Gary Balletto

Gary Balletto (born May 21, 1975) is a world champion boxer. He has won 3 lightweight titles since 1996 [The International Boxing Union |IBU], [The Eastern Boxing Association|EBA] and The United States Boxing Federation |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
NationalityUSA
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 verite documentary "Sweet Dreams", which told the story of his life and efforts to unionize the sport through JAB.[2]

Balletto has since continued his boxing career, winning by technical knockout on against a young 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 very 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
Professional record summary
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 Matthew Strode TKO 9 (10), 0:59 2006-12-01 Convention Center, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
35 Loss 30–3–2 Norberto Bravo UD 5 2006-02-06 Contender Gymnasium, Pasadena, California, USA
34 Win 30–2–2 Aaron Torres SD 5 2006-01-21 Contender Gymnasium, Pasadena, California, USA
33 Loss 29–2–2 Gregorio Vargas MD 12 2003-10-31 Convention Center, Providence, Rhode Island, USA Lost IBU Lightweight title.
32 Win 29–1–2 Luis Alfonso Lizarraga UD 10 2003-07-25 Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA Retained IBU Lightweight title.
31 Win 28–1–2 Frank Houghtaling KO 4 (10), 1:02 2003-05-30 Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA
30 Win 27–1–2 Johnny Walker KO 1 (12), 2:49 2003-03-21 Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA Won vacant IBU Lightweight title.
29 Win 26–1–2 Juan Polo Perez KO 1 (10) 2003-01-11 Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
28 Loss 25–1–2 Michael Clark UD 10 2002-10-25 Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA
27 Win 25–0–2 Alric Johnson KO 4 (10) 2002-07-26 Rhodes-on-the Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA Retained EBA Lightweight title.
26 Win 24–0–2 Mike DiBenedetto TKO 9 (10), 2:37 2002-03-01 Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA
25 Win 23–0–2 John Trigg RTD 4 (6), 3:00 2001-12-07 Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA
24 Win 22–0–2 Fray Luis Sierra TKO 1 (10) 2001-11-16 Rhodes-on-the Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA
23 Win 21–0–2 Joseph Figueroa UD 10 2001-06-02 Rhodes-on-the Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA Won EBA Lightweight title.
22 Win 20–0–2 Freddy Cruz UD 6 2001-05-04 Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut, USA
21 Win 19–0–2 John Scalzi TKO 1 (8) 2001-03-02 Rhodes-on-the Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA
20 Win 18–0–2 Hector Arroyo UD 6 2001-02-09 Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA
19 Win 17–0–2 Larry O'Shields TKO 4 (6), 1:20 2000-12-22 Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA
18 Win 16–0–2 Richard Dinkins TKO 3 (4) 2000-11-17 Rhodes-on-the Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA
17 Draw 15–0–2 Glenn Ford PTS 6 2000-02-25 Rhodes-on-the Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA
16 Win 15–0–1 Teddy Worth TKO 2 (?) 1999-11-24 Rhodes-on-the Pawtuxet, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA
15 Win 14–0–1 Duron Wilson TKO 4 (?), 2:52 1999-01-29 Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, USA
14 Win 13–0–1 Forbes David KO 1 (?) 1998-12-12 The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
13 Win 12–0–1 Alonzo Sojourney TKO 1 (?), 2:41 1998-10-24 Roseland Ballroom, Taunton, Massachusetts, USA
12 Win 11–0–1 Manuel Santiago TKO 6 (?) 1998-08-02 TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
11 Win 10–0–1 Felix Marti TKO 6 (?) 1998-06-19 The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
10 Win 9–0–1 Dominick Monaco TKO 3 (?) 1998-06-05 The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
9 Win 8–0–1 Hector Querio TKO 1 (?), 1:40 1998-03-27 The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
8 Win 7–0–1 Gerry Ocampo KO 2 (4) 1998-02-20 The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
7 Win 6–0–1 Alex Ortiz TKO 2 (4), 2:32 1997-12-05 The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
6 Win 5–0–1 Jose LaPorte TKO 2 (?), 2:53 1997-10-23 The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
5 Win 4–0–1 Rafael Pina TKO 1 (?) 1997-09-25 Strand Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
4 Win 3–0–1 Barton Velez KO 1 (?) 1997-03-13 Strand Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
3 Win 2–0–1 Miguel Vasquez TKO 1 (?) 1996-10-25 The Roxy, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
2 Win 1–0–1 Lucas Pacheco TKO 1 (4) 1996-09-27 Eastside Improvement, Brockton, Massachusetts, USA
1 Draw 0–0–1 Hector Querio TD 1 (4) 1996-05-11 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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