·Ranked IBF #6, WBC #34 at 160 pounds…

·1992 Olympic representative for the Netherlands, 165 pounds…

At the age of 36, Raymond is an 11-year pro. A lifelong resident of the Netherlands, he has been based in New York City since early 2004. Raymond has won one fight since his loss in an IBF middleweight eliminator against Australian contender Sam Soliman in July, 2004. He had previously now won nine in a row, which includes a 12 round decision win against Soliman in January, 2001.

Raymond had one of his career-best wins in February, 2004, a technical decision against former world title challenger Angel Hernandez. It was Raymond’s first fight in the U.S. in over eight years, since November, 1995. Manager Stan Hoffman said, “Raymond’s been working with trainer Tracy Patterson since right after his fight last July. He trains in my camp in Kerhonkson, New York, it’s in the Catskill Mountains. “We decided to make changes, because the association with his previous trainer didn’t work. We’re changing everything he had done before. “I just took him over last year. Raymond’s an excellent boxer. He’s sort of made his own way. He’s from a country that never really got into boxing, that’s why I brought him over here. I managed the only world champion that ever came out of Holland, Regilio Tuur, and I managed Don Diego Poeder, who is also from Holland.”

Raymond made his pro debut in Catskill, New York, in 1994 and had 11 of his first 13 pro fights here. He said, “I came to America to start my professional career. I was here from ’94 and I was 11-0 here, but Immigration stopped me in ’96. I had to go back, and I couldn’t come back for all those years, until 2001. I continued in Europe. I know why I’m here, this is the biggest scene of them all.”

Regarding his nickname, he said, “When I came to the U.S. around ’93, I was in the gym and the guys were peeking into my training bag. Another fighter from the Netherlands, Reggie Tuur, saw that I had a Bible in there. So he just shouted out ‘Hallelujah!,’ and ‘Hallelujah’ was born.”

Key Fights - 2005 - in his last fight on 1-21-05 in Uncasville, CT, he TKO’d Rodrigues Moungo (12-7): Raymond scored a knockdown with a right hand in the 3rd round, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:22…

2004 - IBF M ELIMINATION BOUT - on 7-18-04 in Temecula, CA, he lost a 12 round decision in the rematch against Australian contender Sam Soliman (26-7): it was a sloppy match - Soliman is very awkward and elusive, but dominated the fight; he frustrated Raymond with movement and consistently outworked him; Soliman scored a knockdown with a right uppercut in the 4th round, cut Raymond over the left eye in the 6th, and Raymond’s face was battered and swollen at the final bell; scored 120-107, 120-107, 119-108; after the fight, Raymond said, “It’s not just his punching, it was his skills. The result was definitely different from the first time.”… On 2-6-04 in Tucson, AZ, he won a technical decision against former world title challenger Angel Hernandez (26-5): it was a good fight; several rounds were close, and both fighters were warned for various fouls; Hernandez started fast and staggered Raymond in the 3rd round with a series of punches, but was cut over the left eye by a clash of heads; Hernandez was also was penalized one point in the 3rd round for a headbutt; Hernandez was cut badly over the right eye in the 6th round by another clash of heads; the referee called timeouts in the 7th and 8th rounds for the doctor to examine Hernandez’ cuts, and stopped the fight after the 8th round on Hernandez’ cut right eye and went to the scorecards - 77-74, 77-74 Joval, 77-75 Hernandez; after the fight, Raymond said, “It was my toughest fight. If you look at my other fights, it’s always the hard way. That’s the Joval way. That’s why I’m trying to win the hardest championship.”…

2003 - on 9-27-03 in Charleroi, BEL, he won a 12 round unanimous decision against Lansana Diallo (21-15-4), scored 116-112, 115-113, 118-112… On 1-26-03 in Schemerhoorn, NETH, he won a 12 round unanimous decision against Argentinian jr. middleweight champion Francisco Mora (36-6): Mora gave a very determined effort - it was an exciting fight and many rounds were close; both fighters pressed forward and scored with heavy punches; Mora rocked Raymond in the 7th and Raymond briefly went down from a right hand in the 10th, but it was not ruled a knockdown; Raymond was swollen under the left eye and his jaw was fractured in two places; scored 117-111, 116-112, 115-114… 2002 - on 5-2-02 in Arnhem, NETH, he won an 8 round decision against Pascal Minietti (11-3-2)…

2001 - on 12-14-01 in Budapest, HUN, he won an 8 round decision against Joseph Njoka… On 7-7-01 in Amsterdam, NETH, he won a 12 round majority decision in the rematch against former South African jr. middleweight champion Mpush Makembi (23-6-3)… On 4-27-01 in Paramaribo, Surinam, he TKO’d Roberto Martins (9-3-1) in the 8th round… On 1-27-01 in Amsterdam he won a 12 round majority decision against former British Commonwealth middleweight champion Sam Soliman (11-5): it was a close fight; Soliman frustrated Raymond with his awkwardness and movement and outworked in the early rounds, but Raymond rallied in the late rounds and landed the harder punches; at the final bell, Soliman’s nose was bloodied and his right eye was swollen shut, and Raymond’s face was unmarked; scored 115-113, 117-111, 114-114…

2000 - on on 9-30-00 in Rotterdam, NETH, he won a 12 round unanimous decision against Mpush Makembi (22-5-3)…

1999 - on 12-13-99 in Caserta, IT, he lost a 12 round decision against former Italian middleweight champion Antonio Perugino (14-0)… On 6-26-99 in Benevento, IT, he TKO’d two-time European middleweight champion Agostino Cardamone (32-3) in the 9th round… On 3-5-99 in Give, DEN, he TKO’d Gradimir Anndric in the 6th round…

1996 - on 11-19-96 in Chenove, FR, he lost a 10 round decision against Erland Betare (19-6-2)… He debuted at the age of 25 on 1-8-94 and won his first 16 fights…

AMATEUR, PERSONAL BACKGROUND: 1992 Olympic representative for the Netherlands, 165 pounds: in his first fight in Barcelona, Spain, Raymond stopped Likou Allu of Western Samoa at 1:30 of the 3rd round; in his second fight, he lost a 22-14 decision against Ahmed Dine of Algeria… Raymond said, “I started boxing when I was 19 in 1988. At that time in Amsterdam, we were young kids running in the streets. A friend of mine went to one of the famous clubs in Amsterdam. He was training there for a couple of months and he came back and told us. We were like, ‘What? And you’re still alive?’ I thought, ‘We drink the same water, we walk the same walk. If he could survive, maybe I could survive it, too.’ After three months of training, I had my first fight. There were always prizes over there. I was a kind of a prizefighter, I fought for the prizes. I had around 85 amateur fights. In ’91 I was the champion of the Netherlands. In ’92 I was in the Olympics. In ’93, I took a bronze medal at the World Championships.

“When I was growing up, the male figure in my household was my uncle, Handry Joval. He was a boxer. He was a big name at that time, living in Surinam, South America. He fought as an amateur in the Pan American Games. “I live with my girlfriend, and we have four kids.”…

STRENGTHS: Has an aggressive style and good skills…physically strong, is always in top condition…is experienced against good opposition…had a strong amateur background…

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 36 fights…244 total rounds… AVERAGE LENGTH OF BOUTS: 6.7 rounds… KNOCKOUT PERCENTAGE: 41 %... DISTANCE FIGHTS: 12 rounds - 8 (6-2)…10 rounds - 3 (2-1)…