout itself in the fans' eyes, as the IBA is a generally unrecognized "world championship" organization, but Leija and Nelson made a significant boxing rivalry. Leija-Nelson IV was also televised by HBO.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Jesse James Leija ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Jesse James Leija; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay