DONNY GIRON

   After an outstanding amateur boxing campaign that saw him rise to as high as #3 ranked in the Nation, Denver Colorado's Donny Giron turned professional on July 1, 1988, stopping Rene Martinez in round 3 of the pro debut for both fighters.

   His 2nd pro bout was not as successful as he was stopped by Danny Trevino (2-0) in round 3 when the ringside physician advised the referee to halt the brutal bout.

   They didn't give him an easy assignment in his next fight as he was put in with unbeaten prospect "Lightning" Joe Gatti (4-0). The fight was on the undercard of a twin-World-Title-bill at the Las Vegas Hilton that featured Thomas Hearns vs James Kinchen (for the vacant WBO Super middleweight title), and Michael Nunn vs Juan Roldan (for the IBF Middleweight title).  Gatti would go on to challenge for 3 different world titles, but on this night, it was Donny Giron who handed him his first taste of defeat by scoring the tko in round 1!  A huge win for Giron.

   Giron fought just 18 days later and scored another 1st round knockout (over Jose Emanuel Varela) before being put in with unbeaten Leroy Owens (6-0) where they fought to a majority decision draw.

   He continued on an upward path scoring two more wins before fighting to a draw against another unbeaten prospect in Roosevelt Walker (8-0) on the undercard of James Buddy McGirt vs Tony Baltazar in New York.  The buzz around ringside was that Giron deserved the win, but the judges called it even.

   Giron ran off a streak of 5 straight knockout wins, among those was a 1st round tko over highly regarded Louis Howard (19-3-1, 15 ko) at the Kiva auditorium in Albuquerque, NM.  That win boosted Donny's reputation into the next level of the division.

   Sept. 28, 1990 pitted Giron against another top prospect in Mexico's knockout artist - Luis "Tyson" Vazquez (16-3-1, 13 ko).  It was a great matchup of two boxers who were poised to step up into world contention.  The bout held at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago was carried on univision network. Julio Cesar Chavez was at ringside in support of his countryman - Vazquez.  Leon Spinks was also in attendance.  The fight saw Giron using movement and quick hands to score repeatedly, while Vazquez put on the pressure and fired bombs. Giron was knocked down in round 4, and again in round 5 before being stopped in round 6 of a war.
  

   Giron was back in the ring just 2 1/2 months later, and scored 5 more wins, 3 by ko moving his record to an impressive 15-2-2, 12 by ko and earning him a shot at NABF Middleweight champion, the undefeated Lamar "Kidfire" Parks (18-0, 14 ko) for his title.  The bout was held in the champion's home town of Greenville, SC and was scheduled for 12 rounds, but it only went 6.  Parks was too much that night, as he dropped the challenger twice before stopping him.

   Donny bounced back with a tko win, and then moved up into the Super Middleweight division and took a tko loss to Carl Jones (19-4-4).

   Five years later, Giron returned to the ring as a Light Heavyweight where he scored a unanimous decision win over fellow Coloradan - Berry "Iron Butterfly" Basler and then took 3 straight defeats  to Light Heavyweight opponents with a combined record of  39-1-1, with the last fight of his career coming on May 19, 2001 - nearly 13 years after his professional debut.  That farewell bout resulted in a tko loss to unbeaten Daniel Judah (9-0-1) at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.

   Donny Giron will be remembered as a fan friendly warrior who was always in great scraps, and usually came out on top.  He was ranked as high as #20 in the world, and was always looked at as a potential world title challenger, but he never got that shot.  He is a member of the Colorado Golden Gloves Boxing Hall of Fame.

   Giron finished with a final professional record of 17 wins, 7 losses, 2 draws, and he won 13 by knockout.

CHECK OUT DONNY GIRON'S COMPLETE PRO LEDGER ON: BOXREC.COM

If you would like to see Donny Giron in ring action, I have the following bouts available for trade on DVD: (Contact me via E-Mail for information)

RICARDO CARDENAS -v1017            [ko-1]
LOUIS HOWARD -v1014                [tko-1]
ALBERTO GARCIA-v287                [tko-3]
LUIS "Tyson" VAZQUEZ -v270            [tko-by-6]
LAMAR "Kid Fire" PARKS -v474            [tko-by-6] {NABF Middle Title}

Amateur:
Benny Palomino(Utah) -591
Jose Arias -597
Marcos Martinez(NM) -912
Henry Anaya Jr. (NM) -946 

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