Luis Del Valle
Luis Orlando Del Valle Valentín (born January 27, 1987) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. Biography. Luis Orlando, is related to former WBO bantamweight champion Rafael del Valle. He began boxing at the age of 14 at the Caná Boxing Club in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, losing his first amateur fight despite a spirited effort on his part. Instead of being disheartened by the setback, it served to motivate Luis to come back and just get better. In just one year he became Puerto Rico's National Junior Olympics champion, bringing medals to the island during his two -year reign. The trend continued as he represented the island at the 2004 under 19 World Championships in Korea. Being too young to try out for the 2004 Olympic team, his trainer sent him to New York where he won both the New York and National Golden Gloves tournaments representing Newburgh Boxing Club. His stunning rise through the ranks of the amateur boxing world took an unexpected turn when he was invited to the United States national team. “We decided to stay because things were going fine and traveling a lot. In Puerto Rico, Carlos Velazquez (2004 Olympian and current  professional rising star) had decided to stay for the 2008 cycle and they only send the No. 1 to fight abroad. In the U.S., I had the chance to gain more international experience which has helped me a lot.” Del Valle represented the United States at the 2007 Pan American Games and other international competitions such as the 2005 International Tammer Tournament in Tampere, Finland. 2006 Six Nation Cup in Porto Torres, Italy. 2006 Ken Goff Memorial Boxing Classic In Regina, Canada collecting two gold and a bronze medal in the process. Del Valle came up short against the eventual  2008 Olympic team member Raynell Williams in the U.S. Championships at 125 pounds. Amateur career. Del Valle began Boxing at the age of 14 losing his first amateur fight and ends his amateur career with a record of 112-14. Professional career. After eight years and 126 amateurs fights Orlandito made his professional debut on April 11, 2008 defeating Rey Rivera by the way of third-round knockout. On September 27, 2008 fighting as a promotional free agent, Del Valle dominated Francisco Palacios to get a unanimous decision after six rounds of action. After signing with Lou Dibella of Dibella  entertainment on August 26, 2010 Orlandito made his debut under the DBE banner stopping Robert Guillen impressively in five rounds. On October 24, 2009 he was back in Puerto Rico facing crafty southpaw Christoher Rivera. After an interesting first round where Rivera attempted to keep Del Valle in the center of the ring, Luis imposed his crowd-pleasing style dominating with a relentless attack to Rivera's body. The end came at the third round where a solid hook to the liver sent Rivera down for the count. On March 14, 2015, Del Valle returned to Puerto Rico and faced  Mexico's Rogelio Castaneda, a fighter who a few months earlier had gained notoriety in the island for losing a highly controversial majority decision against the unbeaten Puerto Rican prospect Jose "Wonder Boy" Lopez. Orlandito scored a TKO win after 8 action packed rounds. The knockout of Castaneda started a winning streak that helped Del Valle get back in the mix. After defeating Marylands, Thomas Snow (18-2) in Washington DC, he was back on track. Right hand injury. On September 17, 2016 as part of the undercard for Canelo Álvarez vs Liam Smith, Del Valle faced off against highly  touted prospect Diego de la Hoya. After being competitive for the first 3 rounds, Del Valle suffered a severe injury on his right hand and continued to fight despite the injury. De la Hoya went on to win a unanimous decision. Del Valle has been away from the ring ever since. He went through surgical procedures and is currently in the process of recovering from his 2016 injury. It is expected Del Valle could be making his return to the ring at some point in early 2019. Outside the ring. Since his initial move to the USA to compete at  the Golden Gloves, New York became Del Valle's second home. He is now fully bilingual which allows him to connect directly with his New York fan base as well as with his Puerto Rican fan base mostly through his social media activity. Del Valle considers himself a hardcore boxing fan and has become a recurrent TV commentator in various boxing cards. He feels very passionate about his broadcasting opportunities and hopes to one day be part of a broadcast team where he can contribute both in English and his native Spanish language.