John Budinich

Name: John Budinich
Birth Name: Juan Budinich Taborga
Hometown: Valparaiso, Chile
Birthplace: Coquimbo, Chile
Died: 1945-07-29 (Age:66)
Pro Boxer: Record

John Budinich Gallery

John Budinich was born in Chile and had the rare distinction of being a boxing pioneer in Chile, Panama and Cuba.

Budinich was Chile's first professional boxer and a pioneer boxing coach. He also lived in Cuba from 1910-1915 where he opened the nation's first boxing academy, becoming Havana's first promoter and was also a main event fighter in his own shows.

As a trainer he worked with of dozens of fighters including South American Heavyweight Champion Heriberto Rojas, the well-known American journeyman Calvin Respress, triple Mexican national champion Mike Febles, and Cuban national flyweight king Victor Achan.

In the 1940s he was awarded a special retirement pension by the Chilean government. In 2014 the city of Coquimbo in Chile named a street in his honor.

Record compiled by IBRO historian Enrique Encinosa and Chilean historian Jorge Andres Vergara. See also, Encinosa's article published in IBRO Journal No. 104, pp. 33-37 (2009): [1]

• "The Life and Times of a Boxing Pioneer" by Enrique Encinsosa: [2]