Taking a Look at Some of the Greats South of the Border!

By Ken Hissner: Starting with South America and some of the great boxers in the past, there is 1948 London Olympic Gold Medalist and World Flyweight champion Pascual Perez of Argentina, who was inducted into the IBHOF.

Though Perez was an Olympic Gold Medalist in 1948, he waited until 1952 to turn professional. He had 23 winning fights against weak opposition when in July of 1954, in a world non-title fight, he fought to a draw with Japan’s Yoshio Shirai, 44-6-3, in Bueno Aires, Argentina.

Perez had a rematch four months later in November for the world title at the Korakuen Baseball Stadium in Tokyo, Japan scoring a fifteen-round decision to win the world title. After a non-title win, he returned to Japan in May, scoring a fifth-round knockout over Shirai.

He made his first defense in January of 1956 with a decision win over Filipino Leon Espinosa, 22-5. In June, he stopped Cuban Oscar Suarez in eleven rounds.

In March of 1957, Perez stopped Welshman Dai Dower, 33-1, in the first round. In December, he knocked out Young Martin, 54-10-3, of Spain. In April of 1958, in Venezuela, he defeated Ramon Arias 8-1 of Venezuela. In December, in the Philippines, he defeated Dommy “Toy Bulldog” Ursua. In January of 1959, he lost for the first time in a non-title fight in Tokyo. He lost by decision to Sadao Yaoita, 27-6-2.

In August, after a title win in Japan, he won the rematch with Yaoita knocking him out in the thirteenth round in Japan. In April of 1960, Perez lost his title in Thailand to Pone Kingpetch, 19-3, by split decision. In September, in a rematch in Thailand, he was stopped in 8 rounds in L.A., CA. In March of 1964, he had his last bout ending with a career record of 84-7-1 with 57 stoppages.

WBA and WBC World Middleweight champion Carlos “Escopita” Monzon, who in November of 1970 won the titles with a 67-3 record stopping in 12 rounds former 1960 Olympic Gold Medalist champion Nino Benvenuti, 82-4-1, in Italy.

In May of 1971, in the rematch, Monzon stopped Benvenuti in 3 rounds. He made 14 defenses.

In June of 1976, Monzon added the WBC title to his WBA defeating Rodrigo Valdez, 57-4-2, and again in July of 1977 in his final bout. His final record was 87-3-9 with 59 stoppages.

WBO Flyweight and Super Flyweight champion Omar “Huracan” Narvaez, of Argentina, made 27 defenses more than heavyweight champion Joe “The Brown Bomber” Louis, who had 25. His final record was 49-4-2, with 25 stoppages.

In Central America, 3-division world champion Nicaragua’s Alexis “Thin Man” Arguello, in November of 1974, won the WBA Feather title by stopping Ruben Olivares, 78-4-1, in California. In January of 1973, he won the WBC Super Feather title, stopping Alfredo Escalera, 40-7-2, in Puerto Rico. In June of 1982, he won the WBC Lightweight title defeating Jim Watt, 38-7, in London. He made four defenses. His final record was 77-8 with 62 stoppages.

4-division world champion Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran, from Panama, won the WBA Light title, stopping Ken Buchanan, 43-1, in 13 rounds in Madison Square Garden, NY. In June of 1980, he won the WBC Welter title defeating “Sugar” Ray Leonard, 27-0, in Montreal, Canada. In June of 1983, he stopped Davey Moore, 12-0, in 8 rounds in MSG, NY. In February of 1989, he won the WBC Middle title defeating Iran “The Blade” Barkley, 25-4, in AC, NJ. His final record was 103-16 with 70 stoppages.

3-division world champion Mexico’s Julio “J.C.” Cesar Chavez won the WBC Super Feather title, stopping Mario Martinez, 33-1-2, in 8 rounds in L.A. In November of 1987, he won the WBA Light title, stopping Edwin Rosario, 31-2, in 11 rounds in Las Vegas. In May of 1989, he won the WBC Super Light title, stopping Roger Mayweather, 34-5, in CA.