On the night of his first match, his father reminded
Michael of something he said when he was only six: "I'm going to be
world champion and retire as world champion." Michael, of course,
didn't remember what he said when he was only six, but the message
has stayed with him thoughout his life.
"I wanted to box since
I was six," Carbajal reminisced. "I didn't understand why I couldn't,
but my father told me to watch and learn from my experiences in the
gym and at tournaments. I waited until I was 14, working out in my
backyard, as my father taught me the basics. I remember hearing about
kids at tournaments with 100, 200 amateur fights.
1988 Olympic
Results
Below are the results of Michael Carbajal, an American light
flyweight boxer who competed at the 1988 Seoul Olympics:
- Round
of 32: Defeated Kwang-Soo Oh (South Korea) points (3:2 decision)
-
Round of 16: Defeated Dang Hieu Hien (Vietnam) points
- Quarterfinal:
Defeated Scotty Olson (Canada) points
- Semifinal" Defeated Robert
Isaszegi (Hungary) points
- Final: Lost to Ivailo Marinov (Bulgaria)
points (0:5 decision)
There was suspicions of politics influencing
the judges in Carbajal's decision loss in the gold medal bout.
Carbajal
retired 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. Carbajal also
owns two boxing gyms in Phoenix.
Michael Carbajal and former
rival Humberto Gonzalez were elected together to the International
Boxing Hall Of Fame in 2006.
His career record was 49 wins against
four losses, with 33 wins coming by way of knockout.