Nine years ago, Jerry Belmontes knew it was time to retire. The former lightweight title challenger had lost two in a row, capping off a frustrating four-year stretch in which he dropped 10 of 14 fights.
That accounted for all of the blemishes on his record of 21-10 (6 KOs). Belmontes was only 28 years old, but he had more important things in his life than whatever diminishing returns that remaining in the ring could provide.
“I was burned out, always training and working,” Belmontes said in a press release. “At that time, I had two kids, and I wanted to spend more time with my kids.”
Belmontes is 37 years old. He now has three children. His record remains the same – for about another week, that is.
Belmontes will return on January 31, albeit for one night only, appearing in his hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas, on a show co-promoted by unified cruiserweight titleholder Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.
He is scheduled to take on Ousmane Sylla, 5-6-2 (2 KOs), in a four-rounder within the light heavyweight limit.
“I always wanted to come back,” Belmontes said. “My middle son was so little when I fought that he has no memory of it. His friends’ fathers talk about it all the time. This opportunity happened; I was asked if I wanted to fight, and I said OK. It’s getting me in shape. This is it. One-and-done. I’ve sparred a little since I retired.”
Belmontes turned pro in 2008 – following an amateur career in which he beat Terence Crawford twice and Sadam Ali once – and won his first 17 bouts, including a decision victory over the 13-1 Joselito Collado in September 2012. But Belmontes’ first defeat came three months later, when he was widely outpointed by Eric Hunter.
More losses followed against recognizable names, with Belmontes on the short end of a pair of unanimous decisions against Andrew Cancio and Fernando Vargas in 2013.
But after outpointing a previously unbeaten Will Tomlinson in March 2014, Belmontes landed a shot at WBC lightweight titleholder Omar Figueroa in April of that same year. Once again, Belmontes came up short, with Figueroa taking a split decision victory. Calling the fight for Showtime, commentators Al Bernstein and Steve Farhood believed Belmontes deserved the win.
“That decision was BS,” Belmontes said. “I outboxed him. Maybe I could have thrown a few more punches, but I thought I won that fight. It has left me with a lot of pain.”
More disappointments followed. Four straight losses to Abner Cotto, Miguel Vazquez, Dierry Jean and Jason Sosa – the last one coming by first-round KO, the first and only time Belmontes failed to make it to the final bell.
He ended the five-fight losing streak with a pair of wins, one a confidence-builder against a 4-22-2 foe, the other a majority decision over the 21-0 Valentyn Golovko. Then came two more decision losses against Richar Abril and Julian Rodriguez. About two months after the Rodriguez fight, Belmontes hung up his gloves at a press conference in Corpus Christi.
Belmontes does not regret retiring when he did. But he has wondered whether his career might have gone differently.
“I’ve thought about what could have happened for me and my family if I had put my all into [boxing] after the Omar fight,” Belmontes said. “I think I’d be retiring now. I do love spending time with my kids, but I’ve wondered what could have happened if I had stayed in boxing.”
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
