“The Aztec Warrior”

• Age: 26 (4-1-82)
• Residence: Bell, California
• Birthplace: Ciudad Altamirano, Guerrero (state), Mexico
• Record: 19-0-1, 15 KOs
• Height: 5’4”
• Reach: 69”
• Manager: Arturo Mota
• Trainer: Lucilo Nolasco

Ranked WBA #1, The Ring #3 at 108 pounds...

Former NABF light flyweight champion, one successful defense...

Former California state flyweight champion…

At the age of 26, Giovanni is a five-year pro. A top contender at 108 pounds, he has repeatedly given impressive performances and scored some spectacular knockouts.

Fightwriter.com’s Graham Houston described him as, “One of the hottest prospects in the lighter weight divisions...”

Giovanni has won 18 fights in a row since fighting to a draw in his second pro fight.

In his last fight in October, 2007, he knocked out Willy Valdez in the first round.

After the fight, Dan Rafael wrote on ESPN.com: What’s not to love about Segura? Every time he fights, it’s exciting. He scored his second consecutive first-round knockout with a devastating left hook to the ribs against Valdez, who fell to the mat like he had been shot.

After his TKO win against Jair Jimenez in August, 2006, Boxing News reported, “Giovanni Segura looked like a scaled down version of George Foreman. He winged punches from all angles, but when they connected you had to check his mitts for horseshoes.”

Giovanni said, “I’m a puncher. I consider myself aggressive. I can fight both sides, lefty and righty. Not slow, but not fast. I don’t like to wait too much.”

Regarding his nickname, he said, “The gym that I train at is called the Azteca, and I’m from Guerrero, Mexico, and Guerrero means ‘warrior’ in English. So everything fit in like, ‘The Aztec Warrior.’ ”

Fight by Fight – 2007 – in his last fight on 10-26-07 in Cicero, IL, he knocked out lefthander Willy Valdez (23-2-3): the fight was co-featured at Cicero Stadium, and it was a spectacular knockout; Giovanni scored a knockdown with a left hook to the body in the 1st round, and Valdez was counted out at 2:28...

On 6-8-07 in Gary, IN, he knocked out former IBF minimumweight world champion Daniel Reyes (38-4-1): the fight headlined at the Hudson and Campbell Fitness Center, and Giovanni was very impressive; Reyes had never been stopped before, but Giovanni scored a knockdown with a left hook followed by a right hand to the body in the 1st round, and Reyes was counted out at 1:38...

1ST NABF L-FL TITLE DEFENSE - on 2-16-07 in Cicero, IL, he TKO’d Jesus Martinez (17-4): the fight headlined at Cicero Stadium, and Giovanni dominated; he consistently outworked Martinez and steadily wore him down; Giovanni rocked him with a series of punches in the 5th round, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:41; after four rounds, Giovanni led by scores of 40-36 on all three scorecards...

2006 – WON NABF INTERIM L-FL TITLE - on 11-3-06 in Nogales, AZ, he won a 12 round unanimous decision against Carlos Tamara (12-1): the bout headlined at the Palo Duro Creek Golf Club, and it was a fast-paced fight; Giovanni started fast and built an early lead – after six rounds, he led by scores of 60-54, 60-54, 58-56; Tamara, a former Olympian for his native Colombia, boxed and moved effectively at times, and rallied in the middle rounds, but Giovanni constantly pressed forward, landed the harder punches, and finished the fight strongly; scored 118-110, 117-111, 116-112...

On 8-18-06 in Pasadena, TX, he TKO’d Jair Jimenez (22-6-1): the fight headlined at the Pasadena Convention Center, and Giovanni gave an impressive performance; he staggered Jimenez late in the 1st round and wore down Jimenez with body punches in the 2nd; Giovanni scored a knockdown in the 3rd round and bloodied Jimenez’ mouth; Giovanni scored another knockdown in the 4th – Jimenez got up but was unsteady, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:59...

On 5-5-06 in Maywood, CA, he knocked out Valentin Leon (18-13-2): the fight headlined at the Maywood Activity Center and drew a capacity crowd; it was a spectacular one-punch knockout; Giovanni scored a knockdown in the 3rd round – Leon barely beat the count and stumbled backwards, and the referee stopped the fight at 0:40; after the fight, Giovanni said, “Things went well. Thank God it went this way. I’m just gonna keep working hard.”...

On 3-3-06 in Maywood he TKO’d Francisco Arce (19-2-1): it was a spectacular knockout; Giovanni fought very aggressively and scored a knockdown late in the 1st round; Arce, the brother of WBC interim flyweight world champion Jorge Arce, got up at the count of nine but stumbled, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:59; after the fight, Giovanni said, “When a guy tries to fight me and give me a war, that’s what happens. Now, I need some tough veterans to give me the rounds and experience I need to go to the next level.”...

On 1-20-06 in Maywood he knocked out Juan Carlos Perez (11-7-2): at 2:33 of the 1st round...

2005 - on 11-25-05 in Santa Ana, NM, he won a 6 round split decision against Benjie Garcia (10-6-3): it was the third time they had fought - the first time was a four-round draw, and the second was a 1st round knockout win for Giovanni - and it was a close, exciting fight; Garcia started fast, pressed forward, and scored a knockdown in the 1st round, but Giovanni rallied in the second half of the fight, generally outworked Garcia, and won by scores of 78-74, 74-73 Segura, 77-74 Garcia; after the fight, Giovanni said, “He was very tough, but was holding a lot. He takes a lot of good punches, and can hit back. He hit me good when I dropped my left, but it was a flash knockdown. I was in good shape and wasn’t hurt.”…

On 10-7-05 in Las Vegas, NV, he knocked out Javier Lagos (15-9-2): Giovanni pressed forward and landed the harder punches, and Lagos fought mainly to survive; Giovanni staggered him in the 6th round, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:32…

On 6-18-05 in Maywood, CA, he TKO’d Frankie Soto (4-14-2): Giovanni dominated the fight, and Soto did not continue after the 5th round…

On 5-6-05 in Fountain Hills, AZ, he TKO’d Roberto Gomez (14-15-2): Gomez gave a good effort, but Giovanni scored a knockdown in the 4th round, and Gomez was counted out at 1:19…

2004 - on 11-26-04 in Las Vegas he won a 6 round unanimous decision against previously undefeated Felipe Rivas (4-0-1): Giovanni dominated the fight; he scored a knockdown with a body punch in the 1st round, and continued to wear down Rivas with body punches throughout the fight; scored 60-53 on all three scorecards…

WON VACANT CALIFORNIA STATE FL TITLE - on 4-23-04 in Norwalk, CA, he knocked out Jose Rico (5-7-1): the scheduled eight-rounder headlined at the Ramada Inn and reportedly drew over 1,200 fans; Giovanni quickly overwhelmed Rico - he scored three knockdowns in the 1st round, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:11…

On 2-20-04 in Norwalk he TKO’d Saidi Warandu (0-1): Giovanni scored two knockdowns in the 1st round, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:08…

2003 - on 12-6-03 in Maywood he TKO’d Mynor Marquez (debut): Giovanni scored two knockdowns in the 1st round, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:25…

On 11-21-03 in Whittier, CA, he knocked out Vicente Marroquin (1-4-1) at 1:05 of the 1st round…

On 7-19-03 in Bell Gardens, CA, he knocked out Benjie Garcia (7-1-3) at 2:42 of the 1st round…

On 7-5-03 in Del Mar, CA, he fought to a 4 round draw against Benjie Garcia (7-1-2), scored 39-37 Garcia, 38-38, 38-38…

He debuted at the age of 20 on 3-28-03 in Bell Gardens and won a 4 round unanimous decision against Jesus Valadez (2-2)…

AMATEUR, PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Giovanni said, “I was born in Ciudad Altamirano, Mexico. I have two sisters and four brothers. My dad was a mechanic, he repaired tires. We had a carwash, too. It was right at our house. Now, my dad’s working on his own. He does roofing.

“When I was a little kid, I used to see boxing on TV. I used to love boxing. The first fight I remember is when I was eight, nine. I used to go with my dad to see Chavez fight, De La Hoya, and Tyson fight. But the thing is, I used to understand the language of boxing. I used to know who was winning, who was in good shape, who was hurt. We would go to a bar to see the fights, and they would not let me in. My dad would tell them, ‘Don’t worry, he’s not going to drink.’ They would say, ‘You have to buy something.’ ‘Well, give him a soda.’ But in Guerrero, there were no boxing gyms. I never had the chance to train.

“I was 15 when we moved to Downey, California. I found out about the gym one day when they had some report on TV about the next future champions. Some guy was on there and my little brother said, ‘Oh, that guy goes to school with me. He’s my friend. I know where he trains.’ I said, ‘You know where he trains? Well, take me to the gym.’ I was about 15 years and five months old. So I went to the gym and I started training, and everybody started telling me that I was learning fast. I used to feel like a little kid in a candy shop.

“But I started late, and my dad had a problem with that. He knew about boxing, and he knew that it was a tough sport. He wouldn’t let me go to the tournaments, because there were guys there with a hundred and something fights, 200 fights, guys with a lot of experience. My dad thought they were going to take me to lose, and he wanted me to stop boxing. My trainer had to go and talk to him and he said, ‘We’re taking care of your son. He’s got the talent to win.’

“I had around 40 amateur fights. I had four losses. Most of my wins were knockouts. All the fights I lost were because of speed. I won one amateur title in Coachella, and the next one was in Phoenix, Arizona.

“I live in Downey, too, but I stay in my manager’s house in Bell for the fight. His house is real close to the gym, just a few blocks. I usually just live in the gym.

“I’m single.”…

STRENGTHS: Has good skills and movement...has an aggressive style and good punching power…keeps a fast pace in the ring, constantly pressures his opponents…can switch effectively between the righthanded and lefthanded stance…tough an determined…

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 5 years, 4 months...20 fights…70 total rounds…

AVERAGE LENGTH OF BOUTS: 3.5 rounds…

KNOCKOUT PERCENTAGE: 78 %...

DISTANCE FIGHTS: 12 rounds – 1 (1-0)...10 rounds – 0...8 rounds – 1 (1-0)...