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biography

Ask anyone who has seen number one world middleweight contender Edison Miranda fight, and they will tell you that he has the potential to be a boxing superstar. Better yet, ask any of his 23 knockout victims (16 of whom didn’t hear the bell to start round two) and you’ll get the same answer.

A Colombia native with dynamite in either hand, Miranda nonetheless came up the hard way in his native Buenaventura.

Abandoned by his 14-year-old mother when he was just a month old, and shuttled from home to home, Miranda finally went out on his own at the age of nine, sleeping wherever he could after putting in days of hard labor either in the plantain and yucca fields, or on the streets as a sweeper. By 15, he also added the jobs of cattle butcher and construction worker to his resume. Miranda survived. But it wasn’t easy.

Luckily, Miranda found boxing as a teenager and went on to have an impressive amateur career that ended shortly after he fell short in an Olympic qualifier in 2000. But with his undeniable power and champion’s desire, it was obvious that his style was better suited for the pro ranks, and on March 16, 2001, the boxing world got its first glimpse of Edison when he stopped Jose Chiquillo in a single round.

Of his next eight opponents, only one, Fidel Sarmiento, made it out of the opening round, as Miranda dispatched of his foes with power not seen in the middleweight division in decades.

After a second round knockout of Rafael De La Cruz in June of 2002, Miranda went on another brutal streak of punching power, winning six of his next seven bouts by first round knockout, with only veteran Manuel De La Rosa being sturdy enough to make it to round two before being KO’ed.

On July 28, 2003, Miranda, fighting in his third fight in eight days, went the longest he had ever been as a pro to that date, knocking out Feliberto Alvarez in three rounds. But despite the long workout (at least for him), Edison was back in the ring a month later, stopping Darmel Castillo in five rounds.

On December 11, 2004, Miranda got back to his first round knockout ways, sending Jonalis Reyes to the canvas in a bout in the Dominican Republic.

After signing with Florida’s Warrior’s Boxing Promotions, Miranda made his United States debut on May 20, 2005 with a ten round unanimous decision streaking veteran Sam Reese on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights. And even though this was Miranda’s first journey over the ten round distance, he showed the stamina and heart of a future champion.

On June 16, the “KO Kid” returned to the ring with a high-stakes bout against fellow prospect Jose Varela, and despite Varela’s gutsy effort and rock-hard chin, he was no match for Miranda, who scored a near shutout unanimous decision victory before an appreciative crowd at the Seminole Casino in Coconut Creek, Florida, further increasing his profile among fight fans.

Miranda stayed active on August 26, thrilling fans with a one-sided drubbing of Hilario Guzman, and in October, the Barranquilla Bomber added to his impressive winning streak with a third round knockout of once-beaten prospect Sherwin Davis.

But ‘Pantera’ was just getting warmed up, and on March 24, 2006, Miranda ignited the boxing world with a stirring seventh round TKO of former world title challenger Howard Eastman, who had never been stopped in 44 bouts, including those against world champions Bernard Hopkins, William Joppy, and Arthur Abraham.

Later this year, Miranda will get his opportunity to join the ranks of boxing’s world champions when he faces Abraham, the IBF world champion, in a highly anticipated title bout.