This article brings to your attention some of the best, favorite, and well-known Latino and Spanish fighters.
This writer’s all-time favorite boxer was Puerto Rico’s Carlos Ortiz, 61-7-1 with 30 stoppages, who held the WBA and WBC world lightweight titles and moved to New York. I met him several times, including at the IBHOF inductions.
At Ali’s Deer Lake camp and at a hotel in Harrisburg, PA. I met my No. 2 favorite Cuba’s Kid ‘The Cuban Hawk’ Gavilan, 108-30-5 with 28 stoppages, who held the NBA world welterweight title.
He was writing about Blinky Palmero the manager of Johnny Saxon who robbed him and Cuba’s Fidel Castro who robbed him of his property in Cuba.
I asked if he had a copy of his record and he said he didn’t so I gave him a copy of Ring Encyclopedia. He was famous for his ‘bolo punch’ from cutting sugar cane in Cuba.
My No. 3 was welterweight champion Luis ‘El Fio’ Manuel Rodriguez, 107-13 with 49 stoppages from Cuba. All were inducted into the IBHOF.
When Cuban boxers left the island of Cuba, they usually came to Florida. Some went to Mexico like world welterweight champion Jose ‘Mantequilla’ Napoles, 81-7 with 54 stoppages, and Spain like WBC Featherweight champion Jose ‘Pocket Cassius Clay’ Legra, 129-11-4 with 49 stoppages.
No. 9 on the list of the most successful boxers is Mexico’s Kid Azteca, 193-49-11, with 114 stoppages. Puerto Rico’s Cocoa Kid, 179-58-11 with 48 stoppages, ended in New Haven, CT.
Luis Romero, 158-19-6 with 78 stoppages, was born in Morocco and boxed out of Spain. Another from Spain was Fred Galiana, 156-22-13, with 90 stoppages.
Cuba’s Angel Robinson Garcia, 138-80-21 with 55 stoppages, came to the US and lived in several European countries. Spain’s Luis Folledo, 129-6-1 with 50 stoppages, was also a bullfighter prior to boxing.
Panama’s Roberto ‘Hands of Stone’ Duran, 103-16 with 70 stoppages, held four-division world titles. I met him at ‘Smokin’ Joe Frazier’s gym, and he didn’t speak English, but could he skip rope.
I met Nicaragua’s Alexis ‘Thin Man’ Arguello, 77-8 with 62 stoppages, a three-time division world champion. He was a real class act.
World Middleweight champion Carlos Monzon, 87-3-9, with 59 stoppages, and my all-time favorite Flyweight and 1948 Olympic Gold Medalist world flyweight champion Pascual Perez, 84-7-1, with 57 stoppages, were from Argentina.
The three-division world champion from Puerto Rico was Felix ‘Tito’ Trinidad, 42-3, with 35 stoppages. The three-division world champion from Puerto Rico was Wilfredo ‘Bazooka’ Gomez, 44-3-1, with 42 stoppages.
Finally, one born in The Bronx, New York, who moved to Puerto Rico, was three-division world champion Wilfred Benitez, 53-8-1 with 31 stoppages.
These are just some of the many Latino and Spanish greats. Can you add some more?
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