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Victor Callejas (born November 12, 1960) is a Puerto Rico former boxing who was world Junior Featherweight champion.
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 future IBF super bantamweight champion Seung-Hoon Lee by a decision in 15 on February 2, 1985, after dropping him in round 2, 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, with Gómez himself and Ivonne Class broadcasting the fight for Puerto Rican television. During round four 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 left 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 debut. Callejas was given an opportunity by the 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 Odelin by a knockout in seven in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Brian Roche by a decision in eight in London.
On March 2, 2022, news surfaced that Callejas and other people had helped save former world boxing champion Wilfredo Gomez from "deplorable" living conditions at Gomez's house in San Juan. Once considered "the next Wilfredo Gomez" by press and fans alike, Callejas was by then friends with his former idol
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