Ranking the best Venezuelan fighters of all time

[BoztheMadman]

Venezuela, tho the little brother of Colombia perhaps, has had its share of world class boxers thruout its pugilistic history. Among its greatest products were Edwin Valero, Jorge Linares and Lorenzo Parra, all who fought in recent time. Of the older fighters, you had guys like Carlos "Morocho" Hernandez, Vicente Rondon, Alfredo Marcano and Fulgencio Obelmejias. Venezuela is probably third of all South American countries in the number of world champions and elite boxers they produced. So, let's take that trip to Venezuela!

 

1. Edwin Valero

 

Edwin Valero was one of the greatest "what ifs" in boxing history, guys that were wasted too soon. He is one of few boxers in history to win all his fights by ko and also set a new world record when he scored 18 straight first-round knockouts in the beginning of his career. He was known as "El Inca Dinamita" and was one of the most entertaining and best fighters of his time and ever. Valero was, like Aaron Pryor for instance, a true whirlwind who overwhelmed his opponents with constant attack and a combination of handspeed and power. Although he sadly didn't get to fight all the best fighters out there, what he displayed against his best opponents leaves no doubt that he would be capable of beating every one of them. He won the WBA super feather title first, on 5 August 2006, by stopping the excellent Vicente Mosquera in Panama City, Mosquera's hometown. He came off the deck to stop Mosquera by TKO10. He made 4 defenses of that belt, all by ko, before vacating it to fight for the vacant WBC lightweight one. He went to Austin, Texas to stop the Colombian puncher Antonio Pitalua in 2 rounds, 4 April 2009 and thus won his last world title. He first beat Hector Velazquez by corner retirement in 6 before fighting the future WBC champion Antonio De Marco in what turned out to be his last fight, 6 February 2010 in Monterrey, Mexico. He beat the taller DeMarco down before DeMarco retired in his corner after round 9. Of course, you know that only 2 months later, Valero was convincted for killing his wife and then shortly thereafter hung himself in his cell, on 19 April, aged 28. It was thought that a motorcycle accident he had way back in 2001 made him prone to sudden outbursts of extreme violence and he was otherwise said to be a loving husband and a devoted father. He was in talks of fighting Manny Pacquiao just before the sudden violent events unfolded. He left behind a record of 27-0 and a lot more to be desired.

 

2. Jorge Linares

 

What a fighter he was. Even tho he is still listed as active, Linares has surely reached his peak and a few years ago too. Linares was an early-developer and already at 21 he won his first world title, when he stopped the excellent Oscar Larios by TKO10, 21 July 2007. He was tall for a feather and a super feather and also for a lightweight at 5'8, hit hard and had good boxing skills as well. However, his chin was always somewhat suspect, which was first exposed when he was knocked out in 1 round by Juan Carlos Salgado in October 2009, losing his WBA super feather belt. After defending the WBC feather belt he took from Larios, with a one-punch ko against Gamaliel Diaz, in November 2008 he won that WBA 130-pound belt by stopping Whyber Garcia by TKO5 in Panama City. He again made one successful defense by TKO8 against Josafat Perez, before that shock upset loss to Salgado. It didn't get any better when he tried to win the WBC light belt for the first time, as he was stopped by TKO11 by Antonio DeMarco, October 2011. In his very next fight, he again got stopped by hard-hitting Sergio Thompson, by TKO2. It seemed his early promise had faded fast and that he would never succee at this weight, but eventually he came back to the fold and in December 2014 he finally won that WBC belt by KO4 against Javier Nicolas Prieto. He then fought Kevin Mitchell in his first defense in May next year and after coming off the deck in round 5, he came back to drop and stop Mitchell in the 10th. He knocked out Ivan Cano in 4 to make another defense, but then vacated the belt to fight for the WBA one instead, in September 2016. He faced then-promising Anthony Crolla at Manchester Arena and won by UD12 after a close and entertaining fight. He also won the WBC Diamond belt with that. He again fought Crolla at Manchester Arena in March 2017 and again won by UD, this time by much wider scores. He beat another Brit, Luke Campbell, by SD, after dropping him once, in September. After decisioning Mercito Gesta in another defense in January 2018, he finally lost the belt to Vasyli Lomachenko in May, in a fight where he had Lomachenko down once before he was knocked out by a body shot in round 10. He rebounded by knocking out Abner Cotto in 3, but was then again stopped, shockingly, in only 1 round by Pablo Cesar Cano, who decked him three times. He has since won 2 fights, last one in February this year, but it is clear he is at the end of his career. He has fought as a pro for almost 18 years and his record is currently 47 wins with 29 ko's and 5 losses, all by ko.

 

3. Leo Gamez

 

The only Venezuelan to win world titles at 4 different weight classes, Leo Gamez was a hard-hitting and determined fighter, known as "Torito" or "Little Bull" for his aggressiveness. Standing only 5'0 or 153 cm, Gamez packed in a good punch for his size and won most of his world title fights by stoppage. He has his share of losses too, but was only stopped twice, at super flyweight and by world class fighters. Gamez started his pro career in 1985, aged 22. He went 16-0 before winning the vacant WBA minimum title by UD against Bong Jun Kim, in Busan, South Korea, 10 January '88. He defended it in Japan by stopping Kenji Yokozawa by TKO3, in April, before vacating it to fight the legendary WBA light fly champion Myung-Woo Yuh on 29 April '90 in Seoul. The fight was hotly contested and ended as a split decision in Yuh's favor. They had a rematch on 10 November and this time Yuh won by UD. He then tried to win the WBA fly title against Yong Kang Kim but lost by UD, 5 October '91 in Inchon. He finally captured the WBA light fly title by stopping the 17-0 Shiro Yahiro by TKO9, once again in Japan. He defended that belt 3 times, all but once by TKO, that one time was a split draw in Thailand, most likely a hometown decision, against Kaaj Charbandit. He then sadly had to go to South Korea again and by most accounts got robbed against Hi Yong Choi, losing by a somewhat close UD. He won his third world title, WBA fly one, 13 March 1999 by knocking out Hugo Rafael Soto in 3 rounds, at MSG. He defended it by stopping Josue Camacho in Puerto Rico by TKO8, before losing it to Sompichai Kratingdaenggym, then 16-0, by KO8 in Thailand, 3 September '99. It was his first ko loss. In his very next fight, he won his last world title, the WBA super fly one, by KO7 against Hideki Todaka in Nagoya, Japan. He lost it in his first defense, getting stopped by Celes Kobayashi by TKO10, 11 March 2001 in Yokohama. He then tried to win a world title at another weight, challenging the WBA bantam champion Johnny Bredahl in November 2002, but losing to him by UD in Denmark. He also lost the rematch with Todaka by SD, which was for the interim WBA bantam title, and also lost to Volodymyr Sydorenko in a WBA eliminator in 2004,, by UD. Gamez fought past the age of 40, contrary to Venezuelan law, because an exception was made for him. He finally retired at the end of 2005, after losing in an interim WBA title fight to Prakorb Udomna by UD. His record is 35 wins with 26 ko's, 12 losses and 1 draw.

 

4. Lorenzo Parra

 

Aka "Lencho". Parra was and is one of the best technicians from Venezuela and he had a very good career as a flyweight, but as a bantam, not as much. Even though he has 18 losses on his record, most of them came after his prime had ended and his resume at flyweight is strong enough to justify him being ranked so high. Parra is a native of Machiques in northwestern Venezuela, but he lives and fights out of Valencia, Spain. He made his pro debut in March 1999, winning by a TKO3. He first fought as a light flyweight and he won the WBA Fedebol and Fedelatin titles at this weight. His first true success came in December 2003, when he fought Eric Morel for his WBA fly title and won impressively in Puerto Rico, also knocking down Morel once. It was a huge upset since Morel was 33-0 and had defeated some of the best fighters in the division. Lencho then went to Japan to defend for the first time against Takefumi Sakata, who would turn out to be his main adversary at flyweight. Parra survived some shaky moments in the middle rounds to outbox and outpunch Sakata, winning by a majority decision in the end. He then defeated the former WBC light fly champion Yo Sam Choi by UD in Seoul. After beating Trash Nakamura by UD, he again faced Sakata in September 2005 and again beat him by majority decision in Japan. After making his fifth successful defense against the unbeaten amateur star Brahim Asloum by UD in December, Parra was then absent from the ring for over a year, before returning in March 2007 and fighting Sakata for the third time. However, he was unable to make the weight and so was stripped before the fight. He looked out of shape and was stopped by Sakata in 3 rounds by TKO, after getting cut up badly. That would of course be his last fight at this weight. In June 2008, he tried to win the WBA super bantam title against holder Celestino Caballero, but was eventually worn down by the much taller Caballero and had to retire with a broken jaw after round 11. In September 2010, he fought to a split draw with Jorge Arce, but next year in June he again had to retire, this time after 8 rounds, against Anselmo Moreno, in a fight for Moreno's WBA bantam title. The reason was hand injury. He experienced his worst loss in February 2012, when he was knocked out by Jorge Arce in 5 rounds, after being down four times. That fight marked the end of his prime, even though it probably ended just before the third Sakata fight. Parra would suffer 14 losses in a row, last one in April 2019. He is still listed as active and his record is 32 wins, 19 by ko, 18 losses, 8 by ko, and 2 draws.

 

5. Betulio Gonzalez

 

A three-time world flyweight champion, Gonzalez is one of few Venezuelans to win the world title three or more times. He fought for 20 years, with a 4 year break between 1984 and 1988, and only lost to the best as a champion and prime fighter. He comes from Maracaibo, the largest city in Venezuela. He started his pro career in 1968 and first fought for the WBA belt against Masao Oba, the legendary Japanese, losing to him by a very close UD15 in 1971. The decision was booed, even though the fight was in Japan. He also failed in his second attempt, drawing against the WBC champion Erbito Salavarria later that year. He finally won the WBC belt on 3 June 1972, by knocking out the unheralded Socrates Batoto in 4 rounds. He lost the belt only three months later, 29 september, fighting in Thailand against their favorite Venice Borkhorsor; Gonzalez quit in round 10 due to getting too much punishment in the last 4 rounds. He recaptured the title on 4 August 1973 at home in Maracaibo, by beating Miguel Canto by MD15. This time he made 2 successful defenses, stopping Alberto Morales by TKO11 and Franco Udella by TKO10, before losing it to Shoji Oguma by SD, controversially, in Japan, 1 October 1974. After unsuccessfully challenging Miguel Canto, who now held the belt, twice and losing on points, he won the WBA belt against Guty Espadas by MD, 12 August 1978. After stopping Miguel Vargas by TKO12 in his first defense, he fought Oguma again in the second and drew against him, again having to fight in Japan. In the third defense however, he finally got his revenge as he won by KO12. And then it was time to say goodbye to the belt again, as he lost it against Luis Ibarra by a rather close UD, 17 November 1979. He tried to recapture the belt in December 1981 against Juan Herrera, but lost due to a cut by TKO7 in Merida, Mexico. On 14 August next year, he fought Santos Laciar of Argentina, who now held the same belt, and gave him a tough fight, only to lose by split decision. His last fight was on 28 November 1988 and he was knocked out in 8 by Rodolfo Blanco. His record is 76 wins, 52 by ko, 12 losses and 4 draws.

 

6. Carlos Hernandez

 

Known as "Morocho" ("dark haired"), Hernandez was the first world champion from Venezuela. He was a hard hitter who could tangle with the best of that era at 135 and 140. At 5'10 he was also tall for a lightweight and super lightweight. Hernandez turned pro in 1959 and his first success came when he halted the then-featherweight world champion Davey Moore in a fight at 130, in 7 rounds by corner retirement. Moore was down six times before retiring. In 1961 he lost to Eddie Perkins on points, but he would avenge that defeat and take the world titles at 140, on 18 January 1965 at home in Caracas. Morocho edged out Perkins in a very close fight by SD15. He made 2 successful defenses, first stopping Mario Rossito by RTD4 and then knocking out Percy Hayles in his own country of Jamaica in 3 rounds. In February 1966, he took a fight at 135 against Ismael Laguna; the struggle with making the weight showed as he was soundly dominated and stopped by TKO8, having also injured his left hand in round 4. He then lost his titles fighting away in Rome against Sandro Lopopolo, losing by a majority decision, 29 April that same year. That was pretty much the end of him as a true force and he challenged Nicolino Locche in 1969, but was outboxed and lost by a mostly-wide unanimous decision in Argentina, despite putting Locche down once. He retired in 1971, after being stopped by TKO8 against Ken Buchanan, the reigning world light champion, in a non-title fight. He was 32 when he retired, with a record of 60 wins, 44 by ko, 12 losses and 4 draws. He died in 2016, aged 77.

 

7. Antonio Cermeno

 

He was called "El Coloso", the giant, for his extraordinary height of 5'9 1/2 (177 cm) for the divisions where he fought at: super bantam and feather. Cermeno seemed to appear out of nowhere and improve suddenly, after first losing to then-undefeated Jae-Won Choi by PTS10. Choi was later annihilated by Wilfredo Vazquez in 2 rounds. Cermeno then challenged Vazquez and produced a huge upset when he won by a close UD, and in Vazquez's own homeland of Puerto Rico, 13 May 1995. He had a height advantage of 5 inches, which might have been the decisive factor. He thus won the WBA SB title and first defended it against famous contender Jesus Salud, this time winning by a wide UD at home in Venezuela. He also beat Yober Ortega, who would later hold the same title, by an UD in his second defense and then scored a stoppage win in his third, by RTD5 against Eddy Saenz. He made 7 defenses in all, beating Yuichi Kasai first by UD and then by KO12 and undefeated Angel Chacon by UD. After making his last defense by UD against Jose Rojas, 27 September '97, he vacated the title to step up to featherweight. However, his start here was less successful, as he lost to Freddie Norwood in a fight for the vacant WBA title, by the scores of 112-118, 110-117 and 110-118, 3 April 1998 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Norwood was one of the best at126 back then and a strong fighter physically, despite being much shorter. After Norwood got stripped, Cermeno again got the chance to win the now vacant title, which he did by KO4 against Genaro Rios, 3 October '98. He once again beat Eddy Saenz in his first defense, this time by KO2, before again fighting Norwood and again losing to him, this time by SD, 29 May '99 in San Juan, PR. Cermeno would win the interim WBA belt later that year by MD against Yober Ortega, another old adversary, but that was his last achievement. He kept fighting, on and off, until 2006, when he retired after being stopped by RTD4 against Santos Benavides. His record is 45 wins, 31 by ko, and 7 losses, only 1 by ko. Tragically, Cermeno was kidnapped in the early morning hours of 25 February 2014 and shot when he tried to escape, by a guerilla at home in Caracas. His age was 44, according to boxrec, but according to a Venezuelan tv station, it was 49.

 

8. Israel Contreras

 

A formidable puncher who scored two great ko victories over Wilfredo Vazquez and Luisito Espinosa, Contreras time at the top was however not very long. After nearly dying following a fight he won, he had to retire suddenly, in 1995. Contreras turned pro in 1981. He first fought Khaosai Galaxy, after going 24-0-1, for his WBA super fly title and was knocked out in 5, 1 November 1986 in Willemstad, Curacao. He had gotten 2 rounds from all the judges before that, but was down twice before the ko. On 3 November 1989, he was given a chance to win the new WBO belt, at bantamweight, against Maurizio Lupino. He easily knocked out the journeyman in 1 round to take his first world title.Soon thereafter, he fought Wifredo Vazquez in a fight at super bantam and sensationally koed him in 1 round, with a single right hand. He made one defense of the WBO belt, stopping Ray Minus by TKO9 in Nassau, Bahamas, before vacating it in March '91. On 19 October that year, he faced the reigning WBA-champion Luisito Espinosa, a rather tall and hard-hitting fighter. Espinosa put him down twice in round 2, but sometime in round 3 he looked like he had punched himself out. Contreras took over and put Espinosa down twice in round 5, thus winning by KO and becoming a 2-weight champion. He lost the title in his first defense however, being knocked out also in 5 rounds by Eddie Cook, a dodgy and hard-hitting fighter, 15 March 1992 in Vegas. He retired but came back after 2 years and after winning one easy fight, he took on Johnny Vasquez in an unforgettable fight, 16 February 1995 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Both guys took a lot of punishment, but Contreras was triumphant as he stopped Vasquez by TKO9, only to slip into a coma afterwards. He pulled out eventually but could not fight again. He was 34 and left behind a record of 38 wins, 27 by ko, 3 losses and 1 draw.

 

9. Eloy Rojas

 

Rojas won the WBA feather title in December 1993 and made 6 defenses of it, beating Samart Payakaroon by TKO8, Luis Mendoza by UD and Young Kyun Park by SD, before losing it to Wilfredo Vazquez sr by TKO11, in what was named the knockout of the year by The Ring. He was ahead on points at the time of stoppage and would retire for 3 years before coming back as a lightweight. He had no success there however and retired in 2005, after getting stopped by Herman Ngoudjo by a corner retirement in 8. Rojas was a fine technician who could also hit and wasn't afraid of mixing it up.

 

10. Vicente Rondon

 

Rondon was a very talented guy who could box and punch, but he made a mistake in moving up to heavyweight after losing his WBA light heavy title to Bob Foster in 1972. Rondon was tall at 6'3 and physically strong. In the amateurs, he beat Jose Luis Garcia, who later stopped Ken Norton. He first started out as a middleweight, turning pro in 1965. He decisioned Luis Rodriguez and Bennie Briscoe at 160 and then again faced JL Garcia in a fight for the Venezuelan light heavy title. He won by UD on 30 May 1969. He also beat Avenemar Peralta and Roger Rouse, contenders at 175, before winning the WBA version of the world title by KO6 against Jimmy Dupree, 27 February 1971 in Caracas. He then knocked out perhaps the best European light heavy at the time, Piero del Papa, in 1 round in his first defense. He also stopped Gomeo Brennan by TKO14 and made 4 defences in all. He then said yes to a unification fight with the WBC's champion Bob Foster, which happened on 7 April '72 in Miami Beach. Rondon went into the fight overconfident and was blown away in 2 rounds after being down twice in the second. This was his downfall and after that fight he became a heavyweight, but lost all his important fights there, getting stopped in 2 by Ron Lyle, 9 by John Conteh and 2 against Rodney Bobick and Jose Roman. He retired after the Roman fight, which was on 6 June 1975 and died broke and in poverty in his hometown, 28 December 1992, aged 54. His record is 40 wins, 23 by ko, 16 losses, 7 by ko, and 1 draw.

 

11. Alfredo Marcano

 

Another hard-hitter who was the WBA champ at super featherweight. Marcano stood only 5'5 but was a formidable brawler and hard puncher. He became a pro in 1966 and his first noted victory was when he beat the future WBC-champion Ricardo Arredondo by MD10 in January 1970, after first losing to him also on points in 10 rounds. He also stopped the Fighting Harada-challenger Bernardo Caraballo by TKO6 and fought Ernesto Marcel twice, losing to him on points both times but knocking him down once in the first fight. Marcano then suddenly received a shot at the WBA title, held by Hiroshi Kobayashi of Japan. The fight happened on 29 July 1971 in Aomori City, Japan. The big underdog from Cumana made a huge upset when, after being battered in round 9, he put Kobayashi down twice in round 10 before Kobayashi's trainer threw in the towel. He made one successful defense by stopping the Japanese champion Kenji Iwata by KO4, before losing the title to Ben Villaflor by UD, 25 April 1972 in Honolulu, where Villaflor was based. He continued fighting after that and on 7 September 1974 he fought against Bobby Chacon for the vacant WBC feather title at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Fight ended in 9th round when Marcano was down twice and then stopped by the referee. Before that, the fight was intense, even and action-packed. After suffering two more straight knockouts, last one to Art Hafey, 22 March 1975, Marcano called it quits. His record is 43 wins, 28 by ko, 12 losses and 5 draws. He died on 5 April 2009, aged 62.

 

12. Luis Estaba

 

I just discovered this guy has 11 world title defences! A last-minute addition to this list is therefore Luis Estaba, the WBC light fly champion from September 1975 to February 1978. His early pro career was not very successful and in his first 30 fights his record was 21-7-2. On 13 September '75 he made history as he became the first man to win a world title against a debutante! This was not known until after the fight, but his opponent Rafael Lovera had no pro fights before this and was therefore perhaps easily beaten by KO4. His best wins were over future WBA super fly champion Rafael Pedroza (UD), WBC light fly and European fly champion Franco Udella (KO3), and Netrnoi Sor Vorasingh (UD). He finally lost his title to Freddy Castillo by a TKO14 on 19 February '78. After Castillo lost the title to Sor Vorasingh, Estaba tried to win it back against the Thai, but was knocked out in 5 rounds, 29 July that same year in Caracas. As he turned 40 shortly thereafter, he was automatically retired due to Venezuelan law. His record is 41 wins, 27 by ko, 9 losses, 4 by ko, and 2 draws.

 

 

I chose Marcano over Antonio Esparragoza because, despite Esparragoza having more defenses, his best name on the resume is not as good as Marcano's and most of them are unknowns. Thank you. This will be the last such thread.