Raúl Horacio Balbi


Raúl Horacio Balbi is an Argentine former professional boxer.

Professional career

Balbi made his professional debut on November 19, 1993, in Mercedes, Corrientes, Argentina. Balbi made a victorious start to his career by knocking out Juan Bautista Sosa in the first round. One of the highlights of Balbi's early career came on June 3, 1995, when he beat Simon Canache to claim the South American lightweight title. The first loss of Balbi's career came on September 9, 1995, when he lost to Manuel Alberto Billalba via a ten round points decision, Balbi avenged this defeat later on in his career by beating Billalba twice.
On February 22, 1997, Balbi travelled to Hamburg, Germany, to challenge the Uzbek champion Artur Grigorian for the WBO lightweight title. Balbi's challenge proved to be unsuccessful, as Grigorian scored an eleventh round technical knockout. After the fight Balbi returned to Argentina, where he put together a run of five wins before losing a split decision to Walter Hugo Rodriguez.
Balbi remained undefeated over his next sixteen bouts, earning him a chance to fight Alberto Esteban Sicurella in a WBA title eliminator. Balbi won the fight by tenth round technical knockout, which led to a world title challenge against the French champion Julien Lorcy on October 8, 2001, in Paris. In the third round of the contest Balbi was able to open a large cut above the champion's right eye and had further success when he knocked Lorcy down in the seventh. The fight lasted the twelve round distance and Balbi was announced as the winner via a majority decision.
The first defence of Balbi's title took place on January 5, 2002, against Leonard Dorin in San Antonio, Texas. After a toe-to-toe battle which lasted the full twelve rounds, the Romanian challenger Dorin was announced the winner by split decision. After the fight a surprised Balbi claimed that he was "robbed". A rematch occurred five months later, this time in Bucharest, Romania. On this occasion Dorin won a unanimous decision with scores of: 118-111, 117-112 and 118-110.
A run of six consecutive wins earned Balbi another shot at the WBA title, this time for the vacant light welterweight belt. The fight took place in Bolton, United Kingdom on September 2, 2006, against the Frenchman Souleymane M'baye. Balbi was knocked down twice en route to a fourth round loss via technical knockout, thus handing the title to M'baye. Since his light welterweight title challenge Balbi has lost three times including against Denis Shafikov. His most recent match, a draw against Bolivian boxer Franklin Mamani, took place on May 28, 2010.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
68DrawFranklin MamaniTD3 2010–05–28Coliseo Julio Borelli Viterito, La Paz, BoliviaFor vacant WBA Fedebol welterweight title
67Loss55–11–1Guillermo de Jesus PazUD6 2009–09–11Polideportivo, Villa Domínico, Argentina
66Loss55–10–1Denis ShafikovTD6 2008–11–28Hartwall Areena, Helsinki, Finland
65Loss55–9–1Ionuţ Dan IonKO3 2008–04–19Sala Polivalenta, Bucharest, RomaniaFor NABA light-welterweight title
64Win55–8–1Diego PonceKO2 2007–10–27Ce.De.M. N° 2, Caseros, Argentina
63Loss54–8–1Souleymane M'bayeTKO4 2006–09–02Bolton Arena, Bolton, England, U.K.For vacant WBA light-welterweight title
62Win54–7–1Jorge Luis Noriega MedranoTKO2 2005–12–02Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaRetained WBA Fedelatin light-welterweight title
61Win53–7–1Walter DiazTKO6 2005–10–07Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaRetained WBA Fedelatin light-welterweight title
60Win52–7–1Guillermo de Jesus PazUD10 2005–09–03Ce.De.M. N° 2, Caseros, Argentina
59Win51–7–1Carlos DonquizKO5 2005–05–26Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaWon vacant WBA Fedelatin light-welterweight title
58Win50–7–1Carlos Adán JerezUD10 2005–04–30Estadio Aldo Cantoni, San Juan, Argentina
57Win49–7–1Norberto AcostaKO2 2005–03–12Ce.De.M. N° 2, Caseros, Argentina
56Loss48–7–1Jose Rosa GomezKO8 2003–03–08Ce.De.M. N° 2, Caseros, Argentina
55Loss48–6–1Leonard DorofteiUD12 2002–05–31Sala Polivalenta, Bucharest, RomaniaFor WBA lightweight title
54Loss48–5–1Leonard DorofteiSD12 2002–01–05Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.Lost WBA lightweight title
53Win48–4–1Julien LorcyMD12 2001–10–08Palais des Sports, Paris, FranceWon WBA lightweight title
52Win47–4–1Vincent HowardKO3 2001–07–14Ce.De.M. N° 2, Caseros, Argentina
51Win46–4–1Alberto SicurellaTKO10 2001–03–17Ce.De.M. N° 2, Caseros, Argentina
50Win45–4–1Justo MartinezRTD10 2000–08–26Salon Tattersall, San Isidro, ArgentinaRetained South American lightweight title
49Win44–4–1Ariel AparicioKO1 2000–06–08Argentina
48Win43–4–1Walter RodriguezRTD8 2000–04–22Club Los Indios, Moreno, ArgentinaWon vacant South American lightweight title
47Win42–4–1Ruben OlivaTKO5 1999–12–18Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Argentina
46Win41–4–1Santos RebolledoUD12 1999–11–17Hotel El Panamá, Panama City, PanamaWon vacant WBA Fedelatin lightweight title
45Win40–4–1Roberto OrtegaUD10 1999–07–31Villa Domínico, Argentina
44Win39–4–1Luis SosaUD10 1999–05–08Club Argentino de Quilmes, Quilmes, Argentina
43Win38–4–1Jorge David GomezTKO2 1999–02–26Club Atletico Quilmes, Mar del Plata, Argentina
42Win37–4–1Carlos VilchesKO2 1998–11–28Buenos Aires, Argentina
41Draw36–4–1Ruben OlivaPTS8 1998–10–10Buenos Aires, Argentina
40Win36–4Hector MartinezKO1 1998–07–25Estudios Canal 9 TV, Buenos Aires, Argentina
39Win35–4Daniel ZielinskiUD10 1998–05–23Buenos Aires, Argentina
38Win34–4Marcelo CesarKO1 1998–04–04Buenos Aires, Argentina
37Win33–4Victor Hugo SanchezTKO2 1998–02–28Buenos Aires, Argentina
36Win32–4Angel VeraKO2 1998–01–24Estudios Canal 9 TV, Buenos Aires, Argentina
35Win31–4Hector MartinezTKO4 1997–12–20Estudios Canal 9 TV, Buenos Aires, Argentina
34Loss30–4Walter RodriguezSD10 1997–11–22Buenos Aires, Argentina
33Win30–3Manuel BillalbaPTS10 1997–10–04Buenos Aires, Argentina
32Win29–3Raul CardenasKO3 1997–08–16Buenos Aires, Argentina
31Win28–3Victor Hugo SanchezDQ5 1997–07–19Villa Gesell, Argentina
30Win27–3Angel VeraRTD7 1997–06–07Estudios Canal 9 TV, Buenos Aires, Argentina
29Win26–3Ramon ColladoPTS10 1997–05–10Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, Argentina
28Loss25–3Artur GrigorianTKO11 1997–02–22Sporthalle, Wandsbek, GermanyFor WBO lightweight title
27Win25–2Rildo Jose OliveiraKO2 1996–12–25Buenos Aires, ArgentinaWon vacant WBO Latino lightweight title
26Loss24–2Alberto RodaPTS10 1996–08–17Estudios Canal 9 TV, Buenos Aires, Argentina
25Win24–1Ramon ColladoRTD5 1996–07–27Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, Argentina
24Win23–1Manuel BillalbaPTS10 1996–05–25Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, Argentina
23Win22–1Sergio Atilio MartinezTKO8 1996–04–13Buenos Aires, Argentina
22Win21–1Ricardo VegaKO2 1996–03–09Buenos Aires, Argentina
21Win20–1Simon CanacheUD12 1995–10–28Estudios Canal 9 TV, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaRetained South American lightweight title
20Loss19–1Manuel BillalbaPTS10 1995–09–09Buenos Aires, Argentina
19Win19–0Philippe BinantePTS8 1995–07–25Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France
18Win18–0Faustino Martires BarriosPTS10 1995–07–15Buenos Aires, Argentina
17Win17–0Simon CanacheDQ5 1995–06–03Buenos Aires, ArgentinaWon vacant South American lightweight title
16Win16–0Daniel ZielinskiTKO5 1995–05–13Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, Argentina
15Win15–0Pedro VillegasTKO3 1995–04–07La Rioja, Argentina
14Win14–0Ruben AstorgaKO6 1995–04–01Buenos Aires, Argentina
13Win13–0Fabian BazanTKO3 1995–03–03La Rioja, Argentina
12Win12–0Marco Antonio Dos SantosTKO2 1995–01–21Estudios Canal 9 TV, Buenos Aires, Argentina
11Win11–0Rene Adelqui ColladoTKO5 1994–12–28Buenos Aires, Argentina
10Win10–0Omar Victoriano AlegreTKO2 1994–12–03Polideportivo Delmi, Salta, Argentina
9Win9–0Daniel ZielinskiPTS8 1994–11–19Buenos Aires, Argentina
8Win8–0Stephan GaltierTKO1 1994–10–01Arena de Cosets, Carpentras, France
7Win7–0Marcelo GutierrezTKO4 1994–08–27Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, Argentina
6Win6–0Gustavo CuelloKO1 1994–07–02Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, Argentina
5Win5–0Raul NottiKO1 1994–06–25Buenos Aires, Argentina
4Win4–0Philippe Mohammed UdofeKO5 1994–05–21Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, Argentina
3Win3–0Jorge CarballoDQ3 1994–04–21Club Nolting, Ciudadela, Argentina
2Win2–0Leonardo TisseraKO1 1993–12–04Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, Argentina
1Win1–0Juan Bautista SosaKO1 1993–11–19Mercedes, Argentina