- Born
- 1936
- Died
- 2022
- Nationality
- Puerto Rico
- Career
- 1955–1972
Puerto Rico's first great champion and a dominant lightweight of the 1960s.
Titles & Honours
- World Light Welterweight Champion
- World Lightweight Champion (2 times)
Career Timeline
1955–1972- Milestone
First recorded professional bout
vs Harry Bell · W KO
- Milestone
25th recorded win
vs Tommy Tibbs · UD. Newspaper decisions excluded.
- Signature fight
vs Joe Brown
W UD · Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.. Archive selection: one of the first three wins over distinct fighters profiled here, not an expert-selected signature fight.
- Signature fight
vs Flash Elorde
W TKO · Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines. Archive selection: one of the first three wins over distinct fighters profiled here, not an expert-selected signature fight.
- Milestone
50th recorded win
vs Sugar Ramos · TKO. Newspaper decisions excluded.
- Milestone
Latest recorded bout
vs Ken Buchanan · L RTD. Not necessarily the retirement date.
Title wins · dates not yet documented
Derived from the current archive and profile honours. Title-reign years are not exact bout dates; title claims are not independently verified. Signature fights use existing profile selections, or clearly labelled wins over other archived fighters when no selections exist. Year-only dates retain their original precision.
Photo Archive
1 archival photographs under their original licences.
Fight-by-Fight Record
| Date | Result | Opponent | Method | Round | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955-02-14 | W | Harry Bell | KO | 1 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1955-02-28 | W | Morris Hodnett | TKO | 1 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1955-05-13 | W | Danny Roberts | KO | 3 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1955-05-30 | W | Juan Pacheco | KO | 2 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1955-06-24 | W | Jimmy DeMura | PTS | 6 | War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse, New York, U.S. |
| 1955-08-10 | W | Tony DeCola | PTS | 6 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1955-08-22 | W | Armand Bush | PTS | 6 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1955-09-19 | W | Hector Rodriguez | KO | 2 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1955-10-03 | W | Leroy Graham | KO | 2 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1955-10-29 | W | Al Duarte | TKO | 4 | Arena, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| 1955-11-12 | W | Lem Miller | PTS | 8 | Arena, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| 1955-12-10 | W | Charley Titone | TKO | 2 | Armory, Paterson, New Jersey, U.S. |
| 1956-01-09 | W | Ray Portilla | UD | 8 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1956-02-17 | W | Ray Portilla | PTS | 8 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1956-05-25 | W | Tommy Salem | PTS | 6 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1956-07-30 | W | Tommy Salem | SD | 10 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1956-10-27 | W | Mickey Northrup | UD | 10 | Legion Stadium, Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| 1956-12-15 | W | Philip Kim | TKO | 9 | Legion Stadium, Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| 1956-12-31 | W | Gale Kerwin | UD | 10 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1957-01-23 | W | Bobby Rogers | UD | 10 | Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| 1957-03-02 | NC | Lou Filippo | ND | 9 | Legion Stadium, Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| 1957-04-09 | W | Lou Filippo | TKO | 7 | Legion Stadium, Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| 1957-05-07 | W | Ike Vaughn | UD | 10 | Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| 1957-05-29 | W | Felix Chiocca | UD | 10 | Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| 1957-09-23 | W | Harry Bell | UD | 10 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1958-02-28 | W | Tommy Tibbs | UD | 10 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1958-05-09 | W | Joey Lopes | UD | 10 | Legion Stadium, Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| 1958-06-27 | L | Johnny Busso | SD | 10 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1958-09-19 | W | Johnny Busso | UD | 10 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1958-10-28 | W | Dave Charnley | PTS | 10 | Harringay Arena, Harringay, London, England, U.K. |
| 1958-12-31 | L | Kenny Lane | MD | 10 | Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| 1959-04-13 | W | Len Matthews | TKO | 6 | Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 1959-06-12 | W | Kenny Lane | TKO | 2 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1960-02-04 | W | Battling Torres | KO | 10 | Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| 1960-06-15 | W | Duilio Loi | SD | 15 | Cow Palace , San Francisco, California |
| 1960-09-01 | L | Duilio Loi | MD | 15 | San Siro, Milan, Lombardio, Italy |
| 1961-02-02 | W | Cisco Andrade | UD | 10 | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| 1961-05-10 | L | Duilio Loi | UD | 15 | San Siro, Milan, Lombarida, Italy |
| 1961-09-02 | W | Doug Vaillant | UD | 10 | Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| 1961-11-18 | W | Paolo Rosi | UD | 10 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1962-04-21 | W | Joe Brown | UD | 15 | Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| 1962-08-01 | W | Arthur Persley | UD | 10 | Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines |
| 1962-11-07 | W | Kazuo Takayama | UD | 10 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan |
| 1962-12-03 | W | Teruo Kosaka | KO | 5 | Kokugikan, Tokyo, Japan |
| 1963-04-07 | W | Doug Vaillant | TKO | 13 | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| 1963-09-18 | W | Pete Acera | TKO | 7 | Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
| 1963-10-22 | W | Maurice Cullen | PTS | 10 | Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England, U.K. |
| 1964-02-15 | W | Flash Elorde | TKO | 14 | Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines |
| 1964-04-11 | W | Kenny Lane | UD | 15 | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| 1964-12-14 | W | Dick Divola | TKO | 1 | Boston Garden , Boston, Massachusetts , U.S. |
| 1965-04-10 | L | Ismael Laguna | MD | 15 | Estadio Nacional de Panamá , Panama City, Panama |
| 1965-11-13 | W | Ismael Laguna | UD | 15 | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| 1966-04-07 | D | Nicolino Locche | MD | 10 | Estadio Luna Park , Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| 1966-06-20 | W | Johnny Bizzarro | TKO | 12 | Pittsburgh Civic Arena , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , U.S. |
| 1966-10-22 | W | Sugar Ramos | TKO | 5 | El Toreo, Mexico City, Distrito Federal , Mexico |
| 1966-11-28 | W | Flash Elorde | TKO | 14 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1967-07-01 | W | Sugar Ramos | TKO | 4 | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| 1967-08-16 | W | Ismael Laguna | UD | 15 | Shea Stadium , New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1968-06-29 | L | Carlos Teo Cruz | SD | 15 | Estadio Quisqueya , Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |
| 1969-11-21 | W | Edmundo Leite | MD | 10 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| 1971-12-01 | W | Jimmy Ligons | TKO | 3 | Silver Slipper , Las Vegas, Nevada , U.S. |
| 1972-01-08 | W | Bill Whittenburg | KO | 7 | Coconut Grove Convention Center , Coconut Grove , Florida , U.S. |
| 1972-01-20 | W | Terry Rondeau | TKO | 4 | Exposition Building, Portland , Maine , U.S. |
| 1972-01-31 | W | Ivelaw Eastman | TKO | 2 | Waltham , Massachusetts , U.S. |
| 1972-02-19 | W | Leo DiFiore | KO | 2 | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| 1972-03-20 | W | Junior Varney | TKO | 7 | Ponce , Puerto Rico |
| 1972-05-01 | W | Greg Potter | UD | 10 | Inglewood Forum , Inglewood , California, U.S. |
| 1972-06-03 | W | Gerardo Ferrat | TKO | 3 | International Amphitheatre , Chicago, Illinois , U.S. |
| 1972-08-01 | W | Johnny Copeland | KO | 3 | Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , U.S. |
| 1972-09-20 | L | Ken Buchanan | RTD | 6 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
Showing 70 of 70 recorded fights · last updated 2026-10-11. Imported record tables are not independently verified and may be incomplete. Early-era logs include newspaper decisions (NWS), which are not counted in the official totals above.
Record notes
Fight record last retrieved: 2026-10-11. Title histories remain subject to archival review.
Historical-era totals differ between record-keeping conventions (newspaper decisions, exhibitions).
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