ROBERTO MARROQUIN (22-2, 15 KOs)...

• World championship fights: 0-1…
• Former super bantamweight world title challenger…
• Ranked WBA #15 at 122 pounds; WBC #34 at 126 pounds…
• 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials (amateur), 119 pounds - Silver Medalist...
• 2006 National Junior Olympics (amateur), 119 pounds - Gold Medalist...
• 2006 National PAL Championships (amateur), 119 pounds - Silver Medalist...
• 2006 International Aliyev Cup (amateur), 119 pounds - Silver Medalist...
• 2005 National Junior Olympics (amateur), 110 pounds - Silver Medalist...

At the age of 23, Roberto is a four-year pro. A young contender at 122 pounds, he is a former amateur standout.

He is coming off a 12-round unanimous decision loss against WBA super bantamweight world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux in his last fight on September 15. It was Roberto’s first world title challenge.

After the fight, Dan Rafael wrote on ESPN.com [excerpts]: Marroquin had a few good moments when he cracked Rigondeaux, clearly hurt him and had him grabbing on, such as in the third and ninth rounds. But most of the time, Rigondeaux was outboxing Marroquin, who was also dropped twice with straight left hands - in the fifth round and 12^th round. Rigondeaux, making his second title defense, did what he had to do.

Although Marroquin lost, he has talent and a crowd-pleasing style. [End Rafael item]

In The Ring’s story on the top prospects of 2011, Doug Fischer wrote [excerpts]: Marroquin, who appears to be the total package of style, technique, personality, and looks, has the potential to develop into a bona fide regional attraction with the help of key fights within his deep and talented division.[End Fischer item]

Manager Lou Mesorana said, "Roberto started training with Paul Reyes right after the Leal fight - his first loss. Now he's got a coach. Now he's got somebody who knows what he's doing. Paul is like a legend over here in Dallas.

"When I first talked to Paul he said, "Nah, I'm retired.' When I told him about Roberto, he said, 'For him, I'll come back.' Paul trained all of those top guys that came out of Dallas-Fort Worth, like Paulie Ayala and Donald Curry.

"In this case, Roberto‘s first loss did turn out to be a positive thing. With Paul Reyes, he's learned how to use the ring more and he’s made some changes in his defense. He's probably learning for the first time as a pro, and learning how to be a pro.

"Paul has been building him up again. Roberto’s got one-shot power. He's got good skills. He was a good amateur – he beat some good fighters in the amateurs. Now it's time to step it up as a pro."

In an earlier interview, Roberto said, “I would say my style is more like a boxer - I take my time, I like studying the guy at first. I’m pretty much a power-puncher, too. It’a a mix of everything. I could use speed, I could be aggressive when I need to be, and I could be a counterpuncher, also. It all depends on the type of boxer I fight.”

Fight by Fight – 2012 – WBA SB WORLD TITLE CHALLENGE - in his last fight on 9-15-12 in Las Vegas, NV, he lost a 12 round unanimous decision against lefthanded defending champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (10-0): the bout was one of the co-features with the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Sergio Martinez main event; Roberto gave a strong effort and had several rallies, but Rigondeaux outboxed him for much of the fight; Roberto staggered Rigondeaux with a left hook in the 3^rd round and outworked him in the 4^th, but Rigondeaux came back and scored a knockdown with a left hand in the 5^th round; Roberto staggered him with another left hook in the 9^th, but Rigondeaux rallied and scored another knockdown with a left hand in the 12^th round; scored 118-108, 118-108, 118-109…

On 6-16-12 in El Paso, TX, he knocked out Arturo Santiago (7-5-1): the fight was on the undercard of the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Andy Lee main event, and Roberto quickly overpowered him; he scored three knockdowns in the 1^st round – the first two with left hooks, the third with a series of punches; he scored another knockdown with a left hook in the 2^nd, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:32…

2011 - on 12-17-11 in Thackerville, OK, he won a 10 round unanimous decision against 2000 Puerto Rican Olympian Carlos Valcarcel (12-3-4): the bout headlined at the WinStar Casino; Roberto consistently outworked Valcarcel, landed the harder punches, and dominated the entire fight; he won by shutout scores of 100-90 on all three scorecards…

On 7-30-11 in Denver, CO, he won an 8 round unanimous decision against Jose Beranza (33-20-2): the bout was co-featured with the Mike Alvarado-Gabriel Martinez main event, and it was a good fight; Beranza gave a strong effort, but Roberto consistently outworked him and landed the harder punches; Roberto scored two knockdowns – one with a right hand in the 3^rd round, and another with a right uppercut in the 6^th; Beranza rallied I the late rounds, but was penalized one point for repeatedly spitting out his mouthpiece and Roberto also punched out one of his teeth, which landed on the canvas; scored 78-71, 78-71, 79-70…

On 4-23-11 in Thackerville he lost a 10 round split decision against lefthanded Francisco Leal (14-5-3): the bout headlined at the WinStar Casino, and was Roberto’s first 10-rounder; it was fast-paced and exciting, and Roberto had to deal with adversity – his nose was bloodied in the 6^th round, and he was cut at his hairline by a clash of heads in the 6^th; both gave tremendous efforts, and several rounds were close and hard to score; Roberto’s left eye was swollen badly in the late rounds; it looked like the decision could go either way, but the judges scored 96-94, 99-92 Leal, 97-93 Marroquin…

On 2-26-11 in Las Vegas he won an 8 round unanimous decision against Gilberto Sanchez-Leon (30-7-2): the bout was on the undercard of the Brandon Rios-Miguel Acosta main event, and it was a good, close fight; the momentum shifted back and forth in the early rounds, but Roberto rallied in the middle rounds - he generally kept a faster pace and landed the sharper punches; Roberto staggered Sanchez-Leon with a left hook in the 5^th round and finished the fight strongly; scored 77-75, 77-75, 78-74…

On 1-22-11 in Las Vegas he TKOd Edward Arcos (16-2-1): the bout was co-featured with the Diego Magdaleno-Marcos Jimenez main event; Arcos gave a good effort, but Roberto dominated the fight - he consistently outworked Jimenez and landed the harder punches; Roberto scored two knockdowns in the 4^th round, both with left hooks, and the referee stopped the fight without a count at 1:21…

2010 - on 11-13-10 in Dallas, TX, he TKOd Francisco Dominguez (7-5): the fight was on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito main event at Cowboys Stadium, and Roberto quickly overpowered him; he scored two knockdowns in the 1^st round – the first with a left hook, the second with a left hook-right hand combination - and the referee stopped the fight at 1:27; after the fight, Roberto said, “I tried to use the first round as a warm-up. We were coming in expecting to go the full eight rounds. I hit him, and then when he stepped back, I wondered what was going on. But we did what we were supposed to do, and that hook never fails me.”…

On 10-16-10 in Monterrery, MX, he won a  round unanimous decision against Rafael Cerrillo (4-4): the fight was on the undercard at the Estadio de Beisbol, and Roberto dominated; scored 60-54 on all three scorecards…

On 8-7-10 in Hermosillo, MX, he TKOd Jesus Quintero (8-4-2): the fight was on the undercard at Estadio Hector Espino; it was Roberto’s first scheduled eight-rounder, and he quickly overwhelmed Quintero; Roberto staggered him with a series of right hands in the 3^rd round, and the stopped the fight at 1:40…

On 5-15-10 in Los Mochis, MX, he knocked out Arturo Camargo (22-14-2): the fight was on the undercard of the Orlando Salido-Cristobal Cruz main event, and Roberto dominated; he scored a knockdown in the 1^st round, then scored two more knockdowns in the 2^nd and the referee stopped the fight at 2:20…

On 3-13-10 in Dallas he TKOd Samuel Sanchez (4-1-1): the fight was on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey main event at Cowboys Stadium; Roberto dominated the fight and quickly overpowered Sanchez; he scored a knockdown with a left hook in the 1^st round; Roberto staggered Sanchez with two right hands in the 2^nd, and the referee stopped the fight as Sanchez fell to the canvas at 1:36...

On 2-6-10 in McAllen, TX, he TKOd Robert Guillen (5-4-3): Robert quickly overpowered Guillen; he scored two knockdowns in the 1^st round – the first with a left hook to the chin, the second with a body punch – and the referee stopped the fight at at 2:30...

2009 - on 11-13-09 in Las Vegas, NV, he TKOd Anthony Napunyi (14-7): the fight was on the undercard at the House of Blues, and Roberto dominated; he scored a knockdown with a right hand in the 3^rd round, and Napunyi was counted out at 0:31...

On 10-17-09 in Corpus Christi, TX, he won a 6 round unanimous decision against Jose Garcia Bernal (27-16-1): the fight was part of the Hall of Fame Fight Night at Whataburger Field, which drew an announced crowd of 6,100; Roberto consistently outboxed and outworked Bernal, and scored a knockdown in the 2^nd round; scored 60-53 on all three scorecards...

On 8-29-09 in Grand Prairie, TX, he TKOd previously undefeated lefthander Steven Johnson (5-0): the fight was on the undercard of the Jesus Soto-Karass-Edvan Dos  Barros main event, and Roberto quickly overpowered Johnson; he scored two knockdowns, both with left hooks, in the 1^st round; Roberto scored two more knockdowns with right hands in the 2^nd round, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:40...

On 6-19-09 in Frisco, TX, he TKOd Jose Manuel Garcia (3-4): the fight was on the undercard at the Dr. Pepper Arena; Roberto stopped Garcia at 1:27 of the 3^rd round...

On 5-16-09 in Primm, NV, he won a 6 round unanimous decision against Robert DaLuz (12-17-2): Roberto scored two knockdowns in the 2^nd round, and won by scores of 60-52 on all three scorecards...

On 5-1-09 in Las Vegas he knocked out Julio Valadez (3-4): the fight was on the undercard of the Urbano Antillon-Tyrone Harris main event, and it was a spectacular one-punch knockout; Roberto scored a knockdown with a right hand in the 1^st round; he scored another knockdown with a left uppercut that flattened Valadez in the 4^th round, and the referee stopped the fight without a count at 2:15...

2008 - on 12-6-08 in Las Vegas he TKOd Isaac Hidalgo (2-2): the bout was featured on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Oscar De La Hoya main event; Roberto scored a knockdown with a left hook to the body in the 1^st round, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:46...

On 9-5-08 in Albuquerque, NM, he won a 6 round unanimous decision against Gino Escamilla (5-3-1): Escamilla had an awkward style and gave a good effort, but Roberto dominated the fight; Roberto scored a knockdown with a left hook in the 3^rd round and staggered Escamilla in the 4^th; Roberto was cut on his scalp in the 5^th round, but finished the fight strongly and rocked Escamilla several times in the last two rounds, and won by scores of 59-54 on all three scorecards...

On 7-11-08 in Corpus Christi he TKOd Roberto Perez (debut): Roberto rocked Perez several times in the 1^st round, and Perez did not continue after the round; the Texas commission records it as a TKO at 0:10 of the 2^nd round...

On 2-29-08 in Harlingen, TX, he TKOd Angel Paneto (1-2-2): at 0:02 of the 2^nd round...

He debuted at the age of 18 on 1-18-08 in Browning, TX, and TKO’d Genaro Castorena (0-1): Castorena did not not continue after the 1^st round; the Texas commission records it as a TKO at 0:10 of the 2^nd round...

AMATEUR, PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Roberto said, “I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. I got one brother and three sisters. I’m the oldest one. My dad is a supervisor at a company named Media Recovery, and my mother also works there. They recycle media tapes. I’m the first boxer in the family.

“I started boxing back in 1998. I was around eight years old. Actually, I used to play baseball. When I was eight and baseball season was over, my dad just said, ‘Hey, let’s try another sport instead of just being all bored here at home.’ He didn’t want me to be in the streets with all the rest of the kids doing all that bad stuff.

“A little routine that my family had was, we went to church on Sunday and after church we would go out to a restaurant and eat, then take a little walk. We would always go to the flea market and just walk around there and go back home.

“So we went to a little flea market and they had a sparring session there. My dad just looked at me and he was like, ‘Hey, you want to try it?’ I was like, ‘Let’s go.’ We just asked them what gym they went to and if we could try out. So we went to the gym.

“The coach, Raul Martinez, is the one that started me out when I was eight. For the first month, he had me going in a straight line throwing a one-two combination - that was it for an entire month. Not even hitting the bag or nothing, he just had me doing that. Then he just put me up in the ring.

“That was the first time I got up in the ring and sparred with another kid. I beat him up and I was like, ‘I like this.’ I was all happy and everything, and I decided to just keep on going.

“I’m naturally righthanded. I would say I had around 180 or so amateur fights. I had probably had around 20 losses, something like that. I won like, six national titles. Most of them were in the junior division,like the Junior Golden Gloves and the National Ringside, the Silver Gloves back when I was 15 years old.

“Then in the open division, I won the Pan American Box-Off, that’s what gave me the chance to enter the 2007 Pan American Games to represent the United States.

“When I went to the open division, I didn’t really have a lot of fights. Everybody was just trying to make the Olympic Trials, so I probably only had three tournaments in the open division. I would say I had around 20 fights in the open division. I went to three international tournaments with the U.S. team. I went to a USA vs. England Dual, then I went to the Pan American first qualifier in Venezuela. The Pan American Games was the last international tournament I had.

“I also went to the Olympic Trials this past year and lost in the finals. The Pan American Games gave me the chance to make the U.S. Championships, then in the U.S. Championships, I had to make it to the quarterfinals, and I did.”…

AMATEUR HIGHLIGHTS:

2007 OLYMPIC TRIALS - Houston, Texas, 119 pounds, double elimination tournament – SILVER MEDALIST: on 8-20-07 he won an 18-17 decision against Gary Russell Jr. of Capitol Heights, Md. [note: Russell continued in the Challenger’s Bracket of the tournament]; in the quarterfinals on 8-21-07 he won a 26-25 decision against Sergio Perales of Los Fresnos, Tex.; in the semifinals on 8-22-07 he won a 30-27 decision against Ronny Rios of Santa Ana, Calif.; in the finals on 8-25-07 he lost a 25-13 decision against Gary Russell Jr. of Capitol Heights, Md.; in the box-offs on 8-26-07 he lost an 18-14 decision against Gary Russell Jr. of Capitol Heights, Md....

2007 PAN AMERICAN GAMES - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 119 pounds: in the quarterfinals on 7-22-07 he lost a 14-11 decision against Claudio Marrero of the Dominican Republic...

2007 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Colorado Springs, Colorado, 119 pounds: in his first fight on 6-3-07 he won a 20-10 decision against Roman Morales of San Ardo, Calif.; in his second fight on 6-4-07 he won a 25-18 decision against Derrick Wilson of Cincinnati, Ohio; in the quarterfinals on 6-5-07 he lost an 18-13 decision against Ronny Rios of Santa Ana, Calif....

2007 PAN AMERICAN GAMES QUALIFIER 1 - Barquisemeto, Venezuela, 119 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals on 2-3-07 he stopped Daniel Giordano of Argentina in the 2^nd round; in the semifinals on 2-6-07 he won a 26-22 decision against Carlos Cuadras of Mexico; in the finals on 2-8-07 he lost a 27-17 decision against Hector Manzanilla of Venezuela...

2007 PAN AMERICAN GAMES BOX-OFF - Colorado Springs, Colorado, 119 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the semifinals on 1-20-07 he won an 18-13 decision against Rick Lopez of Brighton, Colo.; in the finals on 1-21-07 he won a 16-5 decision against Victor Valenzuela of Passaic, N.J....

2006 NATIONAL PAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Oxnard, California, 119 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in his first fight on 10-2-06 he won a 17-3 decision against Eric Estrada of Chicago, Ill.; in his second fight on 10-4-06 he won a 5-1 decision against Matthew Villanueva of Palmdale, Calif.; in the quarterfinals on 10-5-06 he won a 4-1 decision against Jesse Cruz of Miami, Fla.; in the semifinals on 10-6-06 he stopped Victor Valenzuela of Passaic, N.J., in the 2^nd round; in the finals on 10-7-06 he lost a 16-7 decision against Gary Russell Jr. of Capitol Heights, Md....

2006 NATIONAL JUNIOR OLYMPICS - Marquette, Michigan, 119 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 6-28-06 he stopped Jim Maher of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., in the 2^nd round; in the quarterfinals on 6-29-06 he won a 26-13 decision against Danny Aquino of Meriden, Conn.; in the semifinals on 6-30-06 he won a 23-11 decision agianst Joseph Guerra of Las Cruces, N.M.; in the finals on 7-1-06 he won a 15-7 decision against Ronny Rios of Santa Ana, Calif....

2006 ALIYEV CUP - Baku, Azerbajian, 119 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals on 5-8-06 he won a 12-10 decision against Maxim Ponomarev of Ukraine; in the semifinals on 5-9-06 he stopped Aziz Dadashov of Azerbajian in the 2^nd round; in the finals on 5-10-06 he lost a 25-16 decision against Elnur Aliyev of Azerbajian...

2005 NATIONAL JUNIOR OLYMPICS - Brownville, Texas, 110 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals on 6-23-05 he stopped Morris Young of Cheasaning, Mich., in the 3^rd round; on 6-24-05 he fought to a 4-4 draw, but won the tiebreaker 19-18 against Adrien Broner of of Cincinnati, Oh.; in the finals on 6-25-05 he lost a 21-7 decision against Leodegario Santa Cruz of Los Angeles, Calif....

2005 CADET WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - Liverpool, England, 114 pounds: in his first fight on 10-13-05 he won a 27-7 decision against Cho Kyong Rae of Korea; in the quarterfinals on 10-15-05 he lost a 13-11 decision against Y.T. Lopez of Cuba...

STRENGTHS: Has good skills and movement...has good punching power...is tall and lanky for the division, and naturally athletic...had a strong amateur background...

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 24 fights...106 total rounds…12 world championship rounds…

AVERAGE LENGTH OF BOUTS: 4.4 rounds...

KNOCKOUT PERCENTAGE: 68 %...

DISTANCE FIGHTS: 12 rounds – 1 (0-1)…10 rounds – 2 (1-1)…