Riverside’s Joseph Landeros (10-0; 10KOs) is rapidly making history as a year-old professional boxer as the the young bantamweight picked up his 10th professional victory in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.
Landeros, who has won all of his fights by way of knockout, will prepare to what appears to be the next logical step: make his debut in the United States.
Many under-age American fighters look South for a professional start. Because boxers under 18 are not allowed to fight in California, Landeros crossed the border where the age limit is 14.
Landeros started at age 15 and in less than a year, has amassed a 10 fight winning streak, the last one, last Saturday August 25th in Tijuana, where he knocked out Manuel “Menny” Jimenez in round 2 of the main event.
He is no stranger to the city. Before becoming a pro, Landeros had won 2 Gold Medals in the Binational Games, a Mexico vs. U.S.A. competition. Those medals are port of a collection of 12 Gold and 4 Silver medals in amateur competition, mostly in the United States.
For Landeros, entering the professional boxing world before age 18 was part of a goal to be ranked and ready for title fights by the age of 18.
“Fighting in Mexico, gave the chance to hone my skills and gain experience at the pro level. It has been exciting and fast paced and I feel like I am learning in evey step of the way. I have had no injuries during this time, basically because of proper training and dedication,” said Landeros.
“Little by little, I have seen and faced better competition, but I know that it will still be progressively more difficult with each fight. I have fought nine fights in Tijuana and one in Aguscalientes, Mexico. My goal now is to explore other Mexican venues while I wait for the opportunity of fighting in the United States. I have had one offer to fight here already and have two promoters looking for the possibility of getting authorization from Boxing Commissions for a U.S. debut. I am in no hurry. I know that the skill level end experience will be tested later, and know I have to be ready for it.” he added.
Fighting as a pro at this age is not easy, specially with the responsibility of attending High School. Last year, he had to make up classes to maintain his Honor Roll status at King High School in Riverside.
In addition to that, he is also an Author, a motivational speaker, and an ambassador for the My Life, My Power, an organization the fights bullying in schools.
“As I state in my website, we have a team of boxing professionals to train mind and body to be prepared for some of the biggest fights in boxing history. Our goal is to not only dominate the ring, but to inspire the youth by helping them create the mindset that they deserve. Which is to believe in themselves fully and to know that they can do anything that they set their minds to.” said Landeros.’
“When he won his first fight in Tijuana, Joseph said ‘we reached our first goal”. That really surprised me,” said Mario Lopez, who has trained Landeros since age 7, when he came into the gym looking for a trainer-teacher. “He set that goal over 5 years ago, and he still remembered”.
“Joseph not only sets goals -that is the easy part- but really works hard towards achieving them. He gets up a 4:00 every morning to run; goes to school, trains six days a week and still has the energy to keep up with a tremendous following in social media”, adds Lopez.
“It’s easy to work with someone with such dedication.”, he concludes.
Nicknamed “The Tiger”, due to his aggressive style, Landeros was able to sweep over the competition in his first few fights, gaining a regional title in the process. In the last two fights he has faced and beaten opponents with twice his professional experience. He is starting to now mix his aggressiveness with skillful boxing.
“Am told repeatably to slow down, to be more cautious, but that aggressiveness is just part of my make-up. That style won me many amateur fights and I think that that is also part of what the fans like and I do like to put on a show,” said Landeros.
“I think that even as I gain new skills, that is something that will still be my trademark.”, he added.
While fighting in amateur ranks, Landeros reached the number 2 spot in the U.S. after obtaining a Silver medal the 2015 Junior Olympics. He is now ranked number 10 Bantanweight in the US and 131th in the world by Boxrec.
Six of his fights have been featured in LATV Networks World Class Boxing Series, broadcast nationally in the U.S. Puerto Rico and the Mexico-US border cities. He has also served as Color Commentator in several LATV’s broadcasts.
Landeros will turn 17 in February 2018 and by midyear, plans to have a few more fights behind him.
“I have the perseverance, and the dedications. The rest will be experience and meaningful fights towards the road to a world title”, he concluded.
