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Victor Callejas (born December 11, 1960) is a
Puerto Rican who was Boxing|boxing's world Jr.
Featherweight champion. A native of Guaynabo,
Puerto Rico|Guaynabo, Callejas as a child wanted
to be a singer, and his childhood friend, Orvil
Miller, wanted to be a boxing|boxer. As it turned
out, however, it was Callejas who was a boxer and
Miller who became a famous singer. Callejas'
nickname was Luvi.

Callejas compiled a record of 36 wins and 4
defeats as an amateur boxer, and in 1979, he
decided to turn professional. That he did on the
night of February 18 of that year. In his first
bout, Callejas, like Alexis Arguello, Chucho
Castillo and Wilfredo Vazquez, lost. He was beaten
by Jose Parrilla by a decision in four rounds. For
his next three bouts, he travelled around some of
the other Caribbean islands, gaining revenge over
Parrilla in St. Croix for his first professional
win, knocking out Wilt Jones in one round in St.
Marteen for his first knockout and beating Albert
Pagan, also by a knockout, in five.

Between the fight against Jones and the fight
versus Jose Ortiz (boxer)|Jose Ortiz in 1983,
Callejas had a streak of 15 knockout wins in a
row, winning Puerto Rico's Jr. Featherweight title
and earning a ranking among the world's top Jr.
Featherweights with the World Boxing
Association|WBA along the way. Some fans even
started to call him the next Wilfredo Gomez. His
fight with Ortiz ended in a second round No
contest (boxing)|no-contest. But after that, on
May 7 of '83, he beat Juan Arenade Balzan by a
knockout in three, and then, on February 15 of
1984, he beat the WBA's number one challenger,
Bernardo Checa, by a knockout in three in
Guaynabo.

That same night, but in Milan, Italy|Milan,
Italy|Italian boxer Loris Stecca was becoming the
new Jr. Featherweight champion of the world when
he beat Leo Cruz by a knockout in round 12 for the
WBA title. 

On May of that year, Stecca went to Puerto Rico to
defend his title against Callejas. On May 26,
Callejas became world champion by knocking Stecca
out in round eight.

Callejas then began to face different problems to
fight, and it was almost a year later that he
could finally defend his title for the first time,
when he beat Seoung-Hoon Lee by a decision in 15
on February 2, 1985, after dropping him in round
8, at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan. 

Stecca had won five fights in a row since losing
to Callejas, all by knockout. So the logical next
step was for a rematch to take place. The second
time around, it was Callejas who had to travel to
his rival's home turf, and so Callejas went to
Italy, where he complained about such pre-fight
conditions as the heating system in his hotel room
and the gestures made towards him by some Stecca
fans he met on the streets. Callejas-Stecca 2 took
place on November 8 in Rimini, Italy|Rimini, with
Gomez himself and Ivonne Class broadcasting the
fight for Puerto Rican television|tv. During round
three of the rematch, the lights went off the
sports facility where the fight was held at, and
the fighters had to keep boxing under a complete
obscurity. But in round six, Callejas retained the
title with a highlight film knockout: He connected
with a right hand that lifted Stecca off his feet,
and when Stecca came down, he landed on his knees,
his upper body over his lower legs. He got up, but
was saved by the bell and not allowed to continue
for round seven by his corner. This Callejas
knockout earned many knockout of the year awards.

Callejas would not fight again for two years. Many
reasons were given for this, including managerial
and weight making problems. But when he came back
in 1987, he won fights over contenders Cleo Garcia
(by decision in 10) and Nivio Nolasco (knockout in
one), the latter of which marked Callejas' Las
Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas debut. Callejas was given
an opportunity by the World Boxing Council|WBC to
fight for another world title in 1988, and so he
travelled to Australia, where he met Jeff Fenech
on March 7, losing by a knockout in ten for the
vacant WBC's world Featherweight title.

Later that year, Callejas did a two fight tour of
the United Kingdom, beating Juan Torres by a
knockout in seven in elfast, Northern
Ireland|Belfast, and Brian Roche by a decision in
eight in London. 

In his last fight as a professional, Callejas lost
to Francisco Alvarez (boxer)|Francisco Alvarez by
a decision in eight at San Juan.

Callejas currently holds an important position in
a government sports department in Puerto Rico.

He had a professional boxing record of 29 wins, 3
losses and 1 no-contest, with 21 wins by knockout.