Paul Bamba (15 August 1989 – 27 December 2024) was a Puerto Rican professional boxer. In his last fight, he won the WBA Gold cruiserweight title after defeating Rogelio Medina on 21 December 2024.
Early life and career Bamba was born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, on 15 August 1989.
On 4 October 2022, it was announced that Bamba would face British boxer Tommy Fury as the co-feature bout to Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Deji at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. However, during the weigh-in on 12 November, he weighed in at 176.6 Ibs while Fury weighed in at 181.4 Ibs. Both fighters stated that they made the weight that was stated in their contract. Bamba refused to fight, and on 13 November, the day of the fight, he was replaced by Cameroon boxer Rolly Lambert to fight Fury.
On April 21, 2023 Bamba faced UFC Bellator fighter Chris Avila, and lost by a unanimous decision making his record 5–3. Following the defeat, he went on a knockout streak, with many of the wins believed to have been fixed.
In November 2024, having achieved a record of 18 wins and 3 losses with 17 knockouts in a span of a year and half since his last loss, with 13 straight wins since January 2024 winning all by knockouts, Bamba was the first fighter signed to entertainer Ne-Yo's sports management company. Prior to that he had already captured the WBA-NABA cruiserweight title, WBA Fedecaribe and Fedecentro titles. Bamba first met Ne-Yo as his trainer, teaching him boxing as part of Ne-Yo's workout routine.
In 2024, Bamba fought 14 bouts ending in 14 KOs throughout the year and earned the WBA Gold cruiserweight title after defeating Rogelio Medina. He broke Mike Tyson's record for most professional fights in a one-year span.
Death Bamba died on 27 December 2024, at the age of 35. It was reported that he made brain damage admission weeks before death. After a fight against Avila, Paul later commented: "fighting Avila with a concussion and losing 22 lbs in three days gave me slight brain damage. Which was a bit scary and I had to take 8 months off so it's not a joking matter." In a later tweet he claimed he wasn't able to speak about it until Misfits Boxing decided to.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes22Win 19–3 Rogelio Medina LunaRTD6 (12) Dec 21, 2024 21Win 18–3 Santander Silgado GelezTKO 6 (8) Nov 2, 2024 20Win 17–3 Francisco Cordero TKO 3 (8) Oct 19, 2024 19Win 16–3 Angel Giovanni Ocano Garcia TKO 4 (10) Aug 17, 2024 18Win 15–3 Jose Luis Herrera KO 4 (8) Jul 5, 2024 17Win 14–3 Ronald Montes KO 5 (10) Jul 1, 2024 16Win 13–3 Francisco Fuentes TKO 6 (8) Jun 23, 2024 15Win 12–3 Jose Ramon Escobedo KO 2 (8) May 3, 2024 14Win 11–3 Adoni Zapata Garcia TKO 3 (8) Apr 13, 2024 13Win 10–3 Pedro Miranda TKO 6 (8) Apr 2, 2024 12Win 9–3 Victor Coronado TKO 5 (6) Mar 27, 2024 11Win 8–3 Jefferson Troncoso TKO 2 (6) Feb 22, 2024 10Win 7–3 Sergio Luna KO 2 (4) Jan 31, 2024 9Win 6–3 Guillermo Ponce KO 2 (4) Jan 25, 2024 8Loss 5–3 Chris AvilaUD4Apr 21, 2023 7Win 5–2 Francisco MorelosKO 2 (6) Sep 8, 2022 6Loss 4–2 Derrick VannSD 4 Aug 20, 2022 5Win 4–1 Dionisio MirandaUD 8 Jun 29, 2022 4Win 3–1 Hector Nava LopezTKO 1 (4) Oct 8, 2021 3Loss 2–1Abraham Velazquez SalazarKO4 (4) Jun 3, 20212Win 2–0Juan Manuel Valenzuela PalmaTKO1 (4) Jan 29, 20211Win 1–0Felix Alexis CardenasTKO1 (4) Jan 9, 2021
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