Nelson Dieppa-Gerena (born February 25, 1971) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. As an amateur, he represented Puerto Rico in international events including the 1991 World Amateur Boxing Championships, 1991 Pan American Games and the 1992 Summer Olympics. Dieppa debuted as a professional on February 13, 1993, when he defeated Carlos Figueroa. His first world championship fight took place on July 3, 2000, when he lost to Will Grigsby for the World Boxing Organization's light flyweight championship. Following this fight Grigsby tested positive for illegal drugs and the title was declared vacant. Following this fight the title was won by Masibulele Makepula but was stripped again. He won the vacant title on April 14, 2001, in a fight against Andy Tabanas. Dieppa defended the title successfully five times before losing it to Hugo Cázares on April 30, 2005.
Early life and amateur career
Nelson Dieppa was born and raised in Vieques, Puerto Rico. He began his boxing career at a young age. As an amateur Dieppa represented Puerto Rico in international competitions, competing in the Light Flyweight division
(– 48 kilograms). In 1991 he represented the island in two major international events. The first one was the World Amateur Boxing Championships, organized in Sydney, Australia from November 15 to 23. In this event he won bronze, finishing in the third global position along Daniel Petrov of Bulgaria. His second international participation of the year was in the Pan American Games that took place on Havana, Cuba. Here he again took bronze, sharing the third position with Fernando Retayud of Colombia. A year later he went on to represent Puerto Rico at the 1992 Olympic Games, held in Barcelona, Spain. These would mark his final participation in an amateur event. Dieppa only participated in one fight in the first round of the Olympic boxing tournament, where he fought against Daniel Petrov. Dieppa lost the fight by points, with a final score of 7-10. Prior to the fight a number of promotional events were organized. Sanchez had an early advantage in the fight, relying on his boxing skills. In the eleventh round Dieppa won by knockout after connecting a solid combination. The fight was stopped in the tenth round with Cazares receiving a technical decision victory.
On December 17, 2005, Dieppa returned to action versus Juan Alfonso Keb Baas in an event organized in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Dieppa won by unanimous decision and won the vacant WBC Continental Americas Jr. Flyweight title. On May 26, 2006, Dieppa fought against Eric Ramírez of Mexico. In this fight he focused on using his boxing skills to counter Ramírez's aggressive style. Following this fight, Dieppa defeated former champion Alex Sanchez, and lost by unanimous decision to Iván Calderón for the WBO's championship.
See also
- List of Puerto Ricans
- List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions
- List of light-flyweight boxing champions