Remembering Juan Carlos (JC) Candelo

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By Daniel Sisneros

Colombian born Juan Carlos (JC) Candelo turned professional Jan. 27, 1995 in Doraville, Georgia, with a 3rd round TKO win over Jack Williams. He won his next two bouts, and then hit a “neutral” streak going 0-1-3 during that stretch. After 7 pro fights, JC had a mediocre looking record of 3-1-3, 2 ko.

That’s when things heated up for Candelo. He would not lose another professional fight for nearly 4 years, going 14-0, 12 by knockout during those years, fighting in the USA, Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico, steadily moving up into the top of the world rankings of all sanctioning bodies.

With the world rankings came tougher opposition and the streak finally ended on Dec. 5, 1999 when he lost a very close split decision to Michael Lerma (20-3, 17 ko) on scores of 95-94 for Candelo, 95-94 for Lerma, and 97-94 for Lerma. Five fights later, Candelo would return the favor, scoring a hard fought but unanimous decision victory to avenge his loss to Lerma on scores of 96-94, 98-92 & 98-92 all in Candelo’s favor.

Impressive wins over some solid fighters earned Candelo his first title shot. He would face former IBA Americas Middleweight Champion – Mexico’s Angel “Toro” Hernandez (20-2, 15 ko) for the vacant NABF Jr. Middleweight Championship. The fight was held in Las Vegas, NV on Jan. 12, 2002. It was a barn burner of a bout, and ended on close scores of 111-116, 112-115, and 113-114 in favor of Hernandez.

After a convincing unanimous decision win over Alfred Ankamah (20-8, 17 ko) on an ESPN televised

card, a rematch was ordered for the NABF Jr. Middleweight title with Angel Hernandez who was now 24-2. The bout was televised on Friday the 13th of Dec. 2002, and was the main event of an ESPN2 broadcast. It was Candelo’s night all the way as he fought hard and smart to score a unanimous decision victory leaving no doubt on scores of 116-112, and 117-111 x 2.

Not only did that fight place the NABF title around JC’s waist, it earned him the respect to be named as the challenger Ronald “Winky” Wright’s (44-3) IBF World Jr. Middleweight Championship in his next fight. That fight was part of an HBO Pay-per-view card that featured 4 World Title fights, including Roy Jones battle with John Ruiz for the WBA Heavyweight Championship. Candelo showed well, but came up short dropping a unanimous decision to the champion on scores of 118-110, and 117-111 x 2.

Candelo bounced back with an impressive win over fast rising Julio “The Cuban Lover” Garcia (25-1-2, 11 ko). Juan Carlos looked sharp and stopped Garcia at 2:32 of round 8 to defend his NABF Jr. Middleweight Title Belt in a bout shown on ESPN for the world to see.

JC Candelo was now facing the best of the division as he went on a stretch which included bouts against: Kassim Ouma, Eduardo Sanchez, Marco Antonio Rubio, Teddy Reid, Verno Phillips, and undefeated

James Moore (14-0). He went 2-5-1 during that 8 fight stretch, but performed at a high level, and considering the constant string of contenders and former/future champions, it did not knock him out of the top 20 rankings.

Candelo scored a mild upset victory over Chase “White Tiger” Shields (29-2-1, 14 ko) via tko as Shields could not answer the bell for round 8 in a bout held in Shields hometown of Houston, TX. Two fights later, Shields wanting to avenge that loss, defended his USNBC Jr. Middleweight Title Belt against Candelo in Dallas, TX. This time Candelo’s slick boxing caused Shields to resort to head butts which resulted in a DQ victory for Candelo, adding another title belt to his credit.

Mr. Candelo defended that title once, and was successful scoring a 7th round TKO over Justin Flanagan (9-1, 5 ko). That would be Candelo’s last professional victory. He would fight 4 more times, in losing efforts to top notch opposition. Raul Casarez (18-2), Fernando Guerrero (24-1), former multi-World Champion Jermain Taylor (31-4-1), and his final bout April 5th, 2014 losing to Abraham “Abie” Han (21-1) being stopped in round 2 of an attempt to win the vacant UBF Intercontinental Middleweight Title.

JC Candelo’s pro boxing career spanned nearly two decades and it was a very successful campaign. He finished with a pro record of: 32 wins, 14 defeats, 4 draws, winning 21 via the knockout route.

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