List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions

In Puerto Rico, boxing is considered a major sport, having produced more amateur and professional world champions than any other sport in its history.Puerto Rico ranks third worldwide between countries with most boxing world champions and is the only place to have champions accredited in all of the current boxing divisions.This number also places the archipelago in the global lead in terms of champions per capita.February 9, 2008 was the first time that boxers from Puerto Rico had held three of the four major welterweights titles (World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization) when Carlos Quintana defeated Paul Williams to join Miguel Cotto and Kermit Cintron as champions in the division.Individually, Puerto Rican world champions have earned numerous achievements. These include, Wilfredo Gómez's record for most defenses in the super bantamweight division and for most successive knockouts by a titleholder. On September 3, 1994, Daniel Jiménez established a world record for the quickest knockout in a championship fight, defeating Harald Geier in 17 seconds.Juan Manuel López is fifth in this category, having defeated César Figueroa in 47 seconds during his first defense.Ossie Ocasio was the first World Boxing Association (WBA) cruiserweight champion, winning it on February 13, 1982. This accomplishment was mimicked in other organizations: Jose De Jesús, José Ruiz Matos, John John Molina and Héctor Camacho did it in their respective divisions in the World Boxing Organization (WBO), while Ángel Almena was the first pugilist to win the International Boxing Organization's super flyweight title.

Boxing in Puerto Rico

Boxing was introduced and practiced in a clandestine manner in Puerto Rico while the archipelago was still a Spanish colony.[6] Fights were organized in haciendas among the workers of the sugar and coffee plantations, and the objective was to determine the best fighter among the employees. Following the culmination of the Puerto Rican Campaign and Spanish–American War, American soldiers who were stationed in the main island practiced the sport. During World War I, a championship known as Campeonato Las Casas was held as training for military personnel.Nero Chen, the first Puerto Rican boxer to gain recognition, began his career in these tournaments. The Combat Maneuver Training Center followed this example and organized boxing activities, which they named Los Campeones del Campamento. These were received with enthusiasm by the young recruits. Most of these events were celebrated without restriction due to military jurisdictional limits, although prohibitions were put in place for the civilian population.Illegal matches were organized on the rooftops of residences in Old San Juan, empty terrain's in El Condado and in hippodromes.


A statue of Sixto Escobar, found in the Estadio Sixto Escobar venue
By 1924, several young men were being taught to box by Gregario Rosa, a boxer who had won the featherweight championship of the Atlantic Fleet while serving in the Navy. Rosa established "Jack Dempsey Physical Culture and Boxing Club", a gym where he continued instructing more pugilists; however, the local police department would go in and arrest any boxer that participated in a card (organized boxing match). At times they were surprised to discover that several members of the law enforcement agencies and government were involved. In one case they discovered a group of police officers, including a colonel, two members of the governor's cabinet, numerous legislators and a judge at an event.The charges were archived; the decision was justified with a statement that said: "How will we have a boxing world champion if we don't let the boys learn how to box?"

In 1926, a boxing venue was opened in a military facility known as Cuartel de Ballaja; a fight card was organized weekly. Legislator Lorenzo Coballes Gandía redacted a proposal to legalize boxing, which was signed by governor Horace Mann Towner in May 1927.Consequently, the Primera Comisión Atlética de Boxeo (The First Athletic Boxing Commission) was created; this became the first organization dedicated to sanctioned boxing in Puerto Rico. Estadio Universal (Universal Stadium) became the first venue to organize legal boxing cards. The first event featured a fight between Enrique Chaffardet and Al Clemens as the main event, which was declared a draw by the judges.New stadiums were built in Bayamón, Caguas, Mayagüez, Ponce, Aguadilla and San Juan.The first Puerto Rican to win a world championship was Sixto Escobar, who won it on June 26, 1934. During the 1960s and 1970s, there was an increase in the number of pugilists who achieived this recognition.Including Wilfred Benítez who on March 6, 1976, became the youngest world champion in history at 17 years old. This tendency continued during the following two decades, reaching its peak between the 1980s and 1990s. There was a slight decline in the 1990s. Félix Trinidad was Puerto Rico's most notable champion during this period.The 2000s brought another increase, as over a dozen boxers won world championships.

Héctor García, Dommys Delgado Berty, Francisco Varcárcel and José Peñagaricano have served as presidents of the Puerto Rico Boxing Commission. This organization gained more prominence in 1985 when it received full control as the sanctioning body in any professional fight organized in Puerto Rico.In 2000, the commission's regulation was revised to exclude professional wrestling, which up to that point had been under its scope. This was Peñagaricano's first proposal on taking office, since he considered professional wrestling "a spectacle instead of a sport like boxing".During the following decades, the Puerto Rico Boxing Commission became the first governing body to have a female president when Delgado Berty served from 1986 to 1988. It became the first commission to require pre-fight weigh-ins, a measure that was at first criticized, but was later adopted by other boxing organizations.[12] In 2007, David Bernier, then Secretary of Recreation and Sports, approved a new rule in the boxing organization's regulation that prohibited the signing of any pugilist younger than 18 years old as a professional.

Number Name Date Titles Successful defenses References
1 Sixto Escobar June 6, 1934 Bantamweight 5 [I] [14]
2 Carlos Ortiz June 12, 1959 Light welterweight and lightweight 2 and 9 [II] [15]
3 José Torres March 30, 1965 Light heavyweight 3 [III] [16]
4 Ángel Espada June 28, 1975 Welterweight 1 [IV] [17]
5 Alfredo Escalera July 5, 1975 Super featherweight 10 [V] [18]
6 Samuel Serrano October 16, 1976 Super featherweight 14 [VI] [19]
7 Wilfred Benítez † March 6, 1976 Light welterweight, welterweight and light middleweight 2, 1 and 2 [VII] [20]
8 Esteban De Jesús May 8, 1976 Lightweight 3 [VIII] [21]
9 Wilfredo Gómez May 21, 1977 Super bantamweight, featherweight and super featherweight 17, 0 and 0 [IX] [22]
10 Julian Solís August 29, 1980 Bantamweight 0 [X] [23]
11 Carlos De León November 25, 1980 Cruiserweight 8 [XI] [24]
12 Ossie Ocasio February 13, 1982 Cruiserweight 3 [XII] [25]
13 Juan Laporte September 15, 1982 Featherweight 2 [XIII] [26]
14 Edwin Rosario May 1, 1983 Lightweight and light welterweight 3 and 0 [XIV] [27]
15 Héctor Camacho August 7, 1983 Super featherweight, lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light middleweight 1, 2, 3, 3, 1, 0 and 0 [XV] [28]
16 Mark Medal † March 11, 1984 Light middleweight 0 [XVI] [29]
17 Harry Arroyo † April 15, 1984 Lightweight 2 [XVII] [30]
18 Victor Callejas May 26, 1984 Super bantamweight 2 [XVIII] [31]
19 Carlos Santos November 2, 1984 Light middleweight 1 [XIX] [32]
20 Antonio Rivera August 30, 1986 Featherweight 0 [XX] [33]
21 Wilfredo Vázquez October 4, 1987 Bantamweight, super bantamweight and featherweight 1, 9 and 4 [XXI] [34]
22 José Ruiz Matos April 29, 1989 Super flyweight 4 [XXII] [35]
23 John John Molina April 29, 1989 Super featherweight 7 [XXIII] [36]
24 José De Jesús May 19, 1989 Light flyweight 3 [XXIV] [37]
25 Juan Nazario April 4, 1990 Lightweight 0 [XXV] [38]
26 Orlando Fernández May 12, 1990 Super bantamweight 1 [XXVI] [38]
27 Santos Cardona April 11, 1991 Welterweight and light middleweight 0 [XXVII] [38]
28 Danny García February 1, 1992 Middleweight 0 [XXVIII] [38]
29 Rafael del Valle May 13, 1992 Bantamweight 2 [XXIX] [38]
30 Felix Camacho May 27, 1992 Super bantamweight 0 [XXX] [38]
31 Josue Camacho July 31, 1992 Light flyweight 1 [XXXI] [38]
32 Daniel Jiménez June 9, 1993 Bantamweight and super bantamweight 4 and 0 [XXXII] [38]
33 Félix Trinidad June 19, 1993 Welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight 17, 2 and 0 [XXXIII] [39]
34 Kevin Kelley † December 4, 1993 Featherweight 7 [XXXIV] [40]
35 Alex Sánchez December 22, 1993 Minimumweight 6 [XXXV] [38]
36 Jake Rodríguez February 13, 1994 Light welterweight 2 [XXXVI] [38]
37 Sammy Fuentes November 7, 1994 Light welterweight 2 [XXXVII] [38]
38 Ángel Almena July 29, 1995 Super flyweight and flyweight 0 and 0 [XXXVIII] [38]
39 Angel Manfredy † November 18, 1995 Super featherweight 6 [XXXIX] [38]
40 Frank Toledo † June 9, 1996 Super bantamweight and featherweight 0 and 0 [XL] [38]
41 David Santos † April 5, 1997 Featherweight 0 [XLI] [40]
42 José Antonio Rivera † April 25, 1997 Welterweight and light middleweight 0 [XLII] [38]
43 Lou Del Valle † September 20, 1997 Light heavyweight 0 [XLIII] [38]
44 Eric Morel October 17, 1998 Super flyweight 7 [XLIV] [38]
45 Daniel Santos May 6, 2000 Welterweight and light middleweight 2 and 4 [XLV] [38]
46 Nelson Dieppa July 22, 2000 Light flyweight 5 [XLVI] [41]
47 John Ruiz † March 3, 2001 Heavyweight 4 [XLVII] [38]
48 Aléx Trujillo May 5, 2001 Light welterweight 0 [XLVIII] [38]
49 Ángel Chacón October 27, 2002 Featherweight 0 [XLVIX] [38]
50 Iván Calderón May 3, 2003 Minimumweight and light flyweight 11 and 3 [L] [42][43]
51 Manny Siaca May 5, 2004 Super middleweight 0 [LI] [44]
52 Miguel Cotto September 11, 2004 Light welterweight and welterweight 5 and 4 [LII] [45][46]
53 Luis Collazo † April 2, 2005 Welterweight 1 [LIII] [47]
54 Kermit Cintron October 28, 2006 Welterweight 2 [LIV] [48]
55 Carlos Quintana February 9, 2008 Welterweight 0 [LV] [49]
56 Orlando Cruz March 22, 2008 Featherweight 0 [LVI] [50]
57 Victor Fonseca March 22, 2008 Bantamweight 1 [LVII] [50]
58 Juan Manuel López June 7, 2008 Super bantamweight 3 [LVIII] [51]
59 Román Martínez March 14, 2009 Super featherweight 0 [LIX] [52]
60 José López March 28, 2009 Super flyweight 0 [LX] [53]

Current titleholders

Name Organization Division Date won
Daniel Santos World Boxing Association Light middleweight July 11, 2008
Héctor Camacho World Boxing Empire and World Boxing Foundation Light middleweight July 18, 2008
Iván Calderón World Boxing Organization and The Ring Light flyweight August 25, 2007
José López World Boxing Organization Super flyweight March 28, 2009
Juan Manuel López World Boxing Organization Super bantamweight June 7, 2008
Miguel Cotto World Boxing Organization Welterweight February 21, 2009
Orlando Cruz International Boxing Association Featherweight March 22, 2008
Román Martínez World Boxing Organization Super featherweight March 14, 2009
Victor Fonseca International Boxing Association Bantamweight March 22, 2008