From Rock-Lifting Champion to EBU Heavy Champ Was Jose Urtain!

By Boxing News - 07/07/2021 - Comments

By Ken Hissner: Prior to starting his career as a boxer, Spain’s Jose Manuel Urtain competed in “rock lifting!” He would lift a 220-pound rock with one arm and a 400-pound rock with two arms! His sister Antonia at age 18, was also the female rock lifting champion.

From December of 1968, upon turning professional, Urtain would win his first twenty-eight fights, twenty-six by stoppage. He won the EBU title in April of 1970, knocking out Germany’s Peter Weiland, 23-4.

In his first title defense, he defeated Germany’s Juergen Blin, 20-7-6, who would later also lose to Muhammad Ali. He received Ring Magazine’s “Fighter of the Month” award the next month.

In Urtain’s next fight after Blin, he suffered his first defeat to Italy’s Alfredo Vogrig, 31-17-4, by DQ. Vogrig was initially counted out but was declared the winner when the knockout blow was found to have been low.

It was just a month later that Urtain bounced back to knock out Germany’s Arno Prick, 19-3, in two rounds. He had fought in France, Germany, and Italy before traveling to London, the UK, to take on British and Commonwealth champion Henry Cooper, 39-13-1, who had two previous bouts with Muhammad Ali. Urtain lost his EBU title, being stopped in nine rounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-IipxBisHk

Urtain would win his next four fights, including winning the Spanish title stopping Benito Canal, 22-10-4. In his first title defense, he fought to a draw with Mariano Echevarria, 46-51-7.

In his next fight, he took on South American champion Gregorio Peralta, 84-7-8, who he had down in the second round, but lost by stoppage in the eighth round. Just prior to their fight, Muhammad Ali was in Spain to do an exhibition with Peralta. Urtain entered the ring and lifted Ali over his head.

Urtain would bounce back in his next fight stopping the EBU, Commonwealth, and British champ Jack Bodell, 58-11, in the second round to re-win the EBU title. Two fights later, he would travel to Puerto Rico, losing to Jose Roman, 39-7-1, by decision. Next, he would lose his EBU title in a rematch with Blin.

Two fights later, Urtain would defeat former WBA light heavyweight champion Vicente Rondon, 36-8-1, who in his previous fight went ten rounds with contender Earnie Shavers. Several fights later, in a rematch with Roman, this time in Spain, they fought to a draw.

Urtain followed up with a pair of wins over Jan Lubbers, 28-5-2, who in a rematch stopped him, and Richard Dunn, 26-8, the latter by knockout. Later in his career, Dunn would lose to Muhammad Ali.

In March of 1977, fighting for the vacant EBU title, Urtain would have his career-ending fight losing to Jean Pierre Coopman, 29-6, who had previously lost to Muhammad Ali. Urtain ended his career with a 53-11-4 record along with thirty-eight stoppages.

YouTube video

In Urtain’s prime the government of Spain offered then world champion “Smokin” Joe Frazier a million dollars to come to Spain for a meeting. Urtain had once made the cover of Ring Magazine with the editor Nat Fleischer stating “no man who ever held the world heavyweight title could match Urtain’s feats of strength!” He was also trained by George Gainford who also managed “Sugar” Ray Robinson.

That is the story on the man who went from lifting rocks to throwing knockout punches to become the EBU heavyweight title, Jose Manuel Urtain!