On the night of his first match, his father reminded Michael of something he said when he was only six: "I'm going to be world champion and retire as world champion." Michael, of course, didn't remember what he said when he was only six, but the message has stayed with him thoughout his life.

"I wanted to box since I was six," Carbajal reminisced. "I didn't understand why I couldn't, but my father told me to watch and learn from my experiences in the gym and at tournaments. I waited until I was 14, working out in my backyard, as my father taught me the basics. I remember hearing about kids at tournaments with 100, 200 amateur fights.

1988 Olympic Results

Below are the results of Michael Carbajal, an American light flyweight boxer who competed at the 1988 Seoul Olympics:

- Round of 32: Defeated Kwang-Soo Oh (South Korea) points (3:2 decision)

- Round of 16: Defeated Dang Hieu Hien (Vietnam) points

- Quarterfinal: Defeated Scotty Olson (Canada) points

- Semifinal" Defeated Robert Isaszegi (Hungary) points

- Final: Lost to Ivailo Marinov (Bulgaria) points (0:5 decision)

There was suspicions of politics influencing the judges in Carbajal's decision loss in the gold medal bout.

Carbajal retired as a world champ. Carbajal is trying to live a quieter life nowadays in Phoenix, but he does many public appearances. He enjoys meeting his public and signing autographs for his fans. Carbajal also owns two boxing gyms in Phoenix.

Michael Carbajal and former rival Humberto Gonzalez were elected together to the International Boxing Hall Of Fame in 2006.

His career record was 49 wins against four losses, with 33 wins coming by way of knockout.