MIGUEL ESPINO
Undefeated Middleweight
Born: Feb. 16, 1980, Mission Hills, California
Height: 5’ 5’’

September 3, 2003

FIGHTS: 10 WINS: 9 LOSSES: 0 DRAWS: 1 KOs: 3

Growing up in North Hollywood, there was one thing Miguel Espino desired more than anything. In order to get it, he turned to boxing.

“When I was 12 years old and in the sixth grade, there was a show-and-tell about what you do in your spare time and your hobbies, and there was a kid there showing off his boxing trophies.

“I was interested because every kid wants to get trophies like, ‘It's cool, I have trophies, I have trophies,’ and the kid said, ‘I get a trophy every time I fight.’ And I was, like, ‘that's cool.’ You have to play 20 baseball games or 20 football games to get one trophy, and he said he got one every time he fights.

“That did it for me. I started boxing right then.’’

Espino developed quickly into an amateur star. In 1996, he was the United States National Junior Champion at 139 pounds. Two years later, he was the U.S. National under-19 champion at 147 pounds.

After winning the majority of his amateur bouts, Espino turned pro at the age of 20 with a first-round TKO over Teddy Rooker on Aug. 5, 2000, in Philadelphia, Miss.

Espino won his next three starts by four-round decision before knocking out Amador Ishwar (2-1 going in) in the fourth round on Dec. 21, 2001, in Temecula, Calif. Espino, who had dominated, staggered Ishwar in the fourth, prompting the referee to stop the fight at 2:23.

A crowd-pleasing kid with an aggressive style, Espino almost made it two consecutive victories inside the distance, but he had to settle for a unanimous four-round decision over Daniel Mendez (13-13-1 going in) on Feb. 8, 2002, in Temecula. Espino rocked the awkward, vastly more experienced Mendez several times but the veteran had the savvy to hang in the entire way.

The only blemish on Espino’s report card came on Feb. 7, 2003, in Las Vegas when he fought to an exciting, hard-fought six-round draw with Carl Cockerham (12-8-2 going in).

In a thriller that had the fans on their feet throughout, Espino consistently pressed forward, using his lightning combinations, but also a couple of low blows, to keep Cockerham on the defensive. Cockerham, meantime, was content to move and counterpunch and used his speed and skill to get out of trouble several times. At the finish of a bout in which the fighters gave the crowd a great toe-to-toe finish, one judge had it for Espino (58-56), one had it for Cockerham (58-56) and the other scored it 57-all. Espino was cut on the upper lip and Cockerham was cut over the left eye.

In yet another candidate for Prelim Fight of the Year, Espino won his last start with a six-round majority decision over Rigoberto Plascencia (5-2-1 going in) on June 8 in Las Vegas.

For most of the wild, entertaining slugfest, the offensive-minded warriors put aside any thought of playing defense and stood toe to toe and exchanged non-stop power shots. Each round had the crowd on their feet as both boxers gave their all and left everything in the ring.

Both fighters came out strong with Plascencia landing big shots to the body while Espino pummeled his head. The first round was stopped twice by the referee so Plascencia could recover from unintentional low blows, but when the action resumed it was fast, non-stop and furious and it remained that way for the rest of the fight. Amazingly, no one went down or appeared to be seriously hurt

“It was a tough fight and I did not fight the proper way, unfortunately, but styles make fights,’’ said Espino, who triumphed by the scores of 59-55, 58-56 and 57-57. “I stood in with a slugger when I should have boxed.’’

When he did box and gave himself a little distance, Espino was effective with short hooks and straight right hands. It was his right hand that accounted for Plascencia's eye nearly being swollen shut.

“In the fifth round, you saw the damage I did when I was turning, boxing and not allowing myself to get hit,’’ he said.

Espino, though, was not able to take Plascencia out or put him down despite landing hundreds of crisp power shots. For that, he credited not only Plascencia's chin, but also his punching power. Plascencia was landing hard shots of his own and Espino had to be careful not to load up because he could have been caught with a hard counter.

“I felt some body shots from him and, honestly, I think it affected me slightly,’’ Espino said. “I think my shots affected him, too. He was strong and he caught me with some good ones and that had an impact on how I fought.’’

Managed by Joe Goossen and trained by John Bray, Espino has good skills and movement and a ton of heart, but the boxer-puncher lacks bigtime speed and one-punch knockout power.

“As long I continue to win and put on a good show, hopefully, the nation will see what I am about,” Espino said. “I am hoping to get a title within the next few months.’’