ON May 19, 1984, in Maracaibo, a city nicknamed “The Beloved Land of the Sun”, Francisco Quiroz dug deep, shone brightly and did what no fighter had done before or has done since – win a world title with a negative record.
Quiroz, 11-15-1 (5 KOs), began his career in his home country of the Dominican Republic at 20 years old and claimed six straight victories in the capital city of Santo Domingo before venturing elsewhere.
Away from home, Quiroz had less success, twice losing out to Ramon Luis Perez in Puerto Rico and then to future lineal world champion Sugar Baby Rojas in Colombia before returning to home soil.
Upon his return, Quiroz challenged eventual WBA world title challenger Ramon Antonio Nery two times in the same week for the Dominican Republic flyweight title and was knocked out for the first and second time in his career.
With hopes of advancing to the world stage diminished, Quiroz would then fight six times in six months in Venezuela, losing five decisions and the other being a no-contest, leaving him with a record of 6-10, on a run of 11 fights without a victory.
Yet, Quiroz somehow managed turn this form around, with three wins and a draw earning him a surprise shot at Mexico’s reigning WBA light-flyweight world champion, Lupe Madera, 37-14-1 (23 KOs), who had unsuccessfully challenged for, won and then defended the title in three straight bouts against Japanese rival Katsuo Tokashiki.
Madera, a sparring partner of the great Miguel Canto, struggled with the size of the now 9-10-1 Quiroz from the get-go. The Dominican underdog boxed behind a long jab and a powerful right hand that continuously sprang the 5ft champion’s skull backwards upon impact.
Possibly feeling the impact of his showdowns with Tokashiki, as game as he was, Madera’s feet could not get him out of trouble. His head seemed an unmissable target for the rangy and accurate challenger.
In the ninth round, Madera finally paid the price. As both men opened up to swing, it was the long levers of Quiroz that scored with a left uppercut to wobble his rival, before following up with a textbook one-two that sent Madera crashing into the canvas and unable to beat the count.
Madera would never fight again, but Quiroz would go on to make one defence of the WBA strap, stopping Victor Sierra inside two rounds to cement his worth as a champion.
However, Quiroz’s time in the spotlight would come to an end when he travelled to the United States and lost an extremely tight decision (145-143, 144-143, 143-142) to California’s Joey Olivo, who subsequently became the first American to win a light-flyweight world title.
Francisco Quiroz was tragically killed in a nightclub brawl nine years after his world title win, aged just 35. Regardless, his place in boxing history may well live on forever.
It is hard to envisage Quiroz’s feat ever being duplicated due to the logistics behind the world rankings. Still, theoretically, the only chance this could occur again is by a journeyman having a severe upturn in form or by an amateur sensation being thrown in at the deep end and just about keeping afloat.
Although, in all likelihood, Vasyl Lomachenko’s world title win with a record of 1-1 is as close as we will see to this achievement being replicated, with a fighter such as ‘Loma’ assumably needing to lose a world title fight on debut and then challenge again and triumph in their second professional fight.
