Joseph John Valtellini[1] (born May 3, 1985) is a Canadian retired Muay Thai kickboxer who competed in the super middleweight division.
[2][3] After winning provincial and national honours as an amateur, he turned professional in 2010 and went undefeated while finishing all of his opponents on the New York Muay Thai scene over the next two years before losing to Grégory Choplin in Lion Fight.
[4] He began training in Taekwondo under Roy Sullivan at the Ki Do Kwan gym aged seven and earned his black belt at ten.
[6] He suffered a broken radius in his left arm while playing Canadian football, requiring surgery and prompting doctors to recommend never fighting again.
In addition to his fighting career, he also works as a physical education teacher for special needs students at Sir William Osler High School.
In July 2009, he participated in the 2009 IKF World Classic in Orlando, Florida, United States, winning the tournament in the light middleweight (-72.72 kg/160 lb) Muay Thai division.
After defeating Jaried Gonzalez via technical knockout in the quarter-finals, he took unanimous decision wins over Eric Ingram and Brian Robertson in the semis and final, respectively, to be crowned champion.
As Muay Thai was illegal in the province of Ontario until August 2010,[9] Valtellini began his professional career in the US, finding success in the New York City-based Friday Night Fights promotion.
[27] He rebounded with a unanimous points victory over Mehdi Baghdad at Muay Thai in America: In Honor of the King in Los Angeles, California, on December 1, 2012.
[34] After a technical affair that saw both men exchanging and looking extremely solid, Valtellini rocked Ghajji with a spinning back fist in round three which forced the referee to issue a standing eight count.
Holzken hurt Valtellini with a body shot in the third and final round before putting him away after landing a right overhand in a hectic exchange in the dying seconds of the fight.