Esquiva Falcão


Esquiva Falcão Florentino is a Brazilian professional boxer. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships and silver at the 2012 Olympics. As a professional boxer, he accumulated a record of 30 straight wins before losing to Vincenzo Gualtieri by a 12-round unanimous decision in a fight for the vacant IBF middleweight title, his first-ever loss.
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Early life

Falcão was born in Vitória, Espírito Santo, and is the younger brother of professional boxer Yamaguchi Falcão.

Amateur career

He became famous in his amateur years by winning the Middleweight bronze medal at the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships, losing in the semifinals to Ryōta Murata. He thus qualified for the 2012 London Olympics, where he won the silver medal, becoming the first Brazilian to reach an Olympic boxing final after defeating Soltan Migitinov, Zoltán Harcsa and local hero Anthony Ogogo.
His name is Portuguese for "dodge\slip", as his amateur boxer father wanted to circumvent the prohibition given for coach instructions during the fight, and guide his son simply by shouting his name.
He finished his amateur career with a record of 215 wins and 15 losses.

Professional career

Falcão was supposed to fight Paul Harness on his debut, but Harness got injured only six days before the event and was replaced by Joshua Robertson. In his debut fight, he knocked out Joshua Robertson in the fourth round. Falcão's next fight was announced as part of the preliminary card of the Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley rematch event against Publio Pena. He dominated most of the fight and won by unanimous decision over Publio Pena. Two judges scored the fight 60–54, and one scored 60–53. Falcão was supposed to face Australian Alex Don, however, Don got injured and was replaced by South Korean Eun-Chang Lee. Falcão defeated Eun-Chang Lee by unanimous decision, the scorecards were 59–55, 59-54 e 58–55, all in favor of Falcão. The fight took place in Macau, China.
Esquiva was expected to face Mexican Mike Noriega, but Mike broke his hand due to sparring. Noriega was replaced by the American Malcolm Terry Jr. and Falcão beat him via TKO in the second round after a second knockdown, the fight was stopped by the referee. The first knockdown came in the first round.
After some time boxing, Esquiva Falcão amassed an undefeated record of 27 wins with 19 KOs, and then faced Russian Artur Akavov, in a fight where he defeated the Russian in the fourth round via RTD, because his opponent likely had a broken nose due to punches landed by Esquiva.
Falcão fought Vincenzo Gualtieri for the then-vacant IBF middleweight world title on July 1, 2023. Originally Falcão was supposed to fight Michael Zerafa for the title vacated by Gennady Golovkin, but Zerafa opted to pursue a World Boxing Association title fight against Erislandy Lara that opened the opportunity for Gualtieri. He ultimately lost a 12-round decision to Gualtieri, the first loss of his career.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
33Win31–2Marcos Vinicius Rodrigues De BarrosKO2, 1:442 Aug 2025Tork N' Roll, Curitiba, Brazil
32Loss30–2Hebert ConceiçãoUD1015 Jun 2024Komplexo Tempo, São Paulo, BrazilFor vacant Brazilian Super Middleweight title
31Loss30–1Vincenzo GualtieriUD121 Jul 2023Uni-Halle, Wuppertal, GermanyFor vacant IBF middleweight title
30Win30–0Cristian Fabian RíosUD1029 May 2022Arena de Lutas, São Paulo, Brazil
29Win29–0Patrice VolnyTD6 2:1820 Nov 2021Michelob Ultra Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
28Win28–0Artur AkavovRTD4, 3:0020 Feb 2021MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
27Win27–0Morrama Dheisw de Araujo SantosTKO1, 2:1229 Aug 2020Arena de Lutas, São Paulo, Brazil
26Win26–0Jorge Daniel MirandaRTD5, 3:0029 Feb 2020Arena de Lutas, São Paulo, Brazil
25Win25–0Manny WoodsKO3, 2:169 Nov 2019Chukchansi Park, Fresno, California, U.S.
24Win24–0Jesus Antonio GutierrezTKO8, 1:3519 Jul 2019MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S.
23Win23–0Jorge Daniel MirandaUD1031 Mar 2019Portobello Resort & Safari, Mangaratiba, Brazil
22Win22–0Guido Nicolas PittoUD1020 Oct 2018Park MGM, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
21Win21–0Jonathan TaviraKO1, 1:3828 Jul 2018Kissimmee Civic Center, Kissimmee, Florida, U.S.
20Win20–0Salim LarbiKO1, 2:0610 Mar 2018StubHub Center, Carson, California, U.S.
19Win19–0José Miguel FandinoTKO7, 2:433 Nov 2017Osceola Heritage Center, Kissimmee, Florida, U.S.
18Win18–0Norberto GonzálezUD85 Aug 2017Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
17Win17–0Jaime BarbozaUD817 Feb 2017Don Haskins Convention Center, El Paso, Texas, U.S.
16Win16–0Luis HernandezUD82 Dec 2016Save Mart Center, Fresno, California, U.S.
15Win15–0Josué ObandoRTD6, 3:0028 Oct 2016Laredo Energy Arena, Laredo, Texas, U.S.
14Win14–0Paul Valenzuela Jr.TKO4, 1:3114 May 2016Sportsmen's Lodge, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
13Win13–0Joe McCreedyTKO5, 1:4819 Mar 2016Arena Theatre, Houston, Texas, U.S.
12Win12–0Hector MuñozTKO4, 2:2612 Dec 2015Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
11Win11–0Zoltan PappKO2, 1:5026 Sep 2015Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, Lemoore, California, U.S.
10Win10–0Aaron DrakeTKO4, 0:4526 Jun 2015State Farm Arena, Hidalgo, Texas, U.S.
9Win9–0Paul HarnessRTD3, 3:008 May 2015Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
8Win8–0Omar RojasUD611 Apr 2015Laredo Energy Arena, Laredo, Texas, U.S.
7Win7–0Mike TufarielloTKO2, 2:2228 Feb 2015USF Sun Dome, Tampa, Florida, U.S.
6Win6–0Lanny DardarTKO5, 1:316 Dec 2014Civic Auditorium, Glendale, California, U.S.
5Win5–0Austin MarcumTKO2, 1:244 Oct 2014Bahia Shrine Temple, Orlando, Florida, U.S.
4Win4–0Malcolm Terry Jr.KO2, 0:439 Aug 2014Civic Auditorium, Glendale, California, U.S.
3Win3–0Lee Eun-changUD631 May 2014CotaiArena, Macau, SAR
2Win2–0Publio PenaUD612 Apr 2014MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
1Win1–0Joshua RobertsonTKO4, 2:3615 Feb 2014C. Robert Lee Center, Hawaiian Gardens, California, U.S.