Ringside Report Looks Back at Boxer Juan Baldwin
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By Daniel Sisneros
Juan “Spanky” Baldwin was a stand out amateur boxer who turned professional on August 18, 1988 in Dallas, TX and started with a 2nd round TKO of Lee Olvera.
After 4 easy knockouts in a row to start his pro campaign, he was matched against another prospect – Les “Fabulous” Fabri (7-0-1) at the Showboat in Las Vegas, NV. Baldwin dropped a 4 round majority decision, and wouldn’t lose another bout for about 5 years.
After a very nice stretch of 11 victories in a row, including wins over undefeated Miami prospect Jorge Romero (10-0-1, 9 ko) IN Miami, Steve Whetstone (33-17-1, 20 ko), and Ed “Pee Wee” Parker (21-8-5, 8 ko), Baldwin would taste his 2nd defeat at the hands of a man who would go on to challenge for the WBO World Welterweight Title – Manuel Gomez in shocking fashion via tko in round 1.
He went to Albuquerque, NM to get his career back on track and scored 3 victories in a row there, including a big win over local favorite Rudy Lovato in a bout televised on Fox Sports Network. The three victories pushed his record to 18-2, 13 ko’s. He then took a 3rd loss, this time to hard punching Mexican Jose Luis Baltazar (21-9, 20 ko’s) in another close one, losing by a majority decision for the 2nd time in his career.
The performance was good enough to earn him his first shot at a title belt. It was April 18, 1998, nearly a decade after turning professional, that he got his shot at Columbian Alex Lubo (12-4, 10 ko) for the WBC Fecarbox Welterweight Championship. The Champion – Lubo retained his title with a hard fought 12 round unanimous decision.
“Spanky” Baldwin faced former NABF and IBF World Champion Rafael Ruelas in his next bout. The fight was held at the Trump Marina in Atlantic City, and Ruelas was just too much that night as the bout was stopped after round 5.
Baldwin scores a 2nd round KO over Jose Felipe in Homestead, FL
He followed those 3 straight losses with 3 straight wins before fighting for the final time in 2003 dropping a 10 round decision to Dewey Welliver in Corpus Christi, TX.
Juan “Spanky” Baldwin’s pro boxing career spanned nearly a decade and a half, and he ended with an
impressive final record of: 21 wins, 6 defeats, winning 15 by knockout. He became a favorite in Texas, Florida, and New Mexico and although he never got to challenge for a world title, he proved his self as a skilled boxer.
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