On Sunday, July 21, the boxing world was rocked by the unhappy information of the loss of life of former World Boxing Affiliation lineal Bantamweight world champion Richie Sandoval of a coronary heart assault on the age of 63.
Sandoval, of Mexican descent and born in Pomona, Southern California, on October 18, 1960, was an elite fighter who was drawn to boxing as an adolescent, presumably influenced by his older brother, Alberto, who excelled within the ring and confronted such Mexican stars as Alfonso Zamora and Lupe Pintor, who defeated him in hard-fought contests.
On the novice stage, Richie was nationwide mild flyweight and flyweight champion in 1978 and 1979. He additionally participated within the 1978 World Championships in Belgrade with out a lot luck and was a silver medallist within the Pan-American Video games the next yr in Puerto Rico. In 1980, he was a part of the US nationwide group for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, however didn’t compete because of his nation’s boycott in protest of the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan. Richie concluded his novice profession in 1980 with an excellent document of 35 wins and 11 losses.
THE ROAD TO GLORY
On November 5, 1980, on the Silver Slipper Resort-On line casino in Las Vegas, Sandoval made his skilled debut towards fellow debutant Gerardo Pedroza, whom he defeated in 1 minute and 27 seconds of the second spherical.
After that, he racked up 9 fast wins earlier than being stopped in his streak by Harold Petty, whom he defeated on factors in 10 rounds on the Pavilion Resort in Las Vegas in January 1982.
With an unblemished document of 22-0-0 and 16 KOs, the Mexican-Californian was given a world title shot on April 7, 1984 on the Sands casino-hotel in Atlantic Metropolis towards stable champion Jeff Chandler, a tricky counter-puncher and heavy favorite to retain the WBA bantamweight title he had gained in November 1980 and was defending for the tenth time. Sandoval, 23, shocked everybody: he despatched the 28-year-old champion to the canvas within the eleventh spherical, the primary knockdown of Chandler’s profession (33-1-2, 18 KOs), and beat him mercilessly till referee Arthur Mercante stopped the combat at 1 minute and 20 seconds of the fifteenth spherical. It was the final combat for Chandler, who retired because of the threat of being blinded by a retinal harm.
THE FALL AND THE ADIOS
In his first defence, Sandoval confronted the primary challenger within the WBA rankings, Venezuelan Edgar Roman, on September 22, 1984, and beat him on playing cards of 150-132, 149-129 and 149-137 in Monte Carlo.
Subsequent, he confronted, additionally with the title on the road, Chile’s Cardenio Ulloa on December 15, 1984 on the Miami Conference Middle, and after recovering from a shock knockdown within the third spherical, he knocked him out within the eighth.
He was already starting to have critical weight issues when he confronted successive 10-round fighters: California’s Frankie Duarte, Mexico’s Jose Gallegos and Diego Avila, and Ecuador’s Hector Cortez, all within the featherweight class, 8 kilos over his common weight of 118 kilos. Sandoval was to face his most critical challenger, Texan-Mexican Gaby Cañizales, who had a document of 28 wins by KO in 34 fights and solely two defeats by factors. For regulatory causes, Sandoval needed to face Canizalez or he could be stripped of his title.
The bout was scheduled for March 3, 1986 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, as a part of the Marvin Hagler vs. John Mugabi and Thomas Hearns vs. James Shuler fights, organised by promoter Bob Arum. Sandoval, greater than 10 kilos obese, spent three days consuming solely water and with out stable meals. This made him straightforward prey for Cañizales. He went down for the rely within the first spherical, went to the canvas once more within the fifth and, after dropping three extra occasions within the seventh, referee Carlos Padilla stopped the combat at 2 minutes and 56 seconds. Shortly after, the previous champion collapsed in his nook and was rushed to hospital. For 3 days, Sandoval struggled between life and loss of life. Docs mentioned he survived by a miracle. He by no means stepped again into the ring.
Richie Sandoval disappeared from the scene for a very long time till he reappeared on 21 August 2017 in a particular ceremony: his induction into the Nevada State Boxing Corridor of Fame alongside different greats resembling former kickboxer and actress Lucia Rijker, Michel Carbajal, Thomas Hearns, Erik “El Horrible” Morales, Michael and Leon Spinks, Salvador Sanchez and Ken Norton.
Seven years later, only a few days in the past, the media reported, to the dismay of boxing followers, the passing of Richie Sandoval (who gained 29 fights, 17 by KO, with just one defeat within the ring), a former WBA world champion and a real bantamweight fighter.
