Jesse James Leija (47-7-2, 19) was born in San Antonio, Texas, U.S. on July 8, 1966. At the age of 22 years on October 2, 1988, he made his professional boxing debut against Oscar Davis, winning the fight via 1st-round TKO.
On his 28th career fight at 27 years old, Jesse James Leija got a shot at the WBC super-featherweight titles against Azumah Nelson on September 10, 1993 but lost the fight via 12-round split decision.
He became a super-featherweight world champion (WBC) on May 7, 1994 at the age of 27 years old, on his 30th career fight, after defeating Azumah Nelson via 12-round unanimous decision.
Leija's last fight was a super-lightweight world-title fight against Arturo Gatti for Gatti's WBC title on January 29, 2005. He lost the fight via 5th-round KO. He retired from the sport of boxing following this loss.
Some of Jesse James Leija's best fights have been against Azumah Nelson, Jeff Mayweather, Ivan Robinson and Juan Lazcano.
Leija has 7 losses on his boxing record.
| # | Date | Opponent | Weight | Round | Method | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
57  | Jan 29, 2005 38 years, 6 months 47-7-2 (19) | 32 years, 9 months 38-6 (29) | SLT | 5 | KO | LOSS For WBC |
56 | Jul 24, 2004 38 years 47-6-2 (19) | Francisco Bojado | 10 | SD | WIN | |
55 | Apr 30, 2004 37 years, 9 months 46-6-2 (19) | Marteze Logan | 8 | TD | WIN | |
54 | Nov 15, 2003 37 years, 4 months 45-6-2 (19) | Fernando Mena | 2 | TKO | WIN | |
53 | May 22, 2003 36 years, 10 months 44-6-2 (18) | Adan Casillas | 4 | TKO | WIN | |
52  | Jan 19, 2003 36 years, 6 months 43-6-2 (17) | 33 years, 4 months 29-1 (23) | SLT | 6 | RTD | LOSS For WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, The Ring |
51  | Jan 5, 2002 35 years, 5 months 43-5-2 (17) | 36 years, 3 months 37-10 (27) | 5 | TD | WIN | |
50 | Jul 7, 2001 34 years, 11 months 42-5-2 (17) | Héctor Camacho Jr. | 3 | TD | NC | |
49 | Jan 7, 2001 34 years, 5 months 42-5-2 (17) | Fred Ladd | 3 | TKO | WIN | |
48  | Nov 11, 2000 34 years, 4 months 41-5-2 (16) | 29 years, 8 months 29-4-1 (11) | 10 | UD | WIN | |
47  | Aug 5, 2000 34 years 40-5-2 (16) | 25 years, 4 months 23-2-1 (17) | 10 | SD | LOSS | |
46 | Apr 14, 2000 33 years, 9 months 40-4-2 (16) | Jorge Luis Lopez | 3 | KO | WIN | |
45 | Dec 2, 1999 33 years, 4 months 39-4-2 (15) | Wayne Boudreaux | 5 | TD | WIN | |
44 | Aug 20, 1999 33 years, 1 months 38-4-2 (15) | Verdell Smith | 10 | UD | WIN | |
43  | Nov 14, 1998 32 years, 4 months 37-4-2 (15) | 27 years, 2 months 29-0 (27) | LT | 9 | RTD | LOSS For IBF |
42  | Jul 11, 1998 32 years 37-3-2 (15) | 39 years, 11 months 38-4-2 (27) | LT | 12 | UD | WIN |
41 | May 1, 1998 31 years, 9 months 36-3-2 (15) | Troy Crain | 2 | KO | WIN | |
40 | Jan 20, 1998 31 years, 6 months 35-3-2 (14) | Joel Perez | LT | 12 | UD | WIN |
39 | Nov 14, 1997 31 years, 4 months 34-3-2 (14) | Effie Schneider | 10 | UD | WIN | |
38 | Jun 14, 1997 30 years, 11 months 33-3-2 (14) | Jose Rodriguez | 8 | UD | WIN | |
37 | Mar 22, 1997 30 years, 8 months 32-3-2 (14) | Joel Perez | LT | 12 | UD | WIN |
36 | Dec 10, 1996 30 years, 5 months 31-3-2 (14) | Roberto Avila | 10 | UD | WIN | |
35 | Jun 1, 1996 29 years, 10 months 30-3-2 (14) | 37 years, 10 months 37-3-2 (26) | SFT | 6 | TKO | LOSS For WBC |
34  | Dec 15, 1995 29 years, 5 months 30-2-2 (14) | 22 years, 10 months 19-0 (17) | LT | 2 | RTD | LOSS For WBO |
33 | Jul 29, 1995 29 years 30-1-2 (14) | Rodney Garnett | 7 | KO | WIN | |
32  | May 2, 1995 28 years, 9 months 29-1-2 (13) | 30 years, 9 months 29-6-4 (10) | 10 | UD | WIN | |
31  | Sep 17, 1994 28 years, 2 months 28-1-2 (13) | 24 years, 1 months 38-2 (21) | SFT | 12 | UD | LOSS Lost WBC |
30 | May 7, 1994 27 years, 9 months 28-0-2 (13) | 35 years, 9 months 36-2-2 (25) | SFT | 12 | UD | WIN Won WBC |
29 | Mar 23, 1994 27 years, 8 months 27-0-2 (13) | Tomas Valdez | 3 | TKO | WIN | |
28 | Sep 10, 1993 27 years, 2 months 26-0-2 (12) | 35 years, 1 months 36-2-1 (25) | SFT | 12 | SD | DRAW For WBC |
27 | Mar 23, 1993 26 years, 8 months 26-0-1 (12) | Louie Espinoza | FT | 12 | UD | WIN |
26 | Dec 3, 1992 26 years, 4 months 25-0-1 (12) | Gabriel Castro | 10 | UD | WIN | |
25 | Oct 3, 1992 26 years, 2 months 24-0-1 (12) | Troy Dorsey | 5 | RTD | WIN | |
24 | Jul 15, 1992 26 years 23-0-1 (11) | Jesus Poll | 10 | PTS | WIN | |
23 | Mar 3, 1992 25 years, 7 months 22-0-1 (11) | Jose Luis Martinez | FT | 9 | TD | WIN |
22 | Oct 18, 1991 25 years, 3 months 21-0-1 (11) | Steve McCrory | 10 | UD | WIN | |
21 | Aug 30, 1991 25 years, 1 months 20-0-1 (11) | Silvestre Castillo | 2 | TKO | WIN | |
20 | May 31, 1991 24 years, 10 months 19-0-1 (10) | Miguel Arrozal | 8 | DQ | WIN | |
19 | Apr 19, 1991 24 years, 9 months 18-0-1 (10) | Rafael Soliman | 8 | UD | WIN | |
18 | Feb 25, 1991 24 years, 7 months 17-0-1 (10) | Mark Fernandez | 10 | UD | WIN | |
17 | Jan 7, 1991 24 years, 5 months 16-0-1 (10) | Felipe de Jesus | 10 | UD | WIN | |
16 | Oct 8, 1990 24 years, 3 months 15-0-1 (10) | Edward Parker | 10 | SD | DRAW | |
15 | Aug 13, 1990 24 years, 1 months 15-0 (10) | Ricky Alvarez | 1 | TKO | WIN | |
14 | Jul 16, 1990 24 years 14-0 (9) | Bobby McCarthy | 5 | TKO | WIN | |
13 | May 13, 1990 23 years, 10 months 13-0 (8) | Boyd Gardner | 6 | UD | WIN | |
12 | Mar 25, 1990 23 years, 8 months 12-0 (8) | Roy Muniz | 3 | KO | WIN | |
11 | Mar 15, 1990 23 years, 8 months 11-0 (7) | Gary Spencer | 2 | KO | WIN | |
10 | Jan 8, 1990 23 years, 6 months 10-0 (6) | Joe Thompson | 3 | TKO | WIN | |
9 | Dec 11, 1989 23 years, 5 months 9-0 (5) | Carlos Flores | 4 | KO | WIN | |
8 | Oct 16, 1989 23 years, 3 months 8-0 (4) | Tony De La Rosa | 1 | KO | WIN | |
7 | Sep 11, 1989 23 years, 2 months 7-0 (3) | Jaime Castellano | 3 | TKO | WIN | |
6 | Jul 24, 1989 23 years 6-0 (2) | Capri Lipkin | 6 | UD | WIN | |
5 | May 29, 1989 22 years, 10 months 5-0 (2) | Chilo Guzman | 6 | PTS | WIN | |
4 | Apr 10, 1989 22 years, 9 months 4-0 (2) | Manuel Gomez | 4 | UD | WIN | |
3 | Jan 21, 1989 22 years, 6 months 3-0 (2) | Joe Mitchell | 4 | UD | WIN | |
2 | Nov 3, 1988 22 years, 3 months 2-0 (2) | Martin Melendez | 2 | TKO | WIN | |
1 | Oct 2, 1988 22 years, 2 months 1-0 (1) | Oscar Davis | 1 | TKO | WIN |
