Biography..............................Luis Orlando, who is related to former WBO bantamweight champion Rafael Del Valle, 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. With hard work and determination he continued to develop as a fighter at such an impressive pace that in just one year he had become Puerto Rico’s National Junior Olympics champion, bringing medals to the island during his 2-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 (Puerto Rico) 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 Am Games but came up short against the eventual 2008 Olympic team member Raynell Williams in the U.S. Championships at 125 pounds.................................................Profe
ssional Career.............................After signing with Bob Arum’s Top Rank promotional company, Del Valle made his professional debut on April 11, 2008 defeating Rey Rivera by the way of third round knock out. His second professional fight was an impressive first round knock out victory over United State’s Emanuel Rose. On September 27th 2008 now fighting as a promotional free agent, Del Valle dominated Francisco Palacios to get a unanimous desicion after six rounds of action. Less than one month later (October 24 2008) Del Valle moved to 4-0 3 kos fighting for the first time as a pro in his native Puerto Rico. After dropping fellow Puerto Rican Jean Carlos Padilla (7-3 4 kos)in the third, fourth and fifth rounds Del Valle went for the kill prompting a technical knock out at the 52 seconds mark of round number five. On February 25, 2009 Luis Del Valle had his first profesional bout in New York. He defeated fellow unbeaten prospect Tommy Atencio via unanimous desicion with scores of 40-36 in all three judges cards.!-Start Block to Shift Comments To Center-!
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