De La Hoya Feels U.S. Olympian Balderas is Special, The Real Deal

By Francisco Salazar

U.S. Olympian Carlos Balderas was eliminated by Lazaro Alvarez of Cuba on Friday in the quarterfinals of the 132-pound (60 kg) weight division.

Prior to the loss to Alvarez, Balderas scored impressive victories in his first two bouts of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

There were some in boxing circles Balderas did enough to even defeat Alvarez.

One person who has taken notice of Balderas was a former Olympian himself. Oscar De La Hoya, who won the gold medal in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, stated Balderas has been the Olympian that has impressed him the most. 

"I believe he's the real deal," De La Hoya told BoxingScene.com last Tuesday. "I think there's something special there with him."

"If he brings back the gold for the U.S., you bet I'll be waiting here (in Southern California) with open arms and hopefully signing him to a contract with Golden Boy Promotions."

Balderas came up one fight short of guaranteeing himself a bronze medal. Balderas, who resides in Santa Maria, Calif., which is about a 3-hour drive north of Los Angeles, still did enough to impress many boxing insiders with his performance in Rio de Janeiro.

Balderas' style is suited for the pros and he has an intriguing back story which a promoter like De La Hoya could sell to boxing fans.

De La Hoya does promote Joseph Diaz, Jr., who represented the United States in the 2012 Olympic Games.

Top Rank could also be interested in signing Balderas. Top Rank promotes a number of fighters who also fought in the 2012 Olympic Games, including Oscar Valdez, Felix Verdejo, Esquiva Falcao, and Oleksandr Gvozdyk.

One promoter who has been in Rio de Janeiro scouting fighters is Floyd Mayweater, who watched Olympic action in person over the weekend.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing