Pedro Garcia, Sr. boxed as an amateur in Monterrey, Mexico.

In 1993, Juarez's carpenter father, Pedro, Jr., visited the local lumberyard for material. The owner, a boxing trainer who had seen Rocky boxing in the streets, suggested that Pedro send his son to the local boxing gym. "Let him box for something, instead of doing it in the streets for nothing."

Hence, Rocky became a member of Ray's Boxing Club, the same facility once utilized by former junior middleweight champion Raul Marquez. The owner, Ray Ontiveros, still operates as Juarez's head trainer today.

Juarez captured several amateur titles while attending Jefferson Davis High School in Houston, TX:

* In 1996, he earned gold medals in both the Junior Olympics National Championships and the Junior Olympics World Championships.

* In 1997, he won the Muhammad Ali Cup and earned a bronze medal at the U.S. Championships. He also won the "Under-19" U.S. National Championships.

* In 1998, he won the National PAL Championships.

* In 1999, he won the U.S. Championships and earned a gold medal at the World Championships.

After graduating in 1999, Juarez continued his assault on the amateur boxing world by winning the 2000 U.S. Championships for the second consecutive year, and by earning the "Outstanding Boxer" award at the Olympic Trials.

In his pro debut on January 13, 2001, Juarez punished Pascali Adorno with crippling body punches to earn a unanimous decision by the scores of 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37 (W 4).

On March 2, 2001, Juarez stopped Terre Haute, IN native Mike Jones at :44 of round one (KO 1). After absorbing a partially deflected left hook from Juarez, Jones fell to the canvas where he curiously sat until the 10-count expired.

On May 19, 2001, Juarez battered Eddie Uturov from the opening bell to earn a fourth round stoppage (TKO 4). Juarez wore down the Las Vegas, NV native with a stiff left jab and a punishing body attack. With just seconds left in round three an overhand right followed by a combination dropped Uturov to the canvas. In round four Juarez jumped on his opponent immediately, forcing the referee to halt the bout at the :38 mark of round four.

Two months later on July 20, 2001, Juarez stopped Fabian Espinoza in three rounds (TKO 3). Juarez floored Espinoza twice in round two, and then finished off his gutty opponent in round three with a crippling left hook to the body that sent Espinoza to his knees. Espinoza rose at the count of nine, but refused to continue.

On September 1, 2001, Juarez pummeled Juan Rafael Gutierrez to pitch a six round shutout by the score of 60-53 (3 times). Juarez dropped Gutierrez in the first round and then rocked him repeatedly throughout the bout, nearly stopping the durable East Los Angeles, CA featherweight on several occasions (W 6).

On November 10, 2001, in Houston, TX, Juarez blasted fellow undefeated featherweight Corey Ben Alarcon in two rounds (TKO 2). The Houston, TX native electrified his hometown friends and family, twice dropping Alarcon with left hooks to the ribs in the second round. The bout was waved to a halt at the 1:57 mark of round two following the second knockdown, the result of a left hook to the body that sent Alarcon through the ropes and nearly onto the laps of ringside spectators. The ShoBox-televised bout was Juarez’s first hometown bout since turning pro in January 2001.

Juarez began the year 2002 the way he ended 2001: chopping down his opponents. On January 5 Juarez twice floored Frankie Martinez in the fourth round to earn a referee’s stoppage (TKO 4). The official time was 1:11 of round four.

On February 15, 2002, Juarez dominated Jorge Garcia to win a unanimous decision (W 8).

Juarez added another knockout to resume on April 27, 2002, destroying Javier Ortiz in five rounds (TKO 5). Juarez floored Ortiz in the final seconds of round one, and then dismantled the Salinas, Puerto Rican in rounds 2-4 with a punishing barrage of blows to the head and body.

On May 25, 2002, Juarez floored Len Martinez three times in the first round with crippling left hooks to the body to earn the second first-round knockout of his career (TKO 1).

On July 13, 2002, Juarez gave the most impressive performance of his young career when he crushed Isidro Tejedor in two rounds (TKO 2).

He returned to the ring on August 30, 2002, blitzing Ivan Alvarez in six rounds (TKO 6). Juarez floored Alvarez once in round four with a devastating right uppercut, and then dropped him again in round five courtesy of a left hook to the body.

On October 19, 2002, Juarez dominated former world champion Hector Acero-Sanchez to capture a lopsided unanimous decision (W 10). In the words of Houston Chronicle boxing writer William Stickney, Juarez’s “combinations and relentless siege had Acero-Sanchez backing up the entire fight.”

Juarez capped an impressive year on December 6, 2002, by hammering durable veteran Natalio Ponce to earn a ninth round knockout (TKO 9).

On February 1, 2003, Juarez dismantled former USBA champion Jason Pires to earn his sixth stoppage in his last seven bouts (TKO 9).

Juarez returned to the ring on May 3 to headline professional boxing’s return to network television. The NBC-broadcasted “Budweiser Boxing Series” bout ended in six rounds as Juarez punished Frankie Archuleta with crippling left hooks to the body and stinging counter-overhand rights to earn a dominating sixth-round knockout and further stake a claim as perhaps the finest prospect in the sport (TKO 6).

Juarez captured his first pro title on November 22, 2003, when he defeated 46-bout veteran Hector Velasquez to earn the vacant WBC Continental Americas featherweight crown (W 12).

On April 24, 2004, Juarez again successfully headlined an NBC “Budweiser Boxing Series” broadcast by earning a unanimous decision victory over the durable and gutty San Antonio veteran Joe Morales (W 10).

On December 3, 2004, Juarez left no doubt that he is ready for a world title shot when he flattened Guty Espadas with a nose-shattering left hook in round two that sent the former world champion onto his back unable to continue (KO 2). On August 20, 2005, Juarez suffered his first loss as a pro when he surrendered a unanimous decision to Humberto Soto in a WBC-Interim title bout (L 12). Juarez was originally scheduled to face WBC champion In Jin Chi, but after suffering a sprained ankle while jogging, Chi was forced to pull out of the Aug 20 bout.

On December 9, 2005, Juarez rebounded from his first loss by stopping Reynaldo Hurtado in three rounds in Corpus Christi, TX (TKO 3).

On Jan 21, 2006, Juarez added another knockout to his resume when he blasted Backlin Medrano in four rounds at the Coushatta Casino and Resort in Kinder, LA (TKO 4).

In his last bout on May 20, 2006, Juarez nearly upset future Hall of Fame world champion Marco Antonio Barrera (L 12). Juarez repeatedly rocked Barrera in the second half of the bout, forcing the champion on more than occasion to spit out his mouthpiece. Many of the ringside media believed Juarez won the close bout, and adding to the controversial nature of the decision was the realization that two of the judges’ judges’ appeared to have originally awarded the 12th round to Juarez, but then changed it to an even 10-10 round.