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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
Nickname | Tiger |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | Gary Balletto (1975-05-21)May 21, 1975 (age 50) |
| Weight | Lightweight |
| Boxing career | |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 36 |
| Wins | 31 |
| Win by KO | 26 |
| Losses | 3 |
| Draws | 2 |
| No contests | 0 |
Gary Balletto (born May 21, 1975) is an American professionalboxer. He has won 3 lightweight titles since 1996 (IBU,EBA andUSBF). In his hometown ofProvidence, Rhode Island, Balletto is theNew England representative for theJoint Association of Boxers (JAB).[1]
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 toMichael Clark (a unanimous decision in 10 rounds atFoxwoods), who would later appear on theESPN reality show "Contender Season 2" as a team-mate of Balletto, where they both were on theGold Team. Another loss came to Gregorio Vargas, a formerWBC Featherweight champion and IBA Super-Featherweight champion, to whom Balletto lost his IBU title.
On the show, Balletto won his first-round fight, whereAaron 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 verity documentary "Sweet Dreams", which told the story of his life and efforts to unionize the sport through JAB.[2]
Balletto continued his boxing career, winning by technical knockout on against light welterweight prospect Matthew Strode.
In June 2013, Balletto sustained aspinal 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 aquadriplegic, paralyzed from the chest down, and confined to apower wheelchair. 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 first affordable adaptive gym in the state ofRhode 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 inCranston, Rhode Island, with his fiancee and children.
| 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 | LostIBULightweight title. |
| 32 | Win | 29–1–2 | Luis Alfonso Lizarraga | UD | 10 | 2003-07-25 | Foxwoods Resort Casino,Ledyard, Connecticut, USA | RetainedIBULightweight 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 vacantIBULightweight 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 EBALightweight 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 EBALightweight 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. |
