BoxRec

Press Release

Antonio “El Gigante” Mireles is about to take a giant step in his boxing career.

The 6-foot-9, 265-pound heavyweight from Des Moines, Iowa, has signed a multi-year promotional contract with Top Rank and will make his professional debut in a four-rounder live on ESPN+ Friday, Oct. 15 on the Emanuel Navarrete-Joet Gonzalez undercard at Pechanga Arena San Diego.

Mireles enters the paid ranks with an all-star team in his corner. He’s training with Robert Garcia in Riverside, California, and is managed by David McWater, the 2020 Manager of the Year.

“Antonio is a big young man with a personality to match, and he has all the makings of a heavyweight superstar,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “With Robert Garcia guiding him inside the ropes, I have no doubt he’ll develop into a formidable fighter.”

Mireles said, “I want to thank Top Rank for this tremendous opportunity. I’ve had my eye on Top Rank ever since I started taking the sport seriously, and it’s an honor to turn pro under their banner. I am a versatile boxer, but I’m not afraid to get in the trenches and have a shootout. My coaches try to stop me from doing that, but I’m aggressive by nature. I believe my style is more suited to the pro game, and I’m counting down the days until I step in that ring.”

Mireles, who started boxing at the age of 12, had a brief but successful amateur career. He went 28-4 with 10 knockouts, winning the 2020 USA Olympic Trials and a National Golden Gloves title in 2019. Despite winning the trials, Mireles was selected as an alternate for the 2020 Olympic boxing qualifiers. As a result, he set his sights on the pro game.

“The more I thought about it, I realized I had no desire to fight as an amateur anymore,” Mireles said. “I wanted to take the next step and continue to grow as a fighter.”

Seen this Kid at Olympic trials in 2019. Could not comprehend how Team Usa made him the alternate after he Won The Trials fair and Square

scallum2015 wrote: ↑23 Sep 2021, 13:11 Seen this Kid at Olympic trials in 2019. Could not comprehend how Team Usa made him the alternate after he Won The Trials fair and Square

How on earth can they do that? A and B battle for the right A wins B loses so they decide to send C Cim Cardashian instead maybe?

usa boxing preferred to have richard torrez on the olympic team, who was a much more accomplished amateur than mireles. but he was medically disqualified to compete at the time of the olympic trials due to the jalalov ko, so then they held an ad hoc olympic team box off after that between torrez and jeremiah milton (not sure why it wasnt mireles?) that torrez won to get the spot

Only seen one Am fight, but was impressed by how coordinated he was for such a giant.
Good coach, good management.
Guess we will have to wait and see.
Shame he didn't get to the Olympics, but Torres did do the buisnes

It looks like Jared Anderson might not have to carry the burden of being America's best hope at heavyweight all on his own. I shall watch their progress with great interest.

candyslim wrote: ↑24 Sep 2021, 07:08 It looks like Jared Anderson might not have to carry the burden of being America's best hope at heavyweight all on his own. I shall watch their progress with great interest.

It's not 100% confirmed, but Richard Torrez said he was turning pro early next year.
From the trials and the Olympics, he did sort of look like the pro life might suit him.

I think he's too small, Kiwi. His first encounter with Jalolov didn't exactly fill me with confidence. I'm sure he'll be a fine addition to the US Heavyweight scene but like Sonny Conto, Roney Hines, Amron Sands etc, I don't expect to ever see him at the top table.

Talking of US prospects at heavyweight, anybody know why Marlo Moore seems to have vanished from the face of the Earth?

there have been lots of 6'2 type guys to at least contend in recent years

pov, chagev, haye, brewster, peter, usyk, byrd, adamek, ruiz, kownacki, hunter, chisora, ruiz, rahman, ibragimov, etc


torres is pretty good too tbf. won several international tournaments, olympic silver, and no other american hw, including jah, could beat him. for all the small talk, he also scored an large number of stoppages in the ams. doubt he becomes the top heavyweight but can easily see him as a legit contender. being 6'2 isnt the end of the world

he's waaaaaay better than hines, sands, etc

Maybe I'm being too harsh. I guess we'll see.

what level do you think he could reach?

is the cut off for a 6'2 heavy top 50? top 25? top 15? etc

It's not so much the height it's height plus style. Fighters like Marciano, Frazier, Tua etc were short for heavyweights but their aggressive, swarming style turned that disadvantage in their favour. I was very skeptical from the start that Jermaine Franklin would ever succeed because there was a mismatch between his style and his stature. I haven't seen a lot of Torrez but I think he may well suffer from not being in that Qawi mold.

As for how far he can go, I'd imagine he's capable of reaching the top 20. Beyond that I'm going to need more data

candyslim wrote: ↑25 Sep 2021, 04:58 Maybe I'm being too harsh. I guess we'll see.

Jalolov was his kryptonite.
Torrez gets stuck in, carrys good power, is a solid bugger, and can take a shot. Jalolov is his only recent (adult) stoppage loss.
And while he is a little small, what if the current generation of big tall heavies is over, starting with Uysk putting AJ to bed?

Ok so that's two guys I respect telling me I'm selling Torrez short. I'm listening. I've been wrong before you know ... 1967 I think it was or was it 68?

candyslim wrote: ↑25 Sep 2021, 05:55 Ok so that's two guys I respect telling me I'm selling Torrez short. I'm listening. I've been wrong before you know ... 1967 I think it was or was it 68?

68, that's when you thought it was OK to eat that chicken kebab you left out on the coffee table from the night before

Slim,
If you only saw the Olympic final, you didn't see the best of Torrez.
He was gun shy given Jalolov knocked him out ladt time. Leading up to the final Torrez was a lot more aggressive. And to be even fairer to him, he did give Jalolov his toughest fight.

Yeah that was what gave them the inspiration for the line in "The Italian Job" which came out the following year ... "You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off"

I have seen very little of Torrez so I might well have misjudged him. I will seek out some more videos of him.

Does anyone know what happened to Marlo Moore? Didn't he used to be the future?

candyslim wrote: ↑25 Sep 2021, 05:44 It's not so much the height it's height plus style. Fighters like Marciano, Frazier, Tua etc were short for heavyweights but their aggressive, swarming style turned that disadvantage in their favour. I was very skeptical from the start that Jermaine Franklin would ever succeed because there was a mismatch between his style and his stature. I haven't seen a lot of Torrez but I think he may well suffer from not being in that Qawi mold.

As for how far he can go, I'd imagine he's capable of reaching the top 20. Beyond that I'm going to need more data

he is an agressive swarmer

That wasn't so evident in his fights with Jalolov. I will watch some more of him.

So you've just watched the only 2 fights he's lost for years, against by far the best shw amateur in the world? a bit unfair that! how about his other olympic fights? how about him running roughshod over the usa amateur scene or winning several international tournaments?

jared anderson couldnt even make it to box at that level internationally

What are you looking for, an apology, how about a retraction counter-signed by a notary?

How many times do you want me to admit I've seen little of him and might have been too quick to form an impression?

I've noticed this about you Maggie, a concession is not enough you have to rub someone's nose in it.

just saying, if those are the only ones you've seen of him youre missing out on a lot of indicators about his ability and his style. his other olympic fights should be up, they are a good representation i think

he did also hurt jalolov a bit in the final , in the first round, i thought. before it went south in round 2.

btw, i watched justis huni vs jalolov the other day. huni didnt win a round and shouldve had a kd counted against him. jalolov is thriving in the ams vs these shorter guys at the end of the long straight left