Roberto Duran 57-1-0 vs. Alvaro Rojas 4-4-0 'Title Fight'

[Rover]

It was short and explosive.

[Rover]

Attempting to see who Carlos Eleta turned down, as he was 'over-protective' of his fighter.

There were several 'decent Lightweights' proposed, but all were turned down.

According to Hugo Solera, a Costa Rican Sportswriter,

Alvaro Rojas Peleo' was originally from Cuba. He was one of the better Cuban Amatuer Featherweight
boxers, and had posted a record of 91-11, including winning several Caribbean and Central American Tournaments.

A 5' 8" boxer-puncher, with pretty good movement and snappy overhand rights. Up thru October 1974 had
compiled an 'undefeated' record of 27-0-0 (12 KO's), according to the Costa Rican Boxing Registry.

A lot of that couldn't be verified; records get inflated quite a bit in places with poor recordkeeping.

[Rover]

True on the Central American Records,

I have Alvaro Rojas competing at the 1970 Central American Games (March 1970) in the 63.5 (-Kg)
139 lb. Light Welterweight division.

Turned professional after the 1971 Pan Am Games, and in Costa Rica as a Lightweight.

Was undefeated heading into the bout with Antonio Amaya, but not at 27-0-0.........

Amaya was a Panamanian Leonel Hernandez--very unfortunate fighter.

[Rover]

More on Alvaro Rojas,,,

October 31, 1974 (Costa Rica)

Centro Americana Federacion Lightweight Championship (12-Round Bout)

Alvaro Rojas Pepeo' (Costa Rica) ~ 20-0-0 (11 KO's) ~Age; 24
vs.
Pedro "Pepe El Toro" Antonio Zuniga Mendoza (Nicaragua) ~ 18-0-0 (9 KO's) ~ Age; 20

The 'winner' was supposed to meet WBA Lightweight Champion - Roberto Duran next.

After a competitively fought bout, 'Pepe El Toro" suffered a sprained ankle after getting
knocked down in Round 8. He came out for Round 9, but after not being able to move
properly, the bout was stopped by his corner.

Alvaro Rojas was awared a TKO 9 victory, and with it the Central American Lightweight
Championship.

And they both got a shot at Duran, though they didn't last long.

[Rover]

More on Pepe El Toro later,,,,,,,,,

Alvaro Rojas was the #8 WBC Lightweight when he fought Ishimatsu 'Guts' Suzuki, in December 1975
and had a posted record of 23-3-0 (7 KO's), according to the WBC on Japanese Television.

"according to the WBC"

[Rover]

WBC.......... DD

Seems that Arturo 'Tury the Fury' Pineda was supposed to get a rematch with Mr. Suzuki, but
he lost to Randy Shields in August 1975, so the WBC needed to fill-the-bill in December 1975.

It was the last 'days' for WBC President - Ramon G. Velazquez who approved Alvaro Rojas Pepeo'.

Mr. Integrity - Jose Suliaman took over in December 1975.

How'd Rojas last so long in that fight?

[Rover]

Got to dig a little.......

Somebody must have thought highly of Alvaro after winning that 'paper' Central American Lightweight Title
in October 1974.

The sanctioning orgs.

[Rover]

Alvaro Rojas actually fought very well in Japan.

Despite not having a 'big-punch', Alvaro was the aggressor for most of the bout,
backing up the WBC Lightweight Champion - Ishimatsu 'Guts' Suzuki.

The Champion had a done a decent job of landing the better blow's thru 10 Rounds, but
the Costa Rican Challenger was throwing more punches while always moving forward.

After 10-Rounds,
The '3' Japanese Officials had the Champion up by, 6 ~ 4 ~ 8 points.

But in Rounds 11 and 12, Alvaro started the press the action as Ishimatsu began to tire,
and was only throwing an infrequent punch while backing up. Alvaro on the other hand
stayed busy by throwing an assortment of light-punches while always moving forward.

In Round 13, Alvaro continued to press-and-wing, but missed many of his wide punches.
The Champion was able to counter with some effective, but minimally thrown lefts in
an equally battled Round.

Scorecards after 13-Rounds;
* 128-124 (6-2-5 in Rounds)
* 127-125 (5-3-5 in Rounds)
* 128-121 (8-1-3 in Rounds)

In Round 14, Alvaro again came out aa the aggressor, but he had little on his punches as he
pressed the Champion who was backing away and would offer up an occassional counter.

With about 20-Seconds left in the Round, Ishimatsu landed a decent right, and then backed
up across the Ring as Alvaro followed. Then as the Challenger leaned in - the Champion whipped
a hard right uppercut that caught Alvaro flush at the {2:48 Mark), and he went down hurt.

He was counted out at 2:58 of Round 14.

It was a good effort by the Costa Rican Challenger, who many gave 'no-chance' at all.

Thanks for the summary.

[Rover]

Somewhere between losing to Ishimatsu 'Guts' Suzuki in (December 1975) and before Challenging
Roberto Duran for the WBA Lightweight Title on October 15, 1976 - Alvaro Rojas posted '3' Decision victories.

The WBA had his 'fight record' at 26-4-0 (7 KO's) and ranked #9 WBA- as well as the Centro Americana
Lightweight Champion. Yet, the Associated Press had the Costa Rican's record at 49-6-0 (17 KO's), and
had been fighting as a professional since 1971.

His 'main role', before the Championship Bout, was that of Roberto Duran's sparring partner.

CBS-TV and Don King paid Roberto $125,000 for that 1-Round 'blow-out'.

AP = Roberto Duran stands over Alvaro Rojas like an uncaged animal after landing a single right hand
to the temple that laid out his challenger on the canvas for 5-Minutes.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... SzApIQq92w

Brutal KO.
Hilarious about the record confusion.

[Rover]

Just before Ishimatsu 'Guts' Suzuki at {23-3-0} and Roberto Duran {47-6-0},,,,,

Alvaro Rojas went {24-3-0} in 10-Months,,,,,,,,,

That sounds like one busy Costa Rican,,,,,,he must have gotten into a fight every time
he left his 'mi casa'....... DD

Plus, acting as a sparring partner for Roberto Duran in between fights......

Should have been Ring Magazine's 'Challenger of the Year' between (December 1975 and October 1976) -
or 10-Month 'Challenger of the Year'.

You listed Duran at 47-6.

[Rover]

No, that is Mr. Rojas' record.

He was listed at 23-3-0 for the Ishimatsu bout.

He was listed at 47-6-0 for the Roberto bout.

The way you did that looked like it does when you list the records of fighters before their bouts.