# Paul Bamba

Paul Bamba (15 August 1989 – 27 December 2024) was a Puerto Rican professional boxer. In his last fight he won the WBA Gold cruiserweight title after defeating Rogelio Medina on 21 December 2024.

## Early life

Bamba was born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, on 15 August 1989. Paul's hobbies included skydiving and reading, and his dream was to positively impact less privileged communities and help raise a generation of successful people who came from disadvantaged positions. Paul ran a successful fitness business training clients of every age and brought fitness programs to people around the world. His hard work helped raise over $250k for causes like sending 100 children to summer camp and providing over 500 turkeys to families in need during Thanksgiving. His journey into professional boxing began in his early 30s—a rare and impressive feat in the sport. Standing 6 feet 1 inch tall, his athleticism and discipline allowed him to transition successfully from fitness trainer to professional athlete.

## Career

On 4 October 2022, it was announced that Bamba would face British boxer Tommy Fury as the co-feature bout to Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Deji at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. However, during the weigh-in on 12 November, he weighed in at 176.6 Ibs while Fury weighed in at 181.4 Ibs. Both fighters stated that they made the weight that was stated in their contract. Bamba refused to fight, and on 13 November, the day of the fight, he was replaced by Cameroon boxer Rolly Lambert to fight Fury.
On April 21, 2023 Bamba faced former UFC, Bellator fighter Chris Avila, and lost by a unanimous decision making his record 5-3.
In November 2024, having achieved a record of 18 wins and 3 losses with 17 knockouts in a span of a year and half since his last loss, with 13 straight wins since January 2024 winning all by knockouts, Bamba was the first fighter signed to American entertainer Ne-Yo's sports management company. Prior to that Bamba had already captured the WBA-NABA cruiserweight title, WBA Fedecaribe and Fedecentro titles. Bamba first met Ne-Yo as his trainer, teaching him boxing as part of Ne-Yo's workout routine.
In 2024, Bamba broke Mike Tyson's record for most boxing wins in a calendar year via knockout, with 14 KOs throughout the year after knocking out Rogelio Medina Luna, earning him the WBA Gold Cruiserweight title.

## Death

Bamba died on 27 December 2024, at the age of 35. It was reported that he made brain damage admission weeks before death. After a fight against Avila, Paul later commented: fighting Avila with a concussion and losing 22lbs in 3 days gave me slight brain damage. Which was a bit scary and I had to take 8months off so it’s not a joking matter." In a later tweet he claimed he wasn’t able to speak about it till Misfits Boxing decided to.

## Professional boxing record

| 22 fights | 19 wins | 3 losses |
| By knockout | 18 | 1 |
| By decision | 1 | 2 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 22 | Win | 19–3 | Rogelio Medina Luna | RTD | 6 (12) 3:00 | Dec 21, 2024 | Carteret Performing Arts Center, Carteret, New Jersey, United States | Won WBA Gold cruiserweight title |
| 21 | Win | 18–3 | Santander Silgado Gelez | TKO | 6 (8) | Nov 2, 2024 | Abba Shrine, Mobile, Alabama, United States | |
| 20 | Win | 17–3 | Francisco Cordero | TKO | 3 (8) 3:00 | Oct 19, 2024 | DoubleTree by Hilton, Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S. | Won WBA-NABA cruiserweight title |
| 19 | Win | 16–3 | Angel Giovanni Ocano Garcia | TKO | 4 (10) 0:10 | Aug 17, 2024 | Agua Prieta, Mexico | |
| 18 | Win | 15–3 | Jose Luis Herrera | KO | 4 (8) 1:45 | Jul 5, 2024 | Gimnasio Yorby Mendoza, Cartagena, Colombia | |
| 17 | Win | 14–3 | Ronald Montes | KO | 5 (10) 1:10 | Jul 1, 2024 | Gimnasio Yorby Mendoza, Cartagena, Colombia | |
| 16 | Win | 13–3 | Francisco Fuentes | TKO | 6 (8) 1:13 | Jun 23, 2024 | Club de Boxeo Atila, Florida, Colombia | |
| 15 | Win | 12–3 | Jose Ramon Escobedo | KO | 2 (8) 1:48 | May 3, 2024 | La Terraza Sport Bar, Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico | |
| 14 | Win | 11–3 | Adoni Zapata Garcia | TKO | 3 (8) | Apr 13, 2024 | Complejo Deportivo Santiago Rodriguez, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | |
| 13 | Win | 10–3 | Pedro Miranda | TKO | 6 (8) 1:23 | Apr 2, 2024 | Coliseo de Pescaito David Ruiz Ureche, Santa Marta, Colombia | |
| 12 | Win | 9–3 | Victor Coronado | TKO | 5 (6) 2:03 | Mar 27, 2024 | Coliseo de Pescaito David Ruiz Ureche, Santa Marta, Colombia | |
| 11 | Win | 8–3 | Jefferson Troncoso | TKO | 2 (6) 2:01 | Feb 22, 2024 | Coliseo de Pescaito David Ruiz Ureche, Santa Marta, Colombia | |
| 10 | Win | 7–3 | Sergio Luna | KO | 2 (4) 1:20 | Jan 31, 2024 | Coliseo de Pescaito David Ruiz Ureche, Santa Marta, Colombia | |
| 9 | Win | 6–3 | Guillermo Ponce | KO | 2 (4) 2:13 | Jan 25, 2024 | Coliseo de Pescaito David Ruiz Ureche, Santa Maria, Colombia | |
| 8 | Loss | 5–3 | Chris Avila | UD | 4 | Apr 21, 2023 | XULA Convocation Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States | |
| 7 | Win | 5–2 | Francisco Morelos | KO | 2 (6) 1:12 | Sep 8, 2022 | Coliseo Luis Patron Rosano, Tolú, Colombia | |
| 6 | Loss | 4–2 | Derrick Vann | SD | 4 | Aug 20, 2022 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States | |
| 5 | Win | 4–1 | Dionisio Miranda | UD | 8 | Jun 29, 2022 | Club Anibal Gonzalez, Cartagena, Colombia | |
| 4 | Win | 3–1 | Hector Nava Lopez | TKO | 1 (4) 2:43 | Oct 8, 2021 | La Terraza Sport Bar, Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico | |
| 3 | Loss | 2–1 | Abraham Velazquez Salazar | KO | 4 (4) 1:23 | Jun 3, 2021 | Cancha 4, Hermosillo, Mexico | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Juan Manuel Valenzuela Palma | TKO | 1 (4) 2:58 | Jan 29, 2021 | La Terraza Sport Bar, Agua Prieta, Mexico | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Felix Alexis Cardenas | TKO | 1 (4) 1:23 | Jan 9, 2021 | La Terraza Sport Bar, Agua Prieta, Mexico | |