The fighting pride of Corpus Christi, Belmontes began fighting at age 10. He learned to use his great footwork and slippery style to build himself into a decorated amateur; winning 117 of his bouts.
Jerry began his professional career under the Top Rank promotional arm. After a split with the company in 2010, Jerry later inked a deal with Main Events which was also short-lived. His final pact with a promotional company came from Golden Boy which presented big opportunities against big names. In his six fights working with Golden Boy Promotions, Belmontes defeated former IBO champion Will Tomlinson (21-0-1). During his career, Belmontes had quality wins over undefeated Valentin Golovko (21-0), Daniel Diaz (19-4-1) and Joselito Collado (13-1), and earned a world title shot of his own versus amateur rival, Omar Figueroa. In controversial fashion, Belmontes was handed a split decision loss in which many thought he had beaten Figueroa.
The second half of Belmontes career was a downward spiral, losing six of his final eight fights. He was stopped for the first time in his career by current WBA Lightweight champion Jason Sosa. In his final bout, Belmontes was defeated by Julian Rodriguez in Florida.
Belmontes faced five world champions, and had wins over 4 undefeated foes.
“It is weird retiring at 28 but I had a great career. I fought on TV, represented my city {Corpus Christi} and family name. I got to make a little money and was able to provide a different life for my wife and kids. Most importantly, I walk away in one piece and not in bad health.”
Jerry believes his career was indeed an education for him to guide fighters and help them on the business side of the sport.
“I learned a lot about the business of boxing in my 9 years. Although my time retired will be mostly spent with my wife and kids, I will be announcing the start of a new company with my manager {Adrian Clark} that will help educate and protect fighters.”
Belmontes is holding a press conference at the American Bank Center on January 11, 2017 in Corpus Christi, Texas to officially announce his retirement.
