WHEN we think of great boxing nations in Latin America, Mexico and Puerto Rico are probably the first that come to mind, perhaps closely followed by Argentina. However, Venezuela has been a little underrated.
I got to thinking about Venezuela because its current No.1 fighter, Carlos Canizales, is boxing for the WBA light-flyweight title tomorrow, in a rematch against Panya Pradabsri of Thailand. Many of Venezuela’s champions of the past seem to be largely forgotten. But there have been some good ones.
Jorge Linares
I think we would have to consider Jorge Linares the greatest of the Venezuelan champions, although he moved to Japan to turn professional under the banner of Teiken Promotions. Linares was a world champion at 126lbs, 130lbs and 135lbs. ‘El Nino de Oro’ (Golden Boy) was a beautiful boxer in his prime, but durability was an issue.
We could use Linares as a prime example of how one-round endings can be misleading. His first-round loss against Mexico’s Juan Carlos Salgado in Tokyo was a truly shocking result.
The fight was all over in 73 seconds. Salgado seemed to catch Linares on the temple with a left hook for the first of two knockdowns. The fight was waved off with Linares out on his feet. That was in 2009. Ten years later and Linares again lost in the opening round, once more against a Mexican fighter – Pablo Cesar Cano – this time at the Theatre in Madison Square Garden.
Cano dropped Linares with a right hand in the first 30 seconds. Two more knockdowns followed and the referee stopped the fight after two minutes, 48 seconds. Linares was obviously a superior fighter to Salgado and Cano. Yet each man was able to catch him and (as the old-time writers would say) put the skids under him before Linares could get started.
However, Linares had many great nights. I was at ringside at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas when he stopped the excellent Mexican fighter Oscar Larios in 10 rounds to win the vacant WBC featherweight title in 2007. Linares was under pressure in the early rounds as Larios took the fight to him and tried to bully him.
Larios was doing well, too‚ at least for a while. He was in front on two of the judges’ cards after five rounds. But Linares turned the fight around, jabbing, ripping combinations to the body. The turning point came when a left uppercut buckled Larios’ knees in the sixth round. It was basically all Linares after that and he dropped Larios with a right hand in the 10th to close the show.
That was Linares’ 24th win in a row. I never imagined he would box on for another 16 years, become a three-weight world champion, win three title fights in Britain (against Kevin Mitchell by TKO and twice by decision against Anthony Crolla) and close out a 56-bout career with a loss in Liverpool (to Jack Catterall).
Edwin Valero
Ill-fated Edwin Valero had the potential to be the greatest of all the Venezuelans. The heavy-handed southpaw lived up to his ‘Dinamita’ nickname — 27 KOs in 27 fights.
He stopped his first 18 opponents in the opening round, but showed he could carry his power late by beating down the home country’s Vicente Mosquera in 10 rounds in Panama to win the WBA 130lbs title — and that was almost another one-round win, with Mosquera down twice in the first three minutes.
Valero moved up to 135lbs and won the WBC title. But his life outside the ring was turbulent, with incidents of rage.
Things came to a tragic end when his wife was found dead in a hotel room where she had been staying with her husband. Valero was arrested on suspicion of murder and apparently hanged himself in his cell, aged just 28, in April 2010.
Crisanto Espana
Crisanto Espana was a Venezuelan puncher who, for a while, lived and trained in Belfast as a member of Barney Eastwood’s roster of fighters. Espana was the WBA welterweight champion, and his most notable win came when he stopped Meldrick Taylor in eight rounds to win the title on the Lennox Lewis vs Razor Ruddock undercard at Earls Court in London.
Taylor was the betting favourite, but he was in trouble from the start. “He’s strong!” Taylor told his corner after the first round. This was really little more than a brutal beatdown. I noted at the time that Espana seemed to hurt Taylor every time he hit him.
Espana knocked Taylor down in the eighth round and referee John Coyle finally stopped the fight as Taylor’s trainer, Lou Duva, climbed up on to the ring apron to signal that his man had taken enough.
Leo Gamez
Leo Gamez was a remarkable fighter from Venezuela, a world champion at 105lbs, 108lbs, 112lbs and 115lbs.
He captured the WBA 115lbs title at the age of 38 when he knocked out hometown fighter Hideki Todaka at Nagoya in October 2000. The YouTube video shows the fighters trading punches for round after round, with Gamez a little smarter, a bit more precise.
Then Gamez landed a big right hand that seemed to freeze Todaka in the seventh round and a series of follow-up shots, all bang on the chin, dropped the Japanese fighter. Todaka’s trainer was clambering into the ring even before referee Stanley Christodoulou completed the count.
Venezuela has had other champions, of course, but for me Linares, Valero, Espana and Gamez are the names that stand out – perhaps soon to be joined by Carlos Canizales.
