Luis Yáñez
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| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Image:Luis Yáñez Luis Yáñez |
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| Men’s boxing | |||
Competitor for the  United States |
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| Pan American Games | |||
| Gold | Rio 2007 | Light Flyweight | |
Luis Yanez (born October 25, 1988 in Duncanville, Texas) is a US-American amateur boxer best known for winning the PanAmerican title 2007 at junior flyweight.
[edit] Career
Southpaw Yáñez who hails from Duncanville, Texas was taken to the gym by his father in 1997 at the age of 9 when he had trouble getting his son, who has four sisters and a brother, to listen and settle down. He wanted him to receive structure, release energy in a positive environment and instill discipline.
When Yáñez was 14, he started compiling referrals from school administrators for "acting out in class." After he had received 30 referrals, his coach Rodarte gave him an ultimatum to straighten up in school or he would throw him out which helped him settle down.
Yáñez won a silver medal at the Cadet(U17) World Championships 2005 losing to Khalid Saeed and a gold medal at the so-called Junior Olympics, in 2006 he added a bronze at the junior world championships.
In 2006 he became US champion and won the National Golden Gloves, in 2007 he repeated both wins.
In Brazil at the PanAm games 2007 he reached the final by beating two opponents who had beaten him earlier the same year – Cuba's Yampier Hernandez in the quarterfinals and Dominican Wilton Mendez in the semifinals and also bested Venezuelan Kevin Betancourt, ranked 8th in the world for the gold medal.
He won the US Olympic trials in August 2007.
Yáñez hasn't lost a fight in the United States (to a compatriot) in more than five years, compiling a record of 89-0. In the past three years, he's 26-3 in international competition.
At the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Chicago he qualified for the Olympics for good but lost surprisingly to felloow southpaw and eventual silver medalist Harry Tanamor from the Philippines.
At a meeting in China in November 2007 he was outclassed by world champ Zou Shiming.[1] [2]
[edit] References
- ^ Evan Osnos, "The Boxing Rebellion", The New Yorker, February 4, 2008, at page 7.
- ^ DualCHN_USA
Nickname is Nuke.
