Joseph Adorno

Just 19 years old, Joseph is a two-year pro. A sensational prospect at 130 pounds, he was an amateur standout before his debut.

He is co-managed and co-trained by his father, Anibal Adorno, and Robert Garcia, the Boxing Writers Association of America’s “2012 Trainer of the Year.”

Joseph stayed very active with 11 fights in his first two years as a pro, and has given very impressive performances.

In his last fight on November 24 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Joseph won by fourth-round TKO against Luis Avila.

Boxing News’ Eric Armit reported [excerpts]: Joseph Adorno batters Avila to defeat. The red hot young prospect put Avila down twice in the opening round. The first came from a left hook to the head and the second from a left to the body.

In the fourth, he scored another knockdown to finish the fight.

The 19-year-old “Blessed Hands” makes it ten wins by KO/TKO. [End Armit item]

After Joseph’s first-round TKO win against Agustin Mauras on August 18 in Atlantic City, Phillyboxinghistory.com’s John DiSanto wrote [excerpts]: When the bell rings for a fight featuring Joseph Adorno, you must be sure that you’re in your seat and paying attention.

The 19-year-old swings effortlessly, but his punches have great impact and usually produce fireworks. [End DiSanto item]

In an earlier interview, co-manager and trainer Robert Garcia said, “My son, Robert Jr., told me about this kid. Some of my friends from San Antonio had seen him fight in the Junior Olympics and they told my son, ‘You’ve got to check out this kid, Joseph Adorno.’

“Most of the kids I manage and train are Mexican or Mexican-American, and Robert told me this kid is Puerto Rican. We’re not too familiar with their culture but I said, ‘Let’s check him out.’ Robert showed me some videos, and man, this kid’s got that Mexican style!

“I told Robert, ‘You’ve got to start reaching out to him and see if they want to meet us.’ The kid and his dad were very happy that we reached out to them. I was in San Antonio and I met them there. I flew them in and met his mom and dad, and it started there.

“We brought him to my gym in Riverside and he sparred. He did really good. The Top Rank matchmakers, Bruce Trampler and Brad Goodman, saw Joseph spar and said that he looks like a young Miguel Cotto – you know, coming forward, side-to-side, with a beautiful left hook to the body. Man, that’s a good compliment!

“He’s got a bright future – he’s dedicated. His father is with him 24/7, and they’re humble, down-to-earth. We do our training camps at my gym in Riverside, California.”

Joseph said, “I got to know Robert Garcia through Instagram. I post a lot of videos and stuff, like every day that I train. I guess Robert’s son seen it and was like, ‘Yo dad, look at this!’ They got on Instagram and started talking to me and we met up.

“I went to Robert’s gym and sparred. I was there for a week. At home, I train at the Allentown International Gym.

“I can do it all in the ring, but my main plan is to stay calm, use my jab and a lot of hard combinations. If I have to box, I box. If I have to go get the fight, I go get the fight.

“Robert Garcia is going to be in my corner with my dad. It’s going to be a great experience – something we’ve never had in the corner.

“They used to call me ‘Kid Sensation’ until I was 15. But now that I’m older, they changed my name – that’s when I started knocking people out. Now my name is ‘Blessed Hands.’ ”

AMATEUR, PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Joseph said, “I was born in Union City, New Jersey, but I was raised in Puerto Rico. I have four brothers and one sister. I’m the oldest, then it’s my little brother Jeremy, he boxes. [note: an 18-year-old featherweight, Jeremy is a member of Team USA] Then my other little brother boxes, too. His name is Jayion.

“My parents are from Puerto Rico and we moved back to San Juan when I was one year old. We lived there until I was 10. We lived in Manuel de Perez – it’s like, the little projects there. Then we moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania.

“I started boxing at six years old. It all started with my dad. He was an amateur boxer, on the Puerto Rico team and all that, and he had an accident. He injured his eye – it was a week before he was going to turn pro. He couldn’t work after he hurt his eye, so then he started training me and my little brothers. My dad is a full-time trainer now – he’s been full-time ever since he started training me. Me, being the oldest, I always took it more serious.

“I had 200 amateur fights – 178 wins and 22 losses. I had a lot of knockouts, too – I had 65.”…

Joseph told The Ring’s Joseph Santoliquito [Aug. 14, 2018 – excerpts]: “It actually all began for me when, one day, my father had me work the mitts. I may have been around five. I used to spar my younger brother Jeremy. I have videos of me beating him up like crazy but I’ve been around boxing my whole life, from the time I used to go and see my father fight as an amateur.

“I never had my eye on ever being an Olympian and that came ever since I went to my first pro fight. I was eight and it’s been a goal ever since, to be a pro champion. It’s why I adapted my style toward the pros. It’s all I ever wanted to do. I’d fight in tournaments and I would hear from the kids I was fighting was, ‘I want to be an Olympian. I want to be an Olympian. I want to be an Olympian.

“Me, it’s always been, ‘I want to be a world champion. I want to be a world champion. I want to be a world champion.’ That’s what was always on my mind. I wanted to go pro.

“I’ll let my promoter, Top Rank, and matchmaker Brad Goodman figure things out and do what they’re supposed to do. I hear young fighters that say they want to be world champions by this time and this time, but when they fail at it or something goes wrong because they want to rush things, their careers get ruined.

“I have to remind people that I’m only 19. I have a long career ahead of me and I want to take things step by step and build things up.” [End Santoliquito item]…

AMATEUR HIGHLIGHTS:

2016 NATIONAL GOLDEN GLOVES CHAMPIONSHIPS – Salt Lake City, Utah, 132 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 5-18-16 he stopped Javon Thompson in the 1^st round; in the quarterfinals on 5-19-16 he won a 5-0 decision against Rocco Salimbene; in the semifinals on 5-20-16 he lost a 5-0 decision against Malik Montgomery…

2016 PENNSYLVANIA GOLDEN GLOVES CHAMPIONSHIPS – Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 132 pounds/open division – GOLD MEDALIST [incomplete results]: in the finals on 5-7-16 he defeated John Spell…

2015 RINGSIDE WORLD TOURNAMENT – Independence, Missouri, 132 pounds/junior division – BRONZE MEDALIST: in the semifinals (his first fight) on 8-7-15 he lost against James Browning…

2015 JUNIOR OLYMPIC AND PREP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Charleston, West Virginia, 125 pounds/ junior division – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 6-11-15 he stopped Benigo Aguilar of Crescent City, Fla.; in the semifinals on 6-12-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Gabriel Flores of Stockton, Calif.; in the finals on 6-13-15 he won a 2-1 decision against Nathan Gonzales of Palmdale, Calif…..

2015 EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA SILVER GLOVES CHAMPIONSHIPS – 132 pounds/14-15 year old division – GOLD MEDALIST [results not currently available]…

2015 USA JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Reno, Nevada, 125 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 1-5-15 he stopped Frank Prado in the 1^st round; in the quarterfinals on 1-7-15 he won a 3-0 decision against José Rodriguez; in the semifinals on 1-8-15 he lost a 3-0 decision against Gabriel Flores…

2014 RINGSIDE WORLD TOURNAMENT – Kansas City, Missouri, 125 pounds/junior division – SILVER MEDALIST: in his first fight on 7-30-14 he defeated Miguel Gomez; in the quarterfinals on 7-31-14 he defeated Hilario Vásquez; in the semifinals on 8-1-14 he defeated Logan Yoon; in the finals on 8-2-14 he lost against Ameer Brown…

2012 RINGSIDE WORLD TOURNAMENT – Kansas City, Missouri, 110 pounds/13-14 year old division – GOLD MEDALIST [results not currently available]…

2013 USA JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Reno, Nevada, 119 pounds: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 1-8-14 he lost a 3-0 decision against Dominic Serna…

STRENGTHS: Has good skills and movement…has good punching power…had a strong amateur background…

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 11 fights…22 total rounds…

AVERAGE LENGTH OF BOUTS: 2 rounds…

KNOCKOUT PERCENTAGE: 90 %…