Juan Fernando Urango Rivas (born October 4, 1980), best known as Juan Urango, is a Colombian former professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2012. He held the IBF junior welterweight title twice between 2006 and 2010, and challenged once for the WBC welterweight title in 2009. His nickname of "Iron Twin" is a reference to his twin brother, Pedro Urango, who is also a former boxer.

Juan Urango
Born
Juan Fernando Urango Rivas

(1980-10-04) October 4, 1980 (age 44)
Montería, Córdoba, Colombia
NationalityColombian
Other namesIron Twin
Statistics
Weight(s)
StanceSouthpaw
Boxing record
Total fights28
Wins24
Wins by KO19
Losses3
Draws1

Professional career

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Urango made his professional debut on April 30, 2002, scoring a second-round knockout against Efrain Sotomayor. On August 5, 2004, Urango challenged Mike Arnaoutis for the WBONABO light welterweight title, but their fight ended in a majority draw. In his next fight, on December 16, 2004, Urango stopped Ubaldo Hernandez to win the vacant WBC Latino light welterweight title. He unified this with the IBF Latino title by knocking out Francisco Campos in five rounds on April 22, 2005. Urango won his first world championship—the vacant IBF light welterweight title—on June 20, 2006, by scoring a unanimous decision (UD) over Naoufel Ben Rabah,[1] but would lose by the same result in his first defense, on January 20, 2007, against Ricky Hatton (who had vacated the title in March 2006).[2]

2009 was a busy year for Urango: on January 30, 2009, he regained the IBF title (which was again vacant) by defeating Herman Ngoudjo via UD.[3] On May 30, Urango briefly moved up to welterweight, but lost an uncompetitive UD to WBC champion Andre Berto.[4] Returning on August 28, Urango faced Randall Bailey in defense of his IBF light welterweight title. In an action-packed fight, Urango was knocked down for the first time in his career, but responded by knocking down Bailey three times to score a late stoppage in the eleventh round.[5]

On March 6, 2010, Urango attempted to unify his IBF title with that of WBC champion Devon Alexander. The fight was competitive through eight rounds, until Alexander landed a hard right uppercut to send Urango to the canvas. Despite being badly hurt, Urango managed to beat the referee's count and continue momentarily, but was then floored again. He got up for a second time, only for the referee to deem him unable to continue.[6] Urango would spend more than two years away from the sport, retiring to work on a pig farm he had bought in Colombia.[7] He had two comeback fights against journeyman opposition on April 26 and September 14, 2012, but has not fought since.

Personal life

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Urango is a devout Christian, and was raised on his family's farm in Montería.[8]

Professional boxing record

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28 fights 24 wins 3 losses
By knockout 19 1
By decision 5 2
Draws 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
28 Win 24–3–1 Oney Valdez KO 5 (10), 1:57 Sep 14, 2012 Centro Recreativo Tacasuam, Montería, Colombia
27 Win 23–3–1 Cristian Chavez KO 2 (10), 0:59 Apr 26, 2012 Expo Bancomer, Mexico City, Mexico
26 Loss 22–3–1 Devon Alexander TKO 8 (12), 1:12 Mar 6, 2010 Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut, U.S. Lost IBF light welterweight title;
For WBC light welterweight title
25 Win 22–2–1 Randall Bailey TKO 11 (12), 1:51 Aug 28, 2009 Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, U.S. Retained IBF light welterweight title
24 Loss 21–2–1 Andre Berto UD 12 May 30, 2009 Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, U.S. For WBC welterweight title
23 Win 21–1–1 Herman Ngoudjo UD 12 Jan 30, 2009 Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Won vacant IBF light welterweight title
22 Win 20–1–1 Carlos Wilfredo Vilches KO 4 (12), 1:45 Apr 23, 2008 Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
21 Win 19–1–1 Marty Robbins TKO 5 (10), 2:44 Dec 5, 2007 Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
20 Win 18–1–1 Nasser Athumani TKO 4 (10), 2:59 Aug 31, 2007 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
19 Loss 17–1–1 Ricky Hatton UD 12 Jan 20, 2007 Paris Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. Lost IBF light welterweight title;
For vacant IBO light welterweight title
18 Win 17–0–1 Naoufel Ben Rabah UD 12 Jun 30, 2006 Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, U.S. Won vacant IBF light welterweight title
17 Win 16–0–1 Andre Eason TKO 7 (12), 2:59 Aug 26, 2005 Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, U.S. Retained WBC Latino light welterweight title
16 Win 15–0–1 Francisco Campos KO 5 (12), 1:46 Apr 22, 2005 Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, U.S. Retained WBC Latino light welterweight title;
Won IBF Latino light welterweight title
15 Win 14–0–1 Ubaldo Hernandez TKO 2 (12), 2:35 Dec 16, 2004 Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, U.S. Won vacant WBC Latino light welterweight title
14 Draw 13–0–1 Mike Arnaoutis MD 12 Aug 5, 2004 Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, U.S. For NABO light welterweight title
13 Win 13–0 Sergey Sorokin UD 6 Jun 8, 2004 Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
12 Win 12–0 Levan Kirakosyan PTS 8 Feb 6, 2004 Guadalajara, Spain
11 Win 11–0 Frank Oppong PTS 6 Oct 11, 2003 Soria, Spain
10 Win 10–0 Marcos Munoz KO 2 (8) Sep 26, 2003 Alameda Palace Hotel, Salamanca, Spain
9 Win 9–0 Ricardo Antonio Vieira KO 1 (6) Jul 24, 2003 Ordizia, Spain
8 Win 8–0 Luis Martinez KO 1 (6) Dec 22, 2002 Colombia
7 Win 7–0 Eduardo Morales KO 2 Oct 21, 2002 Colombia
6 Win 6–0 Amaury Racero TKO 2 (6) Aug 30, 2002 Montería, Colombia
5 Win 5–0 Dagoberto Geles KO 5 Jul 27, 2002 Colombia
4 Win 4–0 Pedro Fuentes TKO 3 (10) Jul 26, 2002 Colombia
3 Win 3–0 Luis Blandon KO 3 Jun 15, 2002 Cartagena, Colombia
2 Win 2–0 Amaury Racero KO 2 May 21, 2002 Colombia
1 Win 1–0 Efrain Sotomayor KO 2 (6) Apr 30, 2002 Montería, Colombia

References

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  1. ^ "Urango wins Hatton's vacant title". BBC Sport. BBC. July 2, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  2. ^ Dirs, Ben (January 21, 2007). "Hatton regains IBF crown in Vegas". BBC Sport. BBC. July 2, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  3. ^ Kimball, George Edward (January 31, 2009). "Urango proved all wrong for Ngoudjo". ESPN. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  4. ^ Vester, Mark (May 31, 2009). "Berto Dominates Urango For a Unanimous Decision". BoxingScene. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  5. ^ Norby, Michael (August 30, 2009). "Urango Climbs Off The Floor To Score Late Stoppage Victory Over Bailey". SecondsOut Boxing News. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  6. ^ "Alexander stops Urango". Sky Sports. Sky. March 7, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  7. ^ Rafael, Dan (April 13, 2012). "Promoter: Urango a no-go without us". ESPN. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  8. ^ Palmer Jr., Socrates (January 29, 2009). "Juan Urango Follows His Faith" Archived 2016-08-18 at the Wayback Machine. boxingtalk.com. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
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Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Carlos Maussa
WBC Latino
light welterweight champion

December 16, 2004 – May 2006
Vacated
Vacant
Title next held by
Americo Santos
Vacant
Title last held by
Luis Alberto Santiago
IBF Latino
light welterweight champion

April 22, 2005 – August 2005
Vacated
Vacant
Title next held by
Heraclides Barrantes
World boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Ricky Hatton
IBF light welterweight champion
June 30, 2006 – January 20, 2007
Succeeded by
Ricky Hatton
Vacant
Title last held by
Paulie Malignaggi
IBF light welterweight champion
January 30, 2009 – March 6, 2010
Succeeded by
  NODES
Note 2