10 Famous Puerto Rican Boxers

Army SPECIALIST Fourth Class Aristedes Gonzalez, in red, representing Puerto Rico, after being presented with a bronze medal in the boxing competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics photo by National Archives at College Park – Wikimedia commons

10 Famous Puerto Rican Boxers

Boxing found its way in Puerto Rico and it has gone ahead to attract some of the best fighters ever seen in the ring producing the most amateur and professional champions. Puerto Rico had at least one world champion in every boxing weight in 2004 making its way on the list of countries with the most world boxing champions.

With having an influence in the boxing ring and entertaining the boxing fans in the ring, the Puerto Rican boxers have legitimately earned their way into the Boxing Hall of Fame. The nation has been outstanding in producing phenomenal boxing talents. Boxing has a large fanbase all over the world and the boxers have been able to resonate with a lot of people creating a huge following. Check out the 10 most famous boxers from Puerto Rico.

1. Carlos Ortiz

Carlos Ortíz 1967 photo sourced from Wikimedia commons

Carlos Ortiz was a professional boxer from Puerto Rico. He won world championships in the lightweight and light welterweight weight classes. Sportswriters and commentators rank Ortiz among the greatest Puerto Rican boxers of all time, along with Félix Trinidad, Miguel Cotto, Wilfredo Gómez, Héctor Camacho, José Torres, Edwin Rosario, and Wilfred Benitez.

With 10 victories in fights for the unified lightweight championship as of January 2018, Ortiz now owned the record for most fights. Looking at Ortiz’s record demonstrates how things were different during the 1950s and 1960s when he was boxing. He was a two-weight champion who competed against the best fighters in the lightweight and junior welterweight weight classes, frequently on their home grounds.

When Ortiz competed in New York, hundreds of Spanish Harlem residents came to watch him. He was well-liked in the larger society and he stood out as a national light for the boxing community due to his appeal among Puerto Ricans.

2. Felix Trinidad

Felix Trinidad vs. Roy Jones. Jr at the Madison Square Garden (New York) photo by matt borowick – Wikimedia commons

Tito Trinidad, also known as Félix Juan Trinidad García, is a former professional boxer from Puerto Rico who competed from 1990 until 2008. One of the finest Puerto Rican boxers of all time, he captured many world championships across three weight divisions. Sportswriters and experts regularly name Trinidad as one of the greatest Puerto Rican boxers of all time.

Trinidad won the 2000 Fighter of the Year award from The Ring and the American Boxing Writers Association. On June 4, 2014, a ceremony was organized to officially induct him into the hall, making him the tenth Puerto Rican to do so. He boasts a large following from both Puerto Ricans and the international fan base because of his punching power and his in-ring movement.

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3. Miguel Cotto

Miguel Cotto at the weigh-in on June 4, 2010 photo by Chamber of Fear – Wikimedia commons

Miguel Cotto is a former professional boxer from Puerto Rico who competed between 2001 and 2017. He is a multiple-time world champion and the first Puerto Rican boxer to win world titles in four weight classes, ranging from light welterweight to middleweight. In 2007 and 2009, he ranked seventh in The Ring magazine’s active pound-for-pound rankings.

The extremely popular Cotto-owned victories against the likes of Zab Judah and Shane Mosley were notable, but maybe his most meaningful victory was over the then-Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. Cotto is still one of boxing’s top draws today, with a tremendous audience in Puerto Rico and across the world even after his retirement.

4. Wilfredo Gomez

Puerto Rican boxing legend Wilfredo Gómez with Tony the Marine. photo by Marine 69-71 – Wikimedia commons

Wilfredo Gómez Rivera is a three-time world champion and retired professional boxer from Puerto Rico. He is regularly ranked among the top Puerto Rican boxers of all time. His eighteen consecutive knockouts in championship defences in one category is a boxing division record. On The Ring magazine’s list of the “100 best punchers of all time,” he was rated 13th.

Gomez was one of the most powerful punchers in boxing history, defending his title 18 times in a row, all by knockout! Rocky Lockridge, Juan LaPorte, Lupe Pintor, Juan Meza, Carlos Zarate, and Alberto Davila are among Gomez’s victories.

5. Wilfredo Benitez

Wilfred Benítez photo by Prebbleqram – Wikimedia commons

Wilfred  Benitez is a former professional boxer from New York who was the sport’s youngest world champion. At the age of seventeen, he won his first of three career world titles in different weight classes. He is most recognized as a competent and aggressive boxer with great defensive ability, as well as his battles with Roberto Durán, Thomas Hearns, and Sugar Ray Leonard.

He is regarded as one of the greatest and most well-known Puerto Rican boxers of all time, with Félix Trinidad, Wilfredo Gómez, Carlos Ortiz, Héctor Camacho, Edwin Rosario, and Miguel Cotto.

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6. Hector Camacho

Fan photo of Héctor Camacho taken November 1, 2009 photo by Azalia Negron – Wikimedia commons

Héctor Camacho was a professional boxer and performer from Puerto Rico. Camacho was a world champion in three weight classes and was known for his agility in the ring and theatrical flair. He competed professionally from 1980 until 2010. From 1983 to 1984, he held the WBC super featherweight championship, the WBC lightweight title from 1985 to 1987, and the WBO junior welterweight title twice from 1989 and 1992.

One of the most colourful characters in boxing history, Camacho was one of the top ten Puerto Rican fighters of all time. Camacho is a front-runner in introducing competitive boxing in New York and the reason that New York City is still regarded as the arena for Puerto Rican fighters. 

His adoration was seen after his death when hundreds of people came to pay their respects to Camacho over the two days his body was on display before being transported to the United States.

7. Jose Torres

José Torres was a professional boxer from Puerto Rico. He earned a silver medal in the junior middleweight division as an amateur boxer at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. He defeated Willie Pastrano in 1965 to win the WBC, WBA, and lineal light heavyweight titles. Torres received his boxing training from famed trainer Cus D’Amato. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1997. 

Torres was a well-known journalist and novelist in addition to his Hall of Fame boxing career.  He was also the WBO’s president.  This made him famous among the Puerto Rican natives and the general worldwide fan base.

8. Esteban de Jesús 

Esteban de Jesús was a Puerto Rican world lightweight boxing champion. De Jesús, a native of Carolina, Puerto Rico, was Wilfred Benitez’s gym mate and was taught by Benitez’s father, Gregorio Benitez. He was the first professional boxer to defeat Roberto Durán, and the only one to do it during Durán’s lightweight reign. His career was riddled with scandal, troubles, and controversies, making him a perennial issue among boxing fans worldwide. 

9. Sixto Escobar

Sixto Escobar 1930 ‘s Press Photo Bantamweight Champion photo by Sam Andre – Wikimedia commons

Sixto Escobar was a professional boxer from Puerto Rico. He became Puerto Rico’s first world champion in the bantamweight class. He fought Tony Marino in 1936 to unify this championship with the one recognized by the International Boxing Union, becoming Latin America’s third undisputed world boxing champion.

He worked as a spokesperson for beer firms in New York after retirement, until returning to Puerto Rico in the 1960s. He won multiple posthumous honours, and his name was used in several sporting arenas and structures, earning him worldwide notoriety and making him a legendary boxing icon. 

10. Wilfredo Vasquez

Wilfredo Vázquez Olivera is a former professional boxer from Puerto Rico who competed from 1981 until 2002. From 1987 to 1988, he held the WBA bantamweight title, from 1992 to 1995, the WBA and lineal featherweight titles, and from 1996 to 1998, he held the WBA and lineal featherweight belts. Vázquez opted to become a boxing analyst after his initial retirement.

Since he was certain that his retirement was permanent, he joined Univision and began narrating bouts with the network’s other sportscasters, quickly becoming a fan-favourite commentator. Vázquez began working as a boxing trainer after his second retirement. He has most famously taught his two sons, Wilfredo and Israel, under this position.

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