JUAN LAZCANO

updated February 20, 2007

"People can say you're the next Jordan, or whatever, but are you really doing what it takes to stay at that level and even grow more?" asks Juan Lazcano. "Sure it's good that you get compliments, but you can't fall into your compliments or let them get to you. You thank people for it and I just keep going. I'm on a mission in life to be the very best that I can be."

It's obvious that Lazcano is more than your average professional athlete. But while the 31-year-old is currently riding high in the boxing world as a top junior welterweight contender, his maturity goes way back to his teenage years, when the aspiring boxer / baseball player made some tough choices at the age of 16.

"I told my dad that I needed a year off from boxing and baseball because I really wanted to make up my mind about what I wanted to do with my life," remembered Lazcano. "Whatever sport I picked I wanted to put all my heart and soul into it. So I was out of both sports for a year and in the beginning I was just going out with the guys, being a teenager, having fun, flirting with the girls, going to the mall. But something happened during that time that totally changed everything. My then-girlfriend (who I'm together with now) got pregnant and we were in high school. Now I really had to speed up the process of me thinking what I was really gonna do. I thought about it practically all day for about a month. I would lose sleep over it; I would look up at the sky at night and just stare at it for hours at a time, and just wonder what was going to be of my life and what I had done and what I needed to do."

"Then about a month and a half down the line, it hit me: this undying thirst and hunger to beat the odds," continued Lazcano. "I knew what I had on my hands was pretty serious. I had a girl that was expecting my baby and I knew that I was going to accept responsibility for it. That was one. Second, I was going to have to provide for my new coming family. So I said, baseball, what are the odds of that? I was being honest with myself. What about boxing? With my frame, I'm thin and I have long arms, so I probably had a better shot at boxing than I did baseball. What is it going to take for me to get to that next level? Because I knew I had the skills, and I knew it was going to take my whole heart and soul, my might, and my mind, everything put together, for me to get myself out of the hole I dug myself into. So I set out on that mission since that day and I knew what was in front of me. I knew it was going to be a dogfight. I knew it was going to be super duper hard for me to get out of what I had gotten into. I was in a bind early in my life at 16. I had to get a job, I attended high school, and in all of this I found time to train. Good thing my then-trainer had a bar, and in the back there was an outdoor gym with a ring and the bags and all that. So when I would get of work, sometimes 9:30-10:00, because the mall closed at 9, I would rush down to the gym and I got a lot of one on one quality time with him. We were there for a couple of hours training, and then I would go home. The next day it was the same thing. That was the start. But I knew that it was going to be difficult and I needed not only my entire heart and soul into it but I needed something more, and that's where god came into the picture for me as well."

From that moment on, Juan Lazcano started to make his mark in the boxing world. After an impressive amateur career, the El Paso native has used his lanky build and punching power to rack up win after win, including victories over former world champions Wilfredo Vasquez, Jesse James Leija, and John-John Molina. And after decisioning Leija in August of 2000, Lazcano racked up nine wins in a row, eight by knockout.

"I've been on the other side," said Lazcano. "I've had those blemishes and that serves as experience to know. I've been on both sides of the boat. I can never look past anyone. I don't care if it's my three-year old son. That's the way I am. If anything were to happen, I could never live with myself. If I didn't prepare the right way and do the necessary things to be at my best, I could never forgive myself. Now if the man is better and he beats me because he's better, I tip my hat to him. I take every individual seriously."

In September of 2003, Lazcano announced his coming to the boxing world with a decisive 11th round stoppage of former world champion Stevie Johnston. The win earned Lazcano a well-deserved shot at the vacant WBC title nine months later, but on June 5, 2004, Juan fell just short of glory, dropping a hard fought 12 round decision to Jose Luis Castillo.

After a rejuvenating rest, "The Hispanic Causing Panic" returned to the ring in August of 2005 and he has been on an impressive run, knocking out Marco Angel Perez in a single round, taking out contender Courtney Burton in nine, and decisioning former world title challenger Ben Tackie over ten rounds.

On October 21, Lazcano will move a step closer to a world title shot at 140 pounds when he takes on Manuel Garnica in a WBA junior welterweight elimination bout.