José Pedraza (boxer)

José Pedraza González (born May 8, 1989) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer and former two-weight world champion.

Pedraza participated in the 2006 Copa La Romana.

In the quarter finals he defeated Javier Fortuna (27:5).

He secured the bronze medal with a 12:9 victory over V.Castillo of Ecuador.

Pedraza won the tournament's gold medal over localist boxer Jonathan Batista (10:5).

In December, he won the lightweight national championship, defeating Hector Marengo (18:15) in the finals of the Torneo Nacional Isaac Barrientos.

Among the awards he achieved are a bronze medal at the 2007 Pan American Games, silver at the 2009 World Championships and gold at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games, as well as participation in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

As of June 2021, he is ranked as the world's eighth best active super lightweight by BoxRec.

On February 4, 2007, Pedraza debuted in the Pan American Games Qualifier defeating Oscar Diaz of the Dominican Republic (13:6).

He qualified to the event by winning the bronze medal, losing (16:8) to localist Lisandro Bolivar in the semifinals.

On March 31, 2007, Pedraza participated in a dual against Trinidad, winning (26:19) a contest over Jules De Gannes.

He entered the IX Torneo José "Cheo" Aponte, debuting with a victory over Shemuel Pagan of the United States.

Pedraza won the event's silver medal, losing to Jean Gomis by hit count after the contest finished tied 8:8.

At the Pan American Games, he debuted winning (26:7) his preliminary over Jose Virula Lopez of Guatemala.

Pedraza advanced to the medal round defeating Lisandro Bolivar of Venezuela.

He won the tournament's bronze medal, losing (7:2) to local Everton Lopes.

Pedraza entered the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships, but lost (25:17) his preliminary contest against Sadam Ali.

He closed the year participating in a dual against France, losing (15:5) to Daouda Sow.

In January 2008, Pedraza defended the lightweight national championship, defeating Reynaldo Ojeda (20:11) in the finals of the Torneo Nacional Isaac Barrientos.

At the American Olympic Qualifier, he debuted with a 20:4 victory over Valentino Knowles of Bahamas.

In the quarterfinals he lost (13:5) to Yordenis Ugas.

In April 2008, he entered the second American Olympic Qualifier, stopping Omar Ward of Barbados in the second round of his preliminary.

He was guaranteed a medal after defeating (15:8) Juan Cuellar of Argentina.

In the semifinals, Pedraza stopped Alexis Folleco of Ecuador in the third round.

He won the tournament's gold medal and qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics by defeating Lopes in a rematch.

Pedraza debuted in the X Torneo José "Cheo" Aponte with a victory (19:8) over countryman Alberto Mercado.

In the finals he defeated Shemuel Pagan of the United States by walkover.

Prior to the Olympics Pedraza participated in the XXXVIII International Golden Belt Tournament, advancing to the semifinals before losing (37:25) to Vladimir Saruhanyan of Russia.

As part of their training the boxing team moved to South Korea, in order to adapt to the time-zone.

After training and participating in a series of exhibition matches, the team traveled from Corea to Beijin.

In his first Olympic fight, Pedraza defeated Onur Şipal of Turkey by points, with scores of 10–3.

Throughout the event, his strategy focused on maintaining a solid defense while connecting combinations to his opponent's body.

Pedraza lost his second preliminary to Daouda Sow of France by points, 13:9.

He entered the 2008 Boxing World Cup, advancing to the semifinals with an 8:2 win over Georgian Popescu of Romania.

He won the bronze medal, losing (14:4) his next contest to Albert Selimov of Russia.

In February 2008, Pedraza defended the lightweight national championship in the Torneo Nacional Isaac Barrientos, defeating Reynaldo Cintron in the preliminaries, Erick Vidal in the quarterfinals (WO), Edgardo Rivera in the semifinals and Ken Alvarez in the final (10:3).

In May 2009, he entered the XII Torneo José "Cheo" Aponte and competed in the light welterweight limit, winning his first contest over Pedro Vicente by stoppage in three rounds.

Pedraza won the silver medal, losing to Bernard Lebron in the finals by hit score following a 16:16 tie.

He held the IBO super featherweight title in 2014, the IBF super featherweight title from 2015 to 2017, and the WBO lightweight title in 2018.

As an amateur he represented Puerto Rico, winning medals in multiple international competitions.