Alexis Arguello

[Ilya Muromets]

Jim T's final email to me March 2017:

"See the attached photo, taken July 11, 1975. I was visiting Nicaragua for personal reasons and told a friend that I had watched Arguello’s televised fight in Nov. 1974, when he won the featherweight championship by knocking out the legendary Mexican fighter) Ruben Olivares (I think it’s the first fight shown in the video). Turns out my friend knew Arguello and offered to take me to his training camp, where the photo was taken.

Arguello was very hospitable. In the states he gained a reputation for being respectful and gentlemanly towards his opponents, but in the ring he was lethal. Did you notice how he combined body and head shots so effectively?

His life had a tragic ending. After retiring from the ring he returned to Nicaragua and went into politics. He became mayor of Managua, but was found dead in his office of gunshot wounds. The government claimed it was suicide, but no one believed them."




Arguello's pro record from 1968 - 1995

http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/2179

[GreenShadow]

boxing and tragic endings seems to be the rule with a few exceptions.

from what i read he was never bothered by the whole water bottle thing and he and pryor became good friends.

[elmersalsa]

A great, great fighter. One of boxing's greatest champions in history. Won 19 consecutive title bouts in 3 weight classes and never lost his crowns to an opponent. The Explosive Thin Man was remarkable!

[Ilya Muromets]

boxing and tragic endings seems to be the rule with a few exceptions.

from what i read he was never bothered by the whole water bottle thing and he and pryor became good friends.

Yeah lots of tragic endings. Another Latin American boxer ”suicide” I don't believe is Edwin Valero in Venezuela.

[Ilya Muromets]

A great, great fighter. One of boxing's greatest champions in history. Won 19 consecutive title bouts in 3 weight classes and never lost his crowns to an opponent. The Explosive Thin Man was remarkable!

His boxing career spanned four decades! In the photo with my late friend, the great Jim T, you can see how gracious Arguello was in person.

[bollocks]

Great historical photo

[handsofstone]

One of my favs

[elmersalsa]

The Explosive Thin Man Alexis Arguello of Nicaragua was that country's first ever world champion. He had 65 knockout wins. At one stretch, he only lost one fight in 47 contests from 1974 to 1982. He beat along the way: Ruben Olivares, Alfredo Escalera (twice by knockout), Bobby Chacon, Cornelius Boza Edwards, Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, Bazooka Limon, Ruben Castllo, Jerome Artis, and Jose Luis Ramirez a

[elmersalsa]

The Alexis Arguello pro boxing career highlights:
Triple crown world boxing champion: WBA World Featherweight (1974-77), WBC World Jr Lightweight (1978-80), and WBC World Lightweight (1981-83)
Made 9 title defenses of the Jr Lightweight crown
Won 19 straight world title bouts
His record of world title bouts is 19-3.
Won 41 out of 42 bouts from 1974 to 1982.
Pro boxing career record was 81-8, with 65 knockouts!
Beat a total of 12 world champions.
Never lost his crowns to an opponent.

Defining fight: WKO13 Ruben Olivares... November 23, 1974....A Star is Born! The Beginning of a Legend!
Other Defining Bouts: WKO1 Jose Legra, L15 Ernesto Marcel, WTKO13 Alfredo Escalera, WTKO7 Bobby Chacon, W15 Jim Watt, WTKO14 Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini and LTKO14 Aaron Pryor.

Beat also guys like Octavio Martinez, Art Hafey, Bazooka Limon, Royal Kobayashi, Rigoberto Riasco, Diego Alcala, Cornelius Boza-Edwards, Rolando Navarrete, Jose Luis Ramirez, Jerome Artis, Ruben Castillo, Billy Costello, and Andy Ganigan.

A fantastic career that we can't say no more. A true all time great pound per pound fighter.

[elmersalsa]

Alexis Arguello beat 14 world champions. He also beat Godfrey Stevens, a very good Featherweight contender.

[Kalan]

His life had a tragic ending. After retiring from the ring he returned to Nicaragua and went into politics. He became mayor of Managua, but was found dead in his office of gunshot wounds. The government claimed it was suicide, but no one believed them."

Arguello prophesized his own death.

He was talking to a reporter and said, “As a mayor I have to make decisions. Many people don’t like those decisions. They want to influence you with money and gifts. If you turn the money and gifts down they become very angry with you. Somebody could come right into my office with a gun and shoot me” then he points his finger at his head and says “PSHHHHT!!!!”

Apparently the mayor of Managua had no paid staff when Arguello won it… The staff positions were eliminated when Arguello won the mayoral position “to save money” and returned when the new mayor took over. It’s ridiculous for a national hero like Alexis Arguello to be in so much danger merely because he beat the sitting governments’ candidate.

[Tomasino]

He lived by the sword and died by it. Great man.

[Counter-puncher]

He lived by the sword

how so?

[Noxy]

He was a proper gent and a phenomenal fighter. I remember listening to his fight with Jim Watt on the radio when I was a kid.

[Tomasino]

He lived by the sword

how so?

Went to battle and was willing to go out on his shield at anytime.

[Ilya Muromets]

He lived by the sword and died by it. Great man.

He was a great athlete, not a killer.

Question: "What does it mean to live by the sword and die by the sword?"

Answer: The saying “live by the sword, die by the sword” is an idiom that basically means “what goes around comes around.” More to the point, “if you use violent, forceful, or underhanded methods against other people, you can expect those same methods to be used against you.”

[Kalan]

He lived by the sword and died by it. Great man.

He was a great athlete, not a killer.

Question: "What does it mean to live by the sword and die by the sword?"

Answer: The saying “live by the sword, die by the sword” is an idiom that basically means “what goes around comes around.” More to the point, “if you use violent, forceful, or underhanded methods against other people, you can expect those same methods to be used against you.”

It really means, if you seek military solutions to problems -- the monetary costs will be far greater and your kids will come home in body bags.

Violent people don't necessarily pay in kind... Men like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-il who wield great power for instance...and direct it against the weak to keep them in line. Or the implementers of brutal police interrogations in states run by dictators. They rule by fear and brutality. But a soldier ordered into combat – there’s a fair chance he's going to die and that’s his lot.

[Ilya Muromets]

What does all that have to do with Alexis Arguello, Kalan? He was a sportsman not a brutal dictator. He didn't live by the sword, and most people think he was murdered. And "Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-il"? Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-il? You must have an axe to grind, to use another phrase. Kim Jong-il is in a league all his own!

[Nile4000]

To be truthful, to run for an office full of corruption, and know the potential consequences, takes a lot of balls. Alexis was a class act, though I still feel Saoul Mamby would have won had they fought.

[Esquire]

Arguello and Salvador Sanchez were my favorite fighters at the time, and of all-time, really. Years later I became a big Chavez fan.

Alexis was everything you wanted in a fighter. My favorite things about fighters from earlier eras, especially latin fighters, was how often they fought. By the time a really good fighter reached the age of 21 or 22 you might have 40 or 50 pro fights.

Those days are gone forever.

[elmersalsa]

Arguello and Salvador Sanchez were my favorite fighters at the time, and of all-time, really. Years later I became a big Chavez fan.

Alexis was everything you wanted in a fighter. My favorite things about fighters from earlier eras, especially latin fighters, was how often they fought. By the time a really good fighter reached the age of 21 or 22 you might have 40 or 50 pro fights.

Those days are gone forever.

On the money. We won't see a series of Latin fighters with at least 40 fights under their belt before taking a title shot.

[JMac]

I met Alexis in Atlantic City back in the late 80's or early 90's. It was an event where the Sands Casino brought in many ATG's. They were in a big room and people could go around getting autographs and pictures. Alexis was the youngest of the ATG's. He was a really nice person to talk to. A few years after his death, I met his son at a boxing show in NYC. He was just like his father, a gentleman.

[SenorPipino]

Arguello and Salvador Sanchez were my favorite fighters at the time, and of all-time, really. Years later I became a big Chavez fan.

Alexis was everything you wanted in a fighter. My favorite things about fighters from earlier eras, especially latin fighters, was how often they fought. By the time a really good fighter reached the age of 21 or 22 you might have 40 or 50 pro fights.

Those days are gone forever.

On the money. We won't see a series of Latin fighters with at least 40 fights under their belt before taking a title shot.

Nobody's hungry like in the Golden Eras. Even true for many Latin American fighters.

Boxers are anointed God-like status if they're promoted smartly and remain unbeaten after 12 bouts. A title shot is forthcoming.

It's probably best for their health to take the quick, early money and run. Long careers in boxing obviously foreshadow difficult later years.

Checking the records, I see that Arguello received his first title shot in just his 35th fight, against the underappreciated featherweight champion Ernesto Marcel. The Panamanian defeated Arguello by 15 round decision.

Arguello then strung together 4 straight wins (including a KO of contender Art Hafey) and found himself granted another title shot just 9 months after the Marcel defeat.

It was against legendary Ruben Olivares at the Forum. Olivares had won the WBA belt that was vacated by the retiring Marcel.

El Puas fought a smart, strategic battle and was slightly ahead of a seemingly tiring Arguello entering the 13th round.

But Olivares may have gotten a bit overconfident and began exchanging heavy, inside punches with the stronger Arguello.

Arguello suddenly landed a very short left hook and Olivares crashed to the canvas.

Give the Mexican credit. He wobbled to his feet and and actually drove Arguello back with a series of hard punches.

During this frantic give and take, however, Arguello lashed out with a right uppercut and down went Olivares. He tried to rise but was counted out.

It was 1974. The era of Alexis Arguello had begun.