Karlos Balderas working with trainer Buddy McGirt to get back on track

Following his first pro loss last December, 2016 U.S. Olympian Karlos Balderas has linked up with trainer Buddy McGirt to start a comeback, which was rumored back in May.

The 23-year-old junior lightweight prospect looked promising in Rio and ran his pro record to 9-0 before his upset loss to Rene Tellez Giron, leaving him 9-1 (8 KO) at the moment. He’s still got a lot of potential, and McGirt tells ESPN that Balderas has “phenomenal ability” and needs to “sharpen” his talent to get to the next level.

Balderas would hardly be the first fighter to come back successfully from an early career setback, and it’s not like Giron can’t fight or something, either. It’s entirely possible we just saw two good young fighters and one of them had the better night, landed the right punches, and got a stoppage. Balderas definitely has the ability to return strong. Whether he does it is up to him, but hooking up with the highly-respected McGirt is a good step to take.