Take a look below for our list of 10 of the greatest Dominican boxers of all time.
1. Agapito Sanchez
Agapito Sánchez (February 14, 1970 – November 14, 2005) was a boxer from the Dominican Republic, nicknamed “El Ciclón” and “Dirty Sanchez” (due to his constant application of unsportsmanlike tactics in the ring), in the Super Bantamweight weight class. He won 37 of his 50 fights, 18 by knockout.
2. Joan Guzman
Joan Guzmán (born May 1, 1976) is a Dominican former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2014. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO junior featherweight title from 2002 to 2005, and the WBO junior lightweight title from 2006 to 2008.
3. Argenis Casimiro Nunez
Argenis Casimiro Núñez (born December 30, 1981) is a Dominican amateur boxer best known for winning two medals at the Pan Am Games.
4. Carlos Cruz
Carlos Teo Rosario Cruz (November 4, 1937 – February 15, 1970) was a boxer from the Dominican Republic. Cruz was world lightweight champion from 1968 to 1969.
5. Felix Diaz
Félix Manuel Díaz Guzman (born 10 December 1983) is a Dominican professional boxer who challenged for the unified WBC, WBO, and The Ring light welterweight titles in 2017. As an amateur he won a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics and bronze at the 2003 Pan American Games.
6. Jose Kelvin de la Nieve
José Kelvin de la Nieve Linares (born August 28, 1986 in Los Alcarrizos, Dominican Republic) is a boxer who competed in the light flyweight weight class at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics for Spain.
He became a Spanish citizen in 2000 and is based out of Huelva. He has been competing with the Club Deportivo Yoon. After failing to qualify for the 2004 Olympics, he won the bronze medal in the 2005 Mediterranean Games and was able to become the only boxer from Spain to box in Beijing. He lost his Olympic debut to American southpaw Luis Yanez 9:12.
7. Elio Rojas
Rojas turned professional in 2004 and scored 19 straight victories to start his career. On September 13, 2008, Rojas defeated Hector Velasquez in a WBC challenger elimination bout.
On July 14, 2009, Rojas traveled to Japan to fight Takahiro Aho, the WBC featherweight champion. Rojas won the WBC Featherweight Title with a unanimous decision. Rojas signed to unify the featherweight title in 2010 only to injure his hand prior to the fight.
8. Argenis Mendez
Argenis Alexander Méndez Zapata (born July 3, 1986) is a professional boxer best known for winning the silver medal at the junior world championships in 2004. He is a former International Boxing Federation Super Featherweight champion.
9. Juan Carlos Payano
Juan Carlos Payano (born April 12, 1984) is a Dominican professional boxer who held the WBA (Undisputed) and then concurrently the IBO bantamweight titles between 2014 and 2016. As an amateur he won two silver medals at the Pan American Games and a gold medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games.
10. Darling Jimenez
Darling Jimenez compiled an exceptional amateur record of 107-3. He is a four-time New York Golden Gloves Champion (1997-2000) who earned the Sugar Ray Robinson Award for Outstanding Boxer at the Golden Gloves three times (1997-1999). He beat Paul Malignaggi twice in his victories at the New York Golden Gloves Championships. He reached the semi-finals of the 2000 Olympic Trials where he was defeated by David Jackson, the eventual 132 lb. representative for the U.S. Olympic Team.
