Boxing’s Greats of the States | Arizona: Michael Carbajal

Boxers come from every corner of the globe. Sometimes, fighters are products of their environment, favoring styles prevalent in the country or state from which they hail. Various regions of the United States are considered factories for great fighters, though that certainly is not the case with each state. In this weekly Sherdog.com series, the spotlight will shine on the best boxer of all-time from each of the 50 states. Fighters do not necessarily need to be born in a given state to represent it; they simply need to be associated with it. For example, all-time great heavyweight legend Joe Louis was born in Alabama, but he is identified almost universally with Detroit.

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While “The Grand Canyon State” may not immediately spring to mind when discussing boxing hotbeds, plenty of world-class pugilists have their origins there. They include one of the greatest light flyweights to ever live: 1988 Olympic silver medalist Michael Carbajal.

Carbajal is credited with helping to put smaller weight classes on the map in the United States in the early 1990s, with his exciting style and terrific knockout power. “Manitas de Piedra” was a staple on major cable and pay-per-view cards in his heyday and rarely, if ever, disappointed. His sensational trilogy with Humberto Gonzalez remains one of the best in boxing history, though their three wars were largely overlooked by the experts.

Carbajal captured the IBF light flyweight title by stopping Muangchai Kittikasem in the seventh round in July 1990 and defended the belt nine times before losing it to Gonzalez via split decision in the first of their two rematches; Carbajal had previously knocked out Gonzalez after being dropped twice in 1993. The Phoenix native added the WBC 108-pound title to his resume, as well, and eventually regained the IBF crown by edging Melchor Cob Castro via unanimous decision in 1996.

The Phoenix native would eventually surrender the belt to Mauricio Pastrana on Jan. 18, 1997. After retiring for almost two years, Carbajal surged in his comeback and walked off into the sunset by knocking out 21-year old Jorge Arce in the 11th round of a thrilling war to capture the WBO light flyweight crown; he retired as a world champion in 1999. Carbajal was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006, alongside rival Gonzalez. The five-time world champion finished with a stellar overall record of 49-4 with 33 KOs.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Louie Espinoza, Albert “Chalky” Wright, John Henry Lewis, Orlando Salido, Norberto Bravo