Eusebio Pedroza - RIP

[stujones]

RIP - Champ, died at 62 of Pancreatic Cancer...... poor guy, that's a real tough one.

I am shocked he was only 62 mind - I thought he was in his 30s fighting McGuigan.

[bennie]

Pedroza was an awesome fighter, a 15-round fighter who took his WBA featherweight title on the road and racked up an astonishing 19 successful defences before the unstoppable Barry McGuigan ended his seven year reign on a memorable night in London in the summer of 1985, a fight that attracted a TV audience of 19 million in the UK and a roaring crowd of 27,000. Typically, Pedroza took young Irishman the full 15 rounds when anyone else - surely - would have succumbed to McGuigan's frightening show of pressure. You got the feeling that Pedroza had seen it all before.
This man defended in Japan, Korea, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Italy, Papua New Guinea (yes, the jungle), turned back Rocky Lockridge, Bernard Taylor, Ruben Olivares and Juan LaPorte in the States and outclassed Guyana's gifted Patrick Ford just a few months after Ford had held Salvador Sanchez to a majority 15-round decision. He resorted to rough stuff in the LaPorte 15-rounder in Atlantic City in 1982 which had the Yanks screaming blue murder. How dare he foul one of our own! Nigel Benn got the same treatment after roughing up Iran Barkley in Las Vegas in 1990.
Pedroza was a giant of a featherweight and a giant of a man. His fitness was incredible. He was barely blowing between the later rounds of his fights and his death at the relatively young age of 62 is hard to comprehend. To those who lived through his amazing reign, he is strictly immortal.

[spudder56]

A truly great fighter RIP champ

[Loynesy]

What a fighter.

Barney Eastwood showed great judgement in bringing him over for Barry when he was just slightly over the hill (but what a hill).

[stujones]

What a fighter.

Barney Eastwood showed great judgement in bringing him over for Barry when he was just slightly over the hill (but what a hill).

I'm still shocked he was as young as that - no sure why- I've seen the fight but not the intros. I assumed he was 35/36 when he faced Finbar. I always LOVE Harry Carpenter's commentary (I actually think I prefer Harry to Reg) but he definitely gave the impression he was really at the end of his career.

[bigjack]

What a fighter.

Barney Eastwood showed great judgement in bringing him over for Barry when he was just slightly over the hill (but what a hill).

McGuigan was on fire then though so would have given anyone a tough time,but yes he was slightly on the slide but not much.

[bigjack]

What a fighter.

Barney Eastwood showed great judgement in bringing him over for Barry when he was just slightly over the hill (but what a hill).

I'm still shocked he was as young as that - no sure why- I've seen the fight but not the intros. I assumed he was 35/36 when he faced Finbar.

He had an old face for sure,looked mid thirties as you say.

[Coco]

A great of his time

[bennie]

The weigh-in for the McGuigan fight was hilarious. Pedroza jumped on the scales, took a deep breath, then jumped off and the WBA supervisor okayed him. Promoter Barney Eastwood turned up a few minutes later and went into a strop, claiming the weigh-in was held early and that Pedroza had failed to make the weight but the WBA supervisor stood firm, tapping his watch.

[Coco]

The weigh-in for the McGuigan fight was hilarious. Pedroza jumped on the scales, took a deep breath, then jumped off and the WBA supervisor okayed him. Promoter Barney Eastwood turned up a few minutes later and went into a strop, claiming the weigh-in was held early and that Pedroza had failed to make the weight but the WBA supervisor stood firm, tapping his watch.

Do you think he actually made the weight? I remember the controversy at the time

[bennie]

The weigh-in for the McGuigan fight was hilarious. Pedroza jumped on the scales, took a deep breath, then jumped off and the WBA supervisor okayed him. Promoter Barney Eastwood turned up a few minutes later and went into a strop, claiming the weigh-in was held early and that Pedroza had failed to make the weight but the WBA supervisor stood firm, tapping his watch.

Do you think he actually made the weight? I remember the controversy at the time

No, the scales hadn't even settled but Barney Eastwood should have been there and kicked up a stink at the time. Someone like Mickey Duff would have been there and insisted on Pedroza weighing in again. He made Jose Napoles weigh in again when he took John H. Stracey over to Mexico City in December 1975.

[olij999]

Papua New Guinea (yes, the jungle)

A 15,000-seater stadium in the nation's capital is hardly "the jungle", unless the intention was to comment negatively on an entire country? The actual fight is at - can't see any lions, gazelles or elephants in the background.

And RIP to Pedroza - a wonderful, globe-trotting champion for the ages.

[chiggsy]

Papua New Guinea (yes, the jungle)

A 15,000-seater stadium in the nation's capital is hardly "the jungle", unless the intention was to comment negatively on an entire country? The actual fight is at - can't see any lions, gazelles or elephants in the background.

And RIP to Pedroza - a wonderful, globe-trotting champion for the ages.

You didn't see the ring walk.

They swung from trees using their feet to get to the ring.

[olij999]

You didn't see the ring walk.

They swung from trees using their feet to get to the ring.

There was a title fight once where a fighter was carried to the ring in a tropical rainstorm so his boots didn't get wet on the ringwalk - was when Clyde Gray defended his Commonwealth welter title against Sakaria Ve in Fiji in 1978 (as he did so twice that year against Ve, I don't know if that was the first or second fight). However, Pedroza-Aba looks a bit different!