A legacy of resilience

Brian Mendoza’s fighting spirit came from his parents, Mario and Lisset, each of whom survived separate and torturous journeys from their native Cuba to the United States. 

“My dad in the 90’s wanted his freedom. He needed more opportunities to provide for his family. He took that leap,” Mendoza said. “He swam to the American base in Guantanamo, swam hours across the ocean. My mum, she had to take a dangerous route here, too.”

Mario Mendoza made it to Florida and eventually settled on employment in New Mexico, where he met Lisset. Over a period of three decades, they worked numerous jobs and became parents supporting four children.  

“Thankfully,” Mendoza’s parents “made that tough journey and I’m here today because of it,” he said. 

A 16-year-old Mendoza made his amateur debut in boxing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, twice earning New Mexico Golden Gloves titles.

“I had less than 30 fights with a record of about 20-7,” said Mendoza, who competed from 140-to-152 pounds. “Even though I didn’t have many fights, I got the best out of it because I was fighting ranked fighters.”

Nicknamed “La Bala” (The Bullet), Mendoza got off to a blistering start as a professional, winning his first 11 professional bouts, seven by knockout. 

Mendoza debuted in May 2014 with a 39-second TKO of Daniel Gonzalez followed by another first-round knockout of Jesus Lopez in July and a four-round unanimous decision over Lazaro Jay Dominguez in November. 

Mendoza went 8-0 (5 KOs) in 2015 beginning with a four-round unanimous decision over Javier Eduardo Rivera (February) and first- and third-round knockouts of Ivan Lucero (May) and Dontre King (June).

Mendoza fought once during each of the last five months of 2015, a split-decision over Eric Rosales (August), first-round knockouts of John Rozema (September), Michael Pickett (October) and Eddie Cordova (November) and a four-round unanimous decision over Anthony Hill (Decemberl).

The year 2016 began with second- and third-round TKOs of Francisco Isata (January) and Joel Vargas (February) for Mendoza and ended with a six-round unanimous decision over Daniel Calzada (July). 

Mendoza rose to 16-0 (11 KOs) following second- and third-round TKOs of Tyler Pogline and John David Charles in March and November.

“I have power, but I’m not just a power puncher,” Mendoza said. “I don’t go in there trying to look for one shot.”

TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Going 2-1 in 2019, Mendoza scored second- and first-round knockouts of Carlos Mohamed Rodriguez (May) and Rosemberg Gomez (August) before losing his first professional bout to Larry Gomez (November), who improved to 10-1 (8 KOs).

Mendoza split bouts while fighting once each in 2020 and 2021, handling Thomas LaManna by 10-round unanimous decision in August of the former before falling the same way to then-undefeated southpaw Jesus Ramos (17-0, 14 KOs) in September of the latter.

“I know I’m better than that. That’s basically what it was," Mendoza said. "I understand how I got here, but I know I’m better than this and it’s time to keep showing people."

Mendoza rebounded in dominant fashion over the course of his next three bouts. On March 26, 2022, he stopped Benjamin Whitaker in five one-sided rounds. The victory set up a showdown versus former unified 154-pound world champion Jeison Rosario on November 5, 2022. 

In front of a raucous crowd at The Armory in Minneapolis, Mendoza dominated the heavily-favored Dominican, dropping him in the second and then again in fifth, stopping Rosario with a brutal finish that same frame. 

“They thought I was a fill in,” said the 28-year-old Mendoza, who took the fight on ten days’ notice after Yoelvis Gomez suffered an injury. “I’ve been in the gym for seven months straight since I fought on March 26. This was anything but a last-minute call.”

WORLD CLASS FOR A REASON

On April 8, 2023, Mendoza faced undefeated, 6-6 southpaw Sebastian Fundora (20-0-1, 13 KOs at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Again, Mendoza was a big underdog (11-1 odds). The two went back and forth for much of the fight, trading thudding shots. By the fifth, Fundora had seized control, pounding Mendoza with short blows in close quarters. 

Trailing 60-54 on two cards, and 59-55 on the third—and bleeding badly from his nose—Mendoza came out with purpose in the seventh round as he closed the distance and kept Fundora from gaining leverage on his punches even as he was met with a consistent rhythm of uppercuts.

Early in the stanza, Mendoza took a half step back and countered Fundora with a picture-perfect left hook, freezing the dazed Fundora which allowed Mendoza to step in with a powerful left-right combo that flattened Fundora for good. 

"I would’ve given up years ago when I took some losses. You’ll never see me give up,” Mendoza said. “I predicted everything that was going to happen in my past two fights and how they were going to end and everything.”

On October 14, 2023, Mendoza dropped a 12-round unanimous decision to Australian superstar Tim Tszyu, who successfully defended his WBO Junior Middleweight World Title and rose to 24-0 (17 KOs).

Tszyu had praise for Mendoza, whom the 28-year-old battled before his hometown fans at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia.

“Man, he’s tough,” Tszyu said. “He’s crafty. He’s slick. He has power. He’s world class for a reason.”

Mendoza showed that toughness in his next bout, a unanimous decision loss to the hard-punching Serhii Bohachuk on March 30, 2023, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Bohachuk dominated many of the early frames before Mendoza rallied in the last third of the fight. After several explosive exchanges in the final round, Bohachuk took home the decision by scores of 118-110 and 117-111 twice.