Forgotten Superstars steps into the boxing ring with the youngest fighter to ever win the welterweight title-former WBA kingpin, Pipino Cuevas.
Cuevas turned pro at 14 and won the WBA belt in 1976 at the age of 18 with a two-round destruction of well-regarded champ Angel Espada.
Ironically, Espada picked Cuevas because he had LOST his last fight a 10 round decision to contender Andy Price.
Cuevas was a one-dimensional fighter, but what a dimension it was!
The Cuevas left hook was a bone breaker to the head and a rib crusher to the body.
Cuevas had a chin of steel that enabled him to walk through shots in order to land the hook that ended fights and careers.
Don't believe me?
Check this one round defense against former champion Billy Backus, where in one round, Backus suffered a damaged retina and a broken cheekbone that ended the former champ's career!
And check out the intimidating icy stare before the bout! Damn, not so sure I wanted a piece of Cuevas if I was the opponent!
Cuevas ruined other careers too even if they continued to fight Miguel Campanino was favored over Cuevas in Pipino's second defense.
Campanino fell in two and never was a world-class fighter again.
Calfornia's Pete Ranzany was thought to be a champion in the making and Sacramento fans put together a large payday for Cuevas to defend against Ranzany in Sacramento's basketball arena to crown their man in front of the home crowd. Ranzany too was through in two.
Harold Weston was a smooth boxer that was thought to outbox Cuevas.
Weston surrendered in his corner after nine with a broken jaw.
Sports Illustrated did a feature in 1978 about the dream fight in California circles between Cuevas and then WBC champ Carlos Palomino at a time when the magazine rarely talked about non-heavyweight fights.
Palomino would not agree to the fight and eventually lost his belt to Wilfred Benitez and the huge payday for both was forever lost.
All and all Cuevas defended the belt 11 times over his four-year reign and only went the distance once. and is noted as the only non-heavyweight to break a speed bag support with his workout at the famous Grossinger's Gym in New York.
Cuevas took another large payday to travel to Detroit in 1980 to defend against unbeaten power hitter Thomas Hearns.
The fight was looked at as one of the two Welterweight semi-finals between the top four 147 pounders in the world as Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard were in the middle of their two fights at the same time.
Hearns was too big and too strong and Cuevas was spectacularly knocked out in two.
Cuevas never seemed to take shots as well again and spent the rest of his career as a name fighter that would occasionally rise to knock out world rated fighters as he knocked out Jorgen Hansen and Mauricio Bravo in a round each, but was stopped in four by Duran in his last true top fight.
Cuevas retired in 1989 and was named to the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2002.
Pipino Cuevas-one awesome machine in his prime and that is why he is a Forgotten Superstar.
No comments:
Post a Comment