On This Day In Boxing History!

1936: Carlos Ortiz Was Born!

Carlos Ortiz    

Born: September 9th, 1936

Birth Name: Carlos Juan Ortiz

Birth Place: Ponce, Puerto Rico

Residence: New York, New York

Pro-Debut: February 14th, 1955

Division: Lightweight

Stance: Orthodox

Height: 5′ 7″  

Reach: 70″  

Bouts: 70

Rounds: 575

Ko’s: 43%

Record: 61-7-1, 30Ko’s

Career

NYSAC World Light Welterweight Champion

1959 Jun 12 – 1960

WBA Lightweight Champion

1962 Apr 21 – 1965 Apr 10

WBC Lightweight Champion

1963 Feb 14 – 1965 Apr 10          

WBA/WBC Lightweight Champion

1965 Nov 13 – 1968 Jun 29

Born, Carlos Juan Ortiz, September 9th, 1936 in Ponce, Puerto Rico was a three-time world boxing champion, twice at lightweight and once at junior welterweight. He began his professional career in 1955 with a first-round knockout of Harry Bell in New York, where he had relocated before turning pro. After nine wins there, he fought outside the state for the first time, stopping Al Duarte in Massachusetts. His next three bouts took place in Massachusetts and New Jersey before he returned to New York to secure four more victories. A move west to California followed, where Ortiz outpointed Mickey Northrup over ten rounds, fought twice more in the state, and then returned briefly to New York. He soon met future Hall of Fame referee and Rocky film figure Lou Filippo in California. Their first meeting was ruled a no-contest after nine rounds, but Ortiz won the rematch by ninth-round knockout. Five more wins built his record before he suffered his first loss, dropping a ten-round decision to Johnny Busso in New York. Ortiz immediately avenged the defeat in a rematch, also by decision in New York.

His rising profile brought him to England, where he outpointed top contender Dave Charnley over ten rounds at Harringay Arena, convincing promoters that he was ready for a world title. On June 12, 1959, Ortiz faced Kenny Lane in New York for the vacant junior welterweight crown. Lane had previously beaten him in Florida, but this time Ortiz stopped him in just two rounds to become Puerto Rico’s first world champion since Sixto Escobar over 30 years earlier. Despite the division’s lack of prestige at the time, Ortiz defended his title successfully with a knockout of Battling Torres in Los Angeles and a 15-round decision over Duilio Loi in San Francisco. A rematch took him to Milan, where Loi dethroned him by decision, and Ortiz lost their rubber match there as well after another victory in between.

Instead of moving up in weight, Ortiz went down and challenged lightweight champion Joe Brown in Las Vegas on April 21, 1962. He outpointed Brown over 15 rounds to win his second world title across a second division. Ortiz defended successfully in Tokyo with a fifth-round knockout of Teruo Kosaka, then brought his championship home to Puerto Rico with a 13th-round stoppage of Doug Valiant in San Juan. He followed with a 14th-round knockout of Filipino Hall of Famer Gabriel “Flash” Elorde and defeated Kenny Lane again, this time by decision in another Puerto Rican defense.

In 1965, Ortiz lost his lightweight title in Panama to Hall of Famer Ismael Laguna by a 15-round decision but regained it later the same year in San Juan with another decision in the rematch. In 1966, Ortiz fought to a non-title draw with Nicolino Locche in Argentina, then defended his crown by stopping Johnny Bizarro in Pittsburgh, knocking out Hall of Famer Sugar Ramos in five in Mexico City, and again halting Elorde in 14 rounds in New York. The Ramos fight initially spurred controversy when the WBC president deemed the knockout blow illegal, only to later uphold Ortiz’s win and title on the condition of a rematch. In 1967, the rematch took place in San Juan, where Ortiz stopped Ramos much quicker, in four rounds without dispute. He then outpointed Laguna in their trilogy fight in New York to retain the lightweight title.

Ortiz’s reign ended on June 29, 1968, when he lost his championship to Dominican fighter Carlos Cruz by decision in Santo Domingo. Plans for a rematch in San Juan never materialized after Cruz tragically died in the Dominicana DC-9 plane crash along with most of the Puerto Rican women’s national volleyball team and other passengers. Ortiz continued fighting but never again contested a world title. He retired after being knocked out in six rounds at Madison Square Garden by Ken Buchanan, the only stoppage loss of his career.

Carlos Ortiz finished his career with a record of 61 wins, 7 losses, 1 draw, 1 no-contest, and 30 wins by knockout. Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Ortiz has remained a beloved figure, known for gladly posing with fans and signing autographs.

September 9th

1905: Battling Nelson KO18 Jimmy Britt

1908: Battling Nelson KO21 Joe Gans

1909: Jack Johnson ND10 Al Kaufman - "Jack Johnson retains World Heavyweight title had no trouble winning a 'newspaper' decision over Al Kaufman in ten rounds. There was an agreement that no decision was to be rendered if both were on their feet at the end. Johnson landed almost at will, while Kaufman got in only two effective blows. It appeared as though Johnson could have ended the fight at any time." (Associated Press)

1922: Billy Graham was born William Walter Graham in New York, New York

1927: Johnny Bratten was born in Little Rock, Arkansas

Johnny Saxton was born in Newark, New Jersey

1930: Jersey Joe Walcott pro-debut KO1 Cowboy Wallace

1935: Benny Lynch KO2 Jackie Brown

1936: Carlos Ortiz was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico

1944: Willie Pep W15 Chalky Wright

1961: Kevin Watts born.

1969: Freddie Little KO2 Hisao Minami

1978: Pipino Cuevas KO2 Pete Ranzany

Wilfredo Gomez KO13 Leonardo Cruz

1979: Chan Hee Park D15 Miguel Canto

1983: Aaron Pryor KO10 Alexis Arguello

1989: Jose "Cheito" Ruiz TKO1 Juan Carazo

Kenny Mitchell W12 Simon Skosana

1990: Sot Chitalada KO11 Richard Clarke

1992: Morris East KO11 Akinobu Hianaka

1995: Steve Collins W12 Chris Eubank, Cork, Ireland.

Oscar De La Hoya KO6 Genaro Hernandez

Phillip Holiday W12 Ray Martinez

South Korean bantamweight Tong Choon Lee, 32, dies of a brain injury suffered in a bout against Japan's Setsuo Kawamasu.

1998: The IRS places a $6.3-million tax lien on Mike Tyson's 61-room mansion in Farmington, Connecticut.

2000: Roy Jones Jr. KO10 Eric Harding

Derrick Gainer KO11 Fred Norwood

Willie Jorrin W12 Michael Brodie

Marco Antonio Barrera W12 Jose Luis Valbuena

2004: Lorenzo Parra W12 Yosam Choi

2005: Clinton Woods W12 Julio Gonzalez

2006: Chris John W12 Renan Acosta

Regina Halmich TKO6 Ria Ramnarine

Ina Menzer W10 Lely Luz Florez 

Susi Kentikian TKO4 Maribel Zurita

Julia Sahin W10 Marilyn Hernandez

Alesia Graf TKO3 Maria Jose Nunez

2011: Monica Silvina Acosta WMD10 Erin McGowan

Myriam Lamare W10 Lely Luz Florez

2016: Robert Easter Jr WSD12 Richard Commey        

Daniel Jacobs TKO7 Sergio Mora

Eduard Troyanovsky TKO2 Keita Obara

Marcela Eliana Acuna W10 Brenda Karen Carabajal

2017: Wisaksil Wangek KO4 Roman Gonzalez

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Oleksandr Usyk TKO 10 Marco Huck

Anahi Esther Sanchez TKO6 Cecilia Sofia Mena

Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov W12 Emanuel Lopez

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