• Former WBO light heavyweight world champion…
• Former NABO light heavyweight champion…
• Former WBC Central American and Caribbean (FECARBOX) light heavyweight champion, one successful defense…
• 1996 Olympic representative for Mexico , 178 pounds…

JULIO GONZALEZ

Mexican-born Julio Gonzalez took up amateur boxing at the age of 15, some three years after his family relocated to La Habra, California.  He compiled a 20-6 record, including a victory over world amateur champion Ramon Garbey of Cuba.
In 1996, Julio represented his native country of Mexico at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.  Fighting in the 178-pound division, he lost his opening bout by knockout to eventual gold medalist Vasiliy Jirov who, later as a professional, won the IBF Cruiserweight title and became a stablemate of Julio’s with Goossen Tutor Promotions.
Julio turned professional as a light heavyweight in April, 1997 with a four-round unanimous decision over Alex Fedorov in Anaheim, California.  Less than two months later, he stopped Fedorov in the second round of their rematch. 
Sporting a 17-0 record – all but one of those fought in the state of California, the other, Nevada – Julio flew halfway around the world to Japan in July, 1999 where he took out Akinobu Yamamura in the third of a scheduled eight-rounder.
After three more wins on California soil, Julio put his 21-0 mark on the line against 15-0 Jesus Ruiz for the WBC Fecarbox Light heavyweight title in Commerce, California.  Julio won the title by virtue of a ninth-round TKO in May, 2000. 
He posted three more TKO wins before the year was out leading up to an epic battle against defending WBO NABO Light Heavyweight champion Julian Letterlough on ESPN.  In what became a leading candidate for 2001 “Fight of the Year,” Julio survived knockdowns in the third, fifth and tenth rounds – himself registering first and 11th round knockdowns – en route to winning a unanimous decision and Letterlough’s title.
After 27 consecutive wins to begin his pro career, Julio received his first opportunity to fight for a world title – three recognized belts actually – in July, 2001 when he stepped into the ring against Undisputed Light Heavyweight Champion Roy Jones, Jr. at Staples center in Los Angeles, California.  Julio had the misfortune of taking on Jones when he was at the height of his abilities and lost a 12-round unanimous decision, surviving knockdowns in the first, fifth and final round.
Going back to the drawing board for almost seven months, Julio rebounded early in 2002 and ran off a string of seven straight wins to go to 34-1 – including a majority win over future Jones, Jr. conqueror and IBF Light Heavyweight Champ Glen Johnson – to set the stage for another world title shot against 48-0 Dariusz Michalczewski in Germany.  In that October, 2003 contest, Julio earned a split-decision and his opponent’s WBO Light Heavyweight title to become, at age 28, the first Mexican boxer to win a world title at a weight exceeding 154 pounds.
His title reign was short, however, as he lost his first defense by unanimous decision to 18-0 Zsolt Erdei back in Germany in January, 2004.
Three more victories followed – including one over former world champion Montell Griffin – leading to another crack at a title.  This time, Julio traveled to England to the hometown of IBF Light Heavyweight Champion Clinton Woods.  The September, 2005 result was another unanimous-decision defeat.
Just two months later in November, Julio bounced back and defeated Jason DeLisle in San Jose, California in an IBF Eliminator bout for the #2 ranking in the light heavyweight division. 
In his only fight of 2006 to date, Julio gave himself an early 30th birthday present by stopping Rodney Moore in the third round in Lemoore, California on July 20.  His birthday followed ten days later.

FAMILY: 

Julio was the fourth of five sons born in Guerrero Negro, Mexico, well down on the Baja, California peninsula.  His father, Enrique, and mother Olga, moved the family from their farm to California in 1988 to help provide them a better life.  Around 10 years ago, after the boys were all out on their own, Enrique and Olga moved back to Mexico to work the farm.

Carlos Enrique (age 36), the eldest of the Gonzalez sons, works on the farm in Mexico with his father.  Next in line is Sergio (35), who has a career as a hair stylist in Miami, Florida.  Jorge (33) is a truck driver in California.  And the youngest, Moses (29), is a construction worker.

EDUCATION:

After spending his first five years attending elementary school in Mexico, Julio attended the Washington Middle School in La Habra, California after the family’s migration.  His first two years of high school were spent at La Habra High School, before moving on to attend Edison High School in Huntington Beach, California, from which he graduated in 1994.

He then went on to Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California, but was torn between college and boxing.  After putting in a year and a half, Julio left school to pursue his boxing career.

WHY BOXING:

Admittedly, Julio fell into boxing by accident.  He and his friends were riding their bikes through the streets of La Habra looking for something to do.  He discovered the La Habra Boxing Club and met its trainer, David Martinez.  Martinez told Julio that if he wanted to learn how to box and would come to the gym everyday, he teach him every day.  Martinez saw that Julio had courage and an ability to fight.  Julio started to really like boxing and it became his so-called “habit”.  He would go to the gym every day after school and train. 

Julio has never forgotten what David Martinez did for him and, to this day, Martinez has been in Julio’s corner as his cutman.
   
LITTLE KNOWN FACTS:
CHILDHOOD HERO:   “My parents.  They were hard farm workers and did so much for us and I wouldn’t be where I am today if not for their guidance.”
PEOPLE MOST ADMIRED:   “Julio Cesar Chavez”
EARLIEST BOXING MEMORY:   “When I was growing up my dad was a big boxing fan.  We used to watch big fights on television and I used to be bored with boxing.  I’d sit there and try to watch it, but I’d fall asleep.  It was boring for me and who would eve think I would take up the sport for myself?”
GREATEST SPORTS MOMENT:    “When I fought Roy Jones, Jr. (7/28/2001).  It was the biggest fight for me, walking out into the arena at the Staples Center, it was unbelievable.”
PRE-FIGHT FEELING:  “I feel pretty calm.  I’m very relaxed.  Just thinking about my strategy and what I’m going to do in the ring.  Right when I’m in the ring, after they announce ‘seconds out’ and it’s just me, my opponent and the referee, I get a little bit of the butterflies.” 
HOBBIES/INTERESTS:   “I like to spend lots of time with my wife and kids.  I don’t really have any hobbies.  We like to go to Mexico and visit my parents and just relax and forget about boxing for awhile because when I get back I know it’s going to be tough.”
FAVORITE MOVIE:   “Heat”
FAVORITE MUSIC:     “Mexican music.  Rancheras.”
FAVORITE MEAL:    “Lobster”
FAVORITE BREAKFAST CEREAL:   “Corn Pops”
FAVORITE JUNK FOOD:  “Hamburgers”
FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR(S):  “Vanilla”
FIRST JOB:   “Helping my parents in the field picking garlic in Fresno, California”
FAVORITE BOXERS TO WATCH:   Julio Cesar Chavez, Oscar De La Hoya and Mike Tyson”
TOUGHEST OPPONENT:    “Julian Letterlough.  Our fight was a candidate for ‘Fight of the Year’ in 2001.  Both of us were undefeated.  I knocked him down in the first and 11th rounds.  He decked me three times, but I won a unanimous decision.  I won all the rounds I was on my feet, but he hurt me.  I never remembered being down three times”
FAVORITE FIGHT:  “The Letterlough fight”  
MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT:   “None that I can think of”
CHILDHOOD DREAMS:   “To buy my mom a house.  I still dream of that.  I hope I can win another world title and use some of that money to do it.”
GOALS:   “To become a world champion for the second time”
THINGS YOU WOULD LIKE BOXING FANS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU:  “I am a simple guy.  I’m just like anybody else.  Don’t judge me as a mean-spirited person because I fight for a living.  I am easy to talk to.

PRESENT:

Currently ranked the #11 IBF will fight top rated Tavoris Cloud in a title elimination bout on August 8, 2008.