20) Giovanni Delgado KO1: Boxing Scene online - US Fight Commentary TV -
Los Angeles – Guillermo Rigondeaux’s return to the ring went exactly as expected given his opponent.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist and former junior featherweight titleholder, coming off his knockout loss to Vasyl Lomachenko at junior lightweight 13 months ago, needed only 3 minutes to stop journeyman Giovanni Delgado in a junior featherweight fight on the Jose Uzcategui-Caleb Plant card Sunday at Microsoft Theater.
Rigondeaux (18-1, 12 knockouts) moved back down to a more natural weight for the fight. And Delgado (16-9, 9 KOs) was ripe for annihilation, as the Mexican had lost his previous four fights – the last three by KO – and six of his last seven.
Thus, no-one was surprised when the boxing master from Cuba overwhelmed his counterpart.
Rigondeaux showed Delgado little respect from the opening bell, marching forward and throwing hard punches from the beginning.
The end came suddenly. Delgado had his back against the ropes when Rigondeaux, a southpaw, landed a straight left to the nose a second before the bell and Delgado dropped to all fours. Referee Jack Reiss started to count but, with Delgado unable to continue, he waved off the fight.
Rigondeaux said immediately afterward that ‘you haven’t seen nothing yet.’ He plans to stay at 122 unless the money is right at 126. Either way, he wants to fight the best in and around his division.
‘I came prepared ready to face people who are undefeated … whoever has a belt, I’m taking it,’ he said. Boxing Scene online
v Giovanni Delgado 13 January 2019 Los Angeles [r1] … His [Rigondeaux] natural hand speed … proficient … Good right hand to the chin … left hand to the body … body shots … Rigondeaux with a shot [knockdown] … The fight is over. US fight commentary
[8.6] RUBEN OLIVARES 105-89(79)-13-3 [Super-Featherweight & Featherweight & Super-Bantamweight & Bantamweight]: Encyclopaedia Britannica - RingNews24 online -
Ruben Olivares: (born January 14 1947 Mexico City, Mexico) Mexican professional boxer, world bantamweight (118 pounds) and featherweight (126 pounds) champion during the 1970s.
Olivares began his professional boxing career in 1964 and won his first 22 bouts by knockout, using the left hook as his primary weapon. Power punching was his forte, and it brought him the world bantamweight title on August 22, 1969, when he knocked out Lionel Rose of Australia in the fifth round. The victory gave Olivares a 52-bout record of 51 wins (49 by knockouts) and 1 draw. Olivares made two successful title defenses before losing on October 16 1970, when he was knocked out by Jesus (‘Chucho’) Castillo of Mexico in the 14th round of their second fight. Olivares regained the title by winning a 15-round decision (a fight whose outcome is determined by judges’ scoring) against Castillo in their third fight on April 3 1971. After defending the title twice, Olivares relinquished it on March 19 1972 then he was knocked out by Rafael Herrera of Mexico in the eighth round. Thereafter, Olivares fought as a featherweight.
On July 9 1974 he knocked out Zensuke Utagawa of Japan in the seventh round to win the vacant World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight title. Following two successful title defenses, Olivares was knocked out in the 13th round by Nicaraguan Alexis Arguello on November 23 1974.
On June 20, 1975, Olivares knocked out American Bobby Chacon in the second round to win the World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight title. Olivares lost his first title defense on September 20 1975 to David Kotei of Ghana on a 15-round decision. He retired in 1981 but returned to the ring for one bout in 1986 and another in 1988, losing both. He ended his career with 88 wins (78 by knockouts), 13 losses, and 3 draws. Olivares was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991. Encyclopaedia Britannica online article Neil Francis Milbert 10th January 2019
Known as ‘El Puas’, meaning spikes or barbs, Ruben Olivares is one of the all time greatest fighters the great boxing nation of Mexico produced. Standing at only 5 feet 5 inches, he is one of the greatest punchers of the lower divisions and he retained his power from bantamweight up to featherweight. Out of his 89 wins, 79 came by knockout. He is a 2-time undisputed bantamweight champion and a 2-time featherweight world champion. None of his title reigns were long however and he suffered a few upset losses but is known for ending the reign of the great Lionel Rose and upsetting the young and fierce Bobby Chacon twice, last time winning the WBC featherweight belt from him. This is the story of Ruben Olivares, the bantamweight Tyson.
Born 14 January 1947 as Ruben Olivares Avila in Mexico City, he grew up in a tough district were street fights were common. His parents had 12 children but only 6 of them survived. Ruben took up boxing at 15, after it became clear his talent lay there and not in the academic field. He trained in Jordan Gym in downtown Mexico City with trainer Manuel Chilero Carillo, an old and experienced trainer. He described Olivares as a shy boy but he saw potential in the youngster and told him he could be a Golden Gloves champion if he took boxing seriously. 6 months later, he became just that. But after losing in the Olympic trials to Fernando Blanco, Olivares convinced his manager to let him turn pro. He did that 4 January 1965, 10 days shy of his 18th birthday. He easily beat equally inexperienced Isidro Sotelo by KO 1 and then reeled off another 23 knockouts. His last victim was the 9-0 Antonio Leal, whom he knocked out in 1 round as well and after that, papers wrote of him as a great hope and a future world champion. In his next fight against Felipe Gonzalez, he had to go the distance for the first time in a 10-rounder, winning on points. In October of ’67 he for the first time beat a foreigner, Japanese Ushiwakamaru Harada; Olivares first stunned him several times with left hooks before putting him on his back by a right hand-left cook combo in round one. After that, Harada refused to fight and pleaded with the ref to stop the fight in round 2, which he did. Next year on 31 March he fought against former world flyweight champion Salvatore Burruni of Italy and in round 3 hit him with a stunning punch to the stomach, which made Burruni turn his back to Olivares. This prompted a disqualification after Mexican boxing rules which state any fighter who turns his back to the opponent is a loser.
He went outside Mexico for the first time in May ’69 to fight in a world title eliminator against Takao Sakurai, 25-1. Olivares was stunned and dropped for only the second time in his career by a straight left but came back in round 5 to punish Sakurai with body blows before knocking him down thrice in the next round before it ended. Sakura claimed before this fight that he had never before been of his feet. Jack Rennie, the manager of Lionel Rose, was in attendance and promised Olivares a world title shot. That fight happened 22 August at Forum in Inglewood, LA, where also his last fight took place. Rose was making his 4th defense and was naturally the favorite, but Olivares surprised everyone when he put him down in round 2 and twice in round 5 to end the contest in that round and Rose’s championship reign. He then showed himself as a true gentleman when he helped Rose’s corner to pick him up from the canvas. The crowd, media and the police then went crazy in the ring as pushing and shoving started going on between two camps. Olivares went to Rose’s dressing room afterwards where he hugged him and thanked him for giving him the opportunity and said he could fight him anytime he wants. But Rose never did. I guess he didn’t fancy having a taste of that power again. In his first defense 12 December, he dispatched Alan Rudkin of Liverpool in only 2 rounds after knocking him down once in round 1 with a left hook and again with another left hook before a right hand put him out of the game in round 2. On 18 April next year he first ran into his nemesis, Chucho Castillo, a fellow Mexican. Castillo had previously lost to Lionel Rose on points and the result provoked a riot with the Mexican fans present. He was obviously popular with them and was now the main rival for Olivares’ place as both the world champion and the Mexican fight fans favorite. Olivares was the better man in the first 2 rounds and stunned Castillo in the second but in the third he was hit with a perfect right hand counter that dropped him to his knees. Olivares got up and then proceeded to dominate the rest of the fight, in the end winning on points.
After winning 3 non-title fights, the rematch was signed and the two warriors commenced again on 16 October, 6 months after their first fight. Olivares was now 61-0-1 and in the eyes of many looked invincible.
However, nobody was invulnerable to cuts and Olivares suffered one in the very first round, possibly due to an accidental headbutt. He still dominated the first 5 rounds but the cut was reopened and started bleeding again in round 7. Castillo took advantage of this and poured it on, throwing many punches. Going into the 14th round, Olivares’ cut under the eye started bleeding from the start until the ref stopped the fight with 33 seconds to go in the round. Olivares had suffered his first loss after 62 fights, but it wasn’t by his opponent’s own merit. One major newspaper had it even while the other had Olivares ahead at the time of the stoppage. After the fight, Ruben said: ‘Castillo didn’t fight me any different this time than last time, except for the butts. I got hit solidly a few times but it wasn’t the blows that beat me. I couldn’t see. I was in a good condition, but I couldn’t see.’ The rematch was set for 2 April next year, at Forum in Inglewood, as the previous two fights. Like in their first fight, Olivares dominated after getting dropped by a left hook in round 6 and gave Castillo a beating, but the tough Castillo hung on till the end to lose by a wide unanimous decision. However, like his first reign, this one would not last too long for Olivares. After knocking out Kazuyoshi Kanazawa in 14 and stopping Jesus Pimentel by corner retirement in 11 rounds, on 19 March ’72 Olivares ran into Rafael Herrera in a fight in Mexico City; the younger Herrera took the initiative from the start and cut up Olivares on the right eyebrow before nailing him with a tremendous right to the chin and sending him to the canvas in round 8. Olivares was unable to beat the count and thus, for the first time in his career, he was knocked out for real. Afterwards, Herrera apologized and told Olivares: ‘I’m sorry I beat you but I need the money.’
They would fight again but this time without the title at stake, 14 November that year and Olivares came in a pound and a half over the contracted 120-pound limit. Herrera was again the better man for most of the fight and looked more polished than Olivares, who was flat-footed. He knocked Olivares off balance in round 7 with a left hook but the last 3 rounds were an absolute war, before Herrera took home a majority decision after 10 rounds. Unable to avenge this loss, Olivares decided his bantamweight days were over and stepped up to featherweight. He made his debut here against Walter Seeley 28 April ’73 and made short work of the American, stopping him in 2 rounds by TKO. In his second fight 2 months later he faced another future legend, Bobby ‘Schoolboy’ Chacon, who was from Pomona and was a hard hitter as well as ferocious brawler. Chacon was better early on but in the third round Olivares took over and sent Chacon down in the first seconds of round 9 with a straight right. He then pounded Chacon mercilessly for the rest of that round before Chacon’s corner stopped the fight after it ended. With that, Olivares took the NABF feather title. However, in his next fight, where the belt wasn’t at stake, he experienced a shock knockout loss at the hands of Art Hafey ‘The Toy Tiger’ from Canada, a heavy handed puncher. Hafey put Olivares down twice before knocking him out in round 5. Realizing this loss had come because of not being in good enough shape, Olivares started training hard and got in shape before he rematched Hafey and this time boxed beautifully for 9 rounds before getting caught and dropped again with a right hand to the forehead in round 10. He got up on rubbery legs but survived and stayed away from Hafey for the last 2 rounds, in the end winning by split decision.