REQUIEM FOR A TRIPLE CROWN CHAMP
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 02 Jul 2009
There are articles that are too painful to write; especially when one?s words are not enough to pay tribute to the departed. During the 1980?s, when my classmates were hooked on Michael Jackson?s dance moves, I was hooked on reruns of Alexis Arguello?s fights.
I was actually watching replays of Arguello?s bouts much earlier. I remember at nine years old being lectured by my late grandfather about the finer points of the sport. My grandfather told me fighting was more about thinking inside the ring. Arguello was a thinking man?s warrior. He was also called ?El Flaco Explosivo? or the Explosive Thin Man. His five foot ten frame belied his frightening power from 126 to 140 pounds. I was a skinny boy who experienced punching bullies so I identified with him.
Three Filipinos fell to his crippling right cross. He knock out Rolando Navarrete in five rounds in 1980 and Rey Tam, also in five, two years earlier both in defense of his WBC superfeatherweight title. In 1982, he stopped Andy Ganigan, the original Hawaiian punch, in the fifth despite being down in the first, to defend his WBC Lightweight belt.
The Nicaraguan?s career was epic. His victories held the audience breathless. In 1974, he won the WBA Featherweight title with a come from behind 13th round KO win over Ruben Olivares. Arguello was at the receiving end of Olivares constant pressure for the majority of the bout before a single left hook decked Olivares and the title changed hands.
In 1978, he won the WBC superfeatherweight tile against Alfredo Escalera by 13th round TKO in another brutal ring war. In 1981, he won his third title, the WBC Lightweight belt, against Jim Watt.
His fallen opponents read like a who?s who in boxing during the 70?s and 80?s: Bazooka Limon, Bobby Chacon, Jose Luis Ramirez, Cornelius Boza-Edwards, and Rey Mancini just to name a few. He could have been the first to win four world titles but he lost to Aaron Pryor twice for the WBA jr.welterweight title also in timeless bouts.
Arg?ello retired and fought with the Contra rebels in his native Nicaragua, but left the fighting after a few months in the jungle. He attempted a comeback but was never the same. He was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992. His record 82 W (KO 65) ? 8 L . He is considered as one of the best boxers of the last 80 years and one of boxing history?s best punchers. He was elected mayor of Managua last November.
The 57 year old Arg?ello died around 1:00 AM local time on July 1, 2009, after he allegedly shot himself through the heart. Whatever demons troubled him, he is now at peace.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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