Gary Balletto

Gary Balletto (born May 21, 1975) is a world champion boxer. He has won 3 lightweight titles since 1996 IBU, EBA and USBF belts). Outside the ring, in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, Balletto is the New England representative for the Joint Association of Boxers (JAB), owns a boxing gym- Balletto’s Boxing Gym, a realty company- Balletto Realty, and a construction company- Balletto Construction. He has 3 children, Gary, Hailey, and Aiden.[1]

Gary Balletto
Statistics
Real nameGary Balletto
Nickname(s)Tiger
Weight(s)Lightweight
NationalityAmerican
Born (1975-05-21) May 21, 1975
Providence, Rhode Island
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights36
Wins31
Wins by KO26
Losses3
Draws2
No contests0

Balletto turned pro just 10 days before his 21st birthday, amassing a 30–3–2 record in a 10-year career of boxing, 26 by way of knock out. One of his three losses came to Michael Clark (a unanimous decision in 10 rounds at Foxwoods), who would later appear on the ESPN reality show "Contender Season 2" as a team-mate of Balletto, where they both were on the Gold Team. Another loss came to Gregorio Vargas, a former WBC Featherweight champion and IBA Super-Featherweight champion, to whom Balletto lost his IBU title.

On the show, Balletto won his first-round fight, where Aaron Torres chose him as an opponent, by split decision. In his second fight, Norberto Bravo beat him, by unanimous decision.

In 2008, he appeared at IFC Theater in New York City to promote a feature verity documentary "Sweet Dreams", which told the story of his life and efforts to unionize the sport through JAB.[2]

Balletto continued his boxing career, winning by technical knockout on against light welterweight prospect Matthew Strode.

In June 2013, Balletto sustained a spinal cord injury in his backyard playing with his son, spinning around on a pull up bar that gave way. He broke 6 vertebrae in his neck, leaving him with a C5 spinal cord injury. He is now a paraplegic, paralyzed from the waist down. Determined to fight this battle as he has all of his bouts in the ring, he has not let the injury slow him down. In 2017, Balletto founded “The Gary Tiger Balletto Foundation” to bring awareness to and provide resources and assistance to those with paralysis injuries.

His current efforts include the creation of the first affordable adaptive gym in the state of Rhode Island, in conjunction with the Cranston YMCA. He has already raised funds and donated two Functional Electric Stimulation bikes which are booked and used around the clock, by Balletto himself and others with paralysis injuries to maintain muscle health and prevent atrophy.

There is additional equipment being added to complete a full, comprehensive adaptive gym. The gym was set to open to members of the local community with like injuries and other conditions such as stroke, MS, etc. to come and work out alongside their family members by spring 2019.

Balletto resides in Cranston, Rhode Island, with his girlfriend and children.

Professional boxing record

36 fights 31 wins 3 losses
By knockout 26 0
By decision 5 3
Draws 2
No contests 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
36 Win 31–3–2 United States Matthew Strode TKO 9 (10), 0:59 2006-12-01 United States Convention Center, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
35 Loss 30–3–2 United States Norberto Bravo UD 5 2006-02-06 United States Contender Gymnasium, Pasadena, California, USA
34 Win 30–2–2 United States Aaron Torres SD 5 2006-01-21 United States Contender Gymnasium, Pasadena, California, USA
33 Loss 29–2–2 Mexico Gregorio Vargas MD 12 2003-10-31 United States Convention Center, Providence, Rhode Island, USA Lost IBU Lightweight title.
32 Win 29–1–2 Mexico Luis Alfonso Lizarraga UD 10 2003-07-25 United States Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA Retained IBU Lightweight title.
31 Win 28–1–2 United States Frank Houghtaling KO 4 (10), 1:02 2003-05-30 United States Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA
30 Win 27–1–2 United States Johnny Walker KO 1 (12), 2:49 2003-03-21 United States Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA Won vacant IBU Lightweight title.
29 Win 26–1–2 Colombia Juan Polo Perez KO 1 (10) 2003-01-11 United States Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
28 Loss 25–1–2 United States Michael Clark UD 10 2002-10-25 United States Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA
27 Win 25–0–2 Trinidad and Tobago Alric Johnson KO 4 (10) 2002-07-26 United States Rhodes-on-the Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA Retained EBA Lightweight title.
26 Win 24–0–2 United States Mike DiBenedetto TKO 9 (10), 2:37 2002-03-01 United States Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA
25 Win 23–0–2 United States John Trigg RTD 4 (6), 3:00 2001-12-07 United States Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA
24 Win 22–0–2 Colombia Fray Luis Sierra TKO 1 (10) 2001-11-16 United States Rhodes-on-the Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA
23 Win 21–0–2 United States Joseph Figueroa UD 10 2001-06-02 United States Rhodes-on-the Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA Won EBA Lightweight title.
22 Win 20–0–2 Dominican Republic Freddy Cruz UD 6 2001-05-04 United States Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut, USA
21 Win 19–0–2 United States John Scalzi TKO 1 (8) 2001-03-02 United States Rhodes-on-the Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA
20 Win 18–0–2 Puerto Rico Hector Arroyo UD 6 2001-02-09 United States Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA
19 Win 17–0–2 United States Larry O'Shields TKO 4 (6), 1:20 2000-12-22 United States Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA
18 Win 16–0–2 United States Richard Dinkins TKO 3 (4) 2000-11-17 United States Rhodes-on-the Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA
17 Draw 15–0–2 Guyana Glenn Ford PTS 6 2000-02-25 United States Rhodes-on-the Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA
16 Win 15–0–1 Canada Teddy Worth TKO 2 (?) 1999-11-24 United States Rhodes-on-the Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA
15 Win 14–0–1 United States Duron Wilson TKO 4 (?), 2:52 1999-01-29 United States Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA
14 Win 13–0–1 Guyana Forbes David KO 1 (?) 1998-12-12 United States The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
13 Win 12–0–1 United States Alonzo Sojourney TKO 1 (?), 2:41 1998-10-24 United States Roseland Ballroom, Taunton, Massachusetts, USA
12 Win 11–0–1 Puerto Rico Manuel Santiago TKO 6 (?) 1998-08-02 United States TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
11 Win 10–0–1 Dominican Republic Felix Marti TKO 6 (?) 1998-06-19 United States The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
10 Win 9–0–1 Italy Dominick Monaco TKO 3 (?) 1998-06-05 United States The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
9 Win 8–0–1 United States Hector Querio TKO 1 (?), 1:40 1998-03-27 United States The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
8 Win 7–0–1 United States Gerry Ocampo KO 2 (4) 1998-02-20 United States The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
7 Win 6–0–1 United States Alex Ortiz TKO 2 (4), 2:32 1997-12-05 United States The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
6 Win 5–0–1 United States Jose LaPorte TKO 2 (?), 2:53 1997-10-23 United States The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
5 Win 4–0–1 United States Rafael Pina TKO 1 (?) 1997-09-25 United States Strand Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
4 Win 3–0–1 United States Barton Velez KO 1 (?) 1997-03-13 United States Strand Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
3 Win 2–0–1 United States Miguel Vasquez TKO 1 (?) 1996-10-25 United States The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
2 Win 1–0–1 Puerto Rico Lucas Pacheco TKO 1 (4) 1996-09-27 United States Eastside Improvement, Brockton, Massachusetts, USA
1 Draw 0–0–1 United States Hector Querio TD 1 (4) 1996-05-11 United States Dayville, Connecticut, USA Professional debut. Technical draw after a headbutt rendered Balletto unable to continue.

References

  1. "AXN East Asia – The Heart of Action + Adventure". Archived from the original on October 28, 2006. Retrieved September 16, 2006.
  2. "Stranger then Fiction". Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
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