Joel Jalil Julio Mejia (born 18 January 1985 in Montería, Colombia) is a professional Colombian boxer rated as a junior middleweight. In 2005, he was named ESPN.com's Boxing Prospect of the Year and he has appeared on Ring Magazine's New Faces feature, as well as in ShoBox.
Professional career Julio's first loss was a 12-round unanimous decision to Puerto Rican boxer Carlos Quintana on 24 June 2006. He has since moved up to Junior Middleweight and bounced back with 5 consecutive wins, a disputed split decision over Cosme Rivera and 3 impressive KO wins over Francisco Campos, Thomas Davis and Mauro Lucero.
On 11 July 2007, Julio faced Cornelius Bundrage of Contender fame. Julio's skill and accuracy became evident early in the fight as he outlanded the slower Bundrage. Julio scored knockdowns in the third and eighth rounds, ultimately winning via eighth-round TKO.
Julio took on another former "Contender" participant Ishe Smith on 30 April 2008 in Vancouver. Smith's defensive style nullified Julio's power but it was not enough to get him the win, with Julio taking a close 10 round unanimous decision.
On 13 August 2008, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, Julio defeated Jose Varela by sixth-round technical knockout. Julio knocked down his opponent five times before Varela's corner stopped the fight after the conclusion of round six.
On 1 November 2008 Julio suffered the second loss of his career to southpaw Sergiy Dzindziruk via 12 round unanimous decision.
He was stopped by fellow power-punching prospect James Kirkland in his next bout, 7 March 2009.
He was knocked out by Alfredo Angulo during their bout on 24 April 2010.
Titles Won Julio hasn't held a major title, but captured the following regional titles:
WBA FEDEBOL Welterweight Title (2003) WBC Continental Americas Light Welterweight Title (2003) WBA Fedecentro Welterweight Title (2006) WBO Latino Welterweight Title (2006)
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes63Loss39–24 Chris MulundaUD42026-07-11 62Loss39–23 Hubert KwapiszKO2 (8) 2025-06-20 61Loss39–22 Ronald WeikampUD62025-03-29 60Loss39–21 Yuriy ZakharieievUD42024-12-14 59Loss39–20 Derrick OsazeTKO3 (8) 2024-03-30 58Loss39–19 Alban BeqiriUD62023-11-28 57Loss39–18 Vasile CebotariTKO6 (8) 2023-08-26 56Loss39–17 Tursynbay KulakhmetKO2 (8) 2023-07-22 55Loss39–16 Lewis CrockerKO2 (6) 2023-04-14 54Loss39–15 Rafał WołczeckiKO1 (8) 2023-01-28 53Loss39–14 Lee CutlerPTS62022-12-17 52Loss39–13 Aaron SuttonPTS82022-11-12 51Loss39–12 Łukasz MaciecUD82022-05-20 50Loss39–11 Milan PratKO1 (8) 2022-03-24 49Loss39–10 Vadim TukovUD82022-02-19 48Loss39–9 Björn SchickeTKO2 (8) 2021-11-26 47Loss39–8 Tomasz NowickiUD82021-09-24 46Loss39–7 Kamil GardzielikUD82021-07-09 45Loss39–6 Eduard SkavynskyiUD102021-05-07 44Loss39–5 Haro MatevosyanUD102020-08-28 43Win39–4 Segundo HerreraKO3 (8), 2018-11-30 42Win38–4 Victor CoronadoTKO6 (8)2014-11-14 41Win37–4 Anges AdjahoUD102012-05-20 40Win36–4 Jamaal DavisUD102010-08-21 39Loss35–4 Alfredo AnguloKO11 (12), 2010-04-24 38Win35–3 Clarence TaylorUD6 2009-10-16 37Loss34–3 James KirklandTKO6 (10), 2009-03-07 36Loss34–2 Serhiy DzinzirukUD122008-11-01 35Win34–1 Jose VarelaTKO6 (10), 2008-08-13 34Win33–1 Ishe SmithUD102008-04-30 33Win32–1 Cornelius BundrageTKO8 (10), 2007-07-11 32Win31–1 Mauro LuceroKO1 (8), 2007-05-16 31Win30–1 Thomas DavisKO7 (10), 2007-03-30 30Win29–1 Francisco CamposKO3 (10), 2006-12-16 29Win28–1 Cosme Rivera122006-10-27 28Loss27–1 Carlos Quintana122006-06-24 27Win27–0 Wilmer Mejia2 (6), 2006-02-25 26Win26–0 Robert KamyaKO3 (10), 2006-01-06 25Win25–0 Hicklet LauTKO4 (8), 2005-11-30 24Win24–0 Christopher HenryTKO4 (8), 2005-08-20 23Win23–0 Arthur MedinaTKO1 (10), 2005-06-24 22Win22–0 Carlos Wilfredo VilchesTKO3 (10), 2005-04-08 21Win21–0 Aurelio JulioTKO1 (8)2005-02-11 20Win20–0 Maamar HadidiTKO3 (8)2004-12-03 19Win19–0 Antonio SorianoKO3 (6), 2004-11-05 18Win18–0 Elias RuizKO2 (6)2004-09-18 17Win17–0 Eliseo FeriasKO2 (?)2004-08-21 16Win16–0 Saul TorresTKO6 (8)2004-03-06 15Win15–0 Lino Perez Jr.102003-10-08 14Win14–0 Carlos RoblesTKO1 (?)2003-07-26 13Win13–0 Pedro LopezTKO2 (12)2003-07-04 12Win12–0 Angel GranadosKO4 (10)2003-03-29 11Win11–0 Cesar PiedrahitaKO2 (4)2003-03-01 10Win10–0 Eduardo De la CruzTKO9 (12)2002-09-13 9Win9–0 Jose GuarandaKO3 (?)2002-05-31 8Win8–0 Julio ColoradoKO4 (6)2002-04-30 7Win7–0 Hernan Gutierrez2 (6)2002-03-15 6Win6–0 Manuel SarmientoKO2 (?)2002-02-22 5Win5–0 Placido ConeoKO2 (?)2001-12-22 4Win4–0 Leonardo AnguloKO1 (?)2001-09-23 3Win3–0 Jose DuranteKO1 (?)2001-08-31 2Win2–0 Luis RamirezKO1 (4)2001-08-07 1Win1–0 Jorge Perez4 (4)2001-05-18
References
External links Interview with Joel Julio
ESPN.com article naming Joel Julio 2005 Prospect of the Year