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Michael Carbajal (born September 17, 1967) is a
Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix native who was a
four-time world boxing champion. He is nicknamed
"Little Hands Of Stone," after his favorite boxer,
the legendary "Hands Of Stone," Panama|Panamanian
Roberto Duran.

== Early Career ==
Owner of a stellar amateur record, Carbajal went
to the 1988 Seoul Olympics in South Korea. He
cruised through his initial bouts there, and then,
in the Junior Flyweight final, he was denied a
gold medal by the judges, although many observers
felt that Carajal had dominated his opponent
throughout the match. This decision, along with
Roy Jones Jr.| Roy Jones, Jr.'s
defeat-by-decision, also at the final bout in the
same games, was considered one of amateur boxing's
most controversial decisions ever made.

Seven months after the Olympics, in February of
1989, Carbajal made his debut in front of a
national television audience as part of the card
where Duran became a four-time world champion by
beating Iran Barkley in Atlantic City. In his
first fight, Carbajal outboxed another future
world champion, Will Grigsby.

Carbajal followed that win with a spectacular
first-round knockout of Silviano Perez on NBC.
Carbajal started raking up win after win, and in
his tenth bout, he met the former WBO world
champion Pedro Feliciano, "Kikiriki," handling him
a ten-round beating. Four more wins followed, and
United States|America began to realize that it had
its first Junior Flyweight superstar ever.

On July 29, 1990, Carbajal faced the tough
Maungshai Kittikasem, who came to Phoenix from
South Korea to defend his International Boxing
Federation|IBF world Junior Flyweight championship
versus the little strom from South Phoenix.
Carbajal methodically took apart the champion in
front of another NBC national audience and in
round 7, after a scary combination of punches left
Kittikasem laying defenseless against the ropes,
the referee stepped in and stopped the fight,
making Carbajal the world champion for the first
time in his career.

== Champion ==

Fame and endorsement deals from Phoenix companies
and other companies that targeted the Phoenix
market came along with the title for the young
champion, but with them came trouble. Carbajal
began a string of six title defenses against such
tough challengers as Leon Salazar, Hector Patri
and Robinson Cuesta. Boxing fans longed for a
fight with World Boxing Council|WBC world champion
Humberto Gonzalez, also known as "Chiquita," so
the fight was scheduled for March 13, 1993.
Carbajal was going to become the first Junior
Flyweight in history to earn one million dollars
for a fight, and the surrounding hype almost
resembled that of a heavyweight championship bout.
It was the first Junior Flyweight championship
bout to headline a Pay Per View event.

Carbajal was downed in rounds 1 and 5, and he was
bleeding from his right eyebrow when he blasted a
tremendous right hand to the side of Gonzalez's
chin in the seventh round. Gonzalez turned
sideways, and another right hand sent him flat to
the canvas. He could not beat the count, and
Michael Carbajal had unified the world's Junior
Flyweight championship in Ring Magazine's fight of
the year. 

More television enodorsement deals followed,
including television ads for Diet Pepsi and
Emergency Chiropractors, but trouble seemed to
follow, as well.  He was accused of firing
gunshots onto the roof of a party in Scottsdale,
Arizona, and his sister was accused of being
involved in a midnight altercation at a Phoenix
gas station.  This unwanted attention seemed to
take its toll on Carbajal, and after two defenses,
he fought Gonzalez once again in a pay-per-view
match in Los Angeles, California.  This time,
Carbajal was outboxed and couldn't find the right
punch to end it, so he lost a split decision for
the first defeat in his career.


== Comeback ==
Carbajal next took on tough Abner Barajas, winning
by a fifth-round knockout in Laughlin,
Nevada|Laughlin, Nevada, and then was given
another shot at a world title by the WBO world
champ Josue Camacho, who came from Puerto Rico to
the challenger's hometown to defend his title. In
front of another national audience, this time on
ESPN, Carbajal put on a brilliant performance and
won a unanimous twelve-round decision over
Camacho, who was never even rocked despite being
blasted on several occasions with combinations to
the head and body, and who left the ring with a
record of fifteen wins and three losses (with six
knockouts) after the defeat.

A world champion again, Carbajal set to try to
recover his International Boxing Federation and
World Boxing Council|WBC belts against Gonzalez in
a third unification bout between the boxers, and
in November of 1994, two months after the Camacho
victory, they met once again, this time in Mexico
City. Once again, it was a split decision, and
once again, Carbajal came out on the losing end.
He wouldn't give up, however, and he kept training
under the guidance of his brother, Danny Carbajal,
the only man ever to train Michael.

He put another string of seven wins together,
against former world champion Jose Quirino, who
was beaten in one round, and tough Mauro Salas,
who lasted seven. Then he met two-time world
champion Melchor Cob Castro in Las Vegas for
Castro's International Boxing Federation Junior
Flyweight title. Castro had won the title after
Gonzalez had retired. Carbajal beat Castro by
unanimous decision.

His third title reign lasted 22 months and three
defenses, including an eighth-round knockout of
tough two-time challenger Tomas Rivera), before he
lost his crown again. On January 18, 1997,
Carbajal suddenly looked aged and was unable to do
anything against the charges of Colombian Mauricio
Pastrana. Carbajal still made the fight close, but
lost a twelve-round split decision.

After that, a fight that should have taken place
long before came up, as Carbajal met Canada's
Scotty Olson in San Antonio, Texas. Carbajal
showed he had more left than Olson did, and
dominated the fight until a spectacular right hand
sent Olson down for the count in round 11. 

The win over Olson gave Carbajal a minor title,
but in July of 1997 in Las Vegas once again, he
was shockingly handled by South Africa's Jacob
Matlala. Matlala handed Carbajal his first
knockout defeat ever, finishing the past-his-prime
former world champion in round nine. Carbajal did
not fight for 19 months after this defeat.


== Second Comeback, and Retirement ==
Although counted out by most boxing experts when
he announced a comeback early in 1999, Carbajal
still had one last hurrah left in him. He won
three bouts, and on July 31, 1999, he took the
short flight from Phoenix to Tijuana to challenge
WBO world Junior Flyweight champion Jorge Arce,
who was fighting in his hometown. Arce dominated
Carbajal for nine of the first ten rounds, but the
older man showed he was still dangerous when he
floored the 20-year-old Arce in the eighth round.
The fight moved along, but Carbajal's lightning
struck in the 11th. This time, Carbajal struck
with a devastating overhead right that sent Arce
helplessly into the ropes. The referee stopped the
fight, and Michael Carbajal was a world champion
for the fourth time.

After this fight, Carbajal understood it was time
to retire, and he did so the way every boxer would
like to do it--as a world champ. Carbajal is
trying to live a quieter life nowadays in Phoenix,
but he does many public appearances. He enjoys
meeting his public and signing autographs for his
fans, and remains at his old fighting weight.

His career record was 49 wins against four losses,
with 33 wins coming by way of knockout.

==See also==
Michael Carbajal vs. Humberto Gonzalez I