Richie Sandoval
Encyclopedia
Richard Sandoval (born 18 October 1960) was a Mexican-American professional boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 and is the former WBA
World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...

 Bantamweight
Bantamweight
Bantamweight is usually a class in boxing for boxers who weigh above 115 pounds and up to 118 pounds . However, in Mixed Martial Arts it is 134-136 pounds . Wrestling also has similar weight classes including bantamweight...

 Champion. Richard won a silver medal at the 1979 Pan American Games
Boxing at the 1979 Pan American Games
The Men's Boxing Tournament at the 1979 Pan American Games was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to July 15.- Medal winners :-Medal table:-External links:*...

 and was a U.S. Olympian during his amateur career. He's also the younger brother of title contender Alberto Sandoval
Alberto Sandoval
Alberto Sandoval was a Mexican-American professional boxer and is the older brother of former WBA Champion, Richie Sandoval.-Early life:...

.

Early life

He was born in Pomona, California
Pomona, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Pomona had a population of 149,058, a slight decline from the 2000 census population. The population density was 6,491.2 people per square mile...

, a city famous in pugilistic circles as a hot-bed for young boxing prospects, including Shane Mosley
Shane Mosley
“Sugar” Shane Mosley is an American professional boxer from Pomona, California who has held world titles in three weight divisions.-Amateur career:Mosley was an amateur standout, capturing various amateur titles, including:...

.

Sandoval's brother Alberto Sandoval
Alberto Sandoval
Alberto Sandoval was a Mexican-American professional boxer and is the older brother of former WBA Champion, Richie Sandoval.-Early life:...

 was a popular bantamweight
Bantamweight
Bantamweight is usually a class in boxing for boxers who weigh above 115 pounds and up to 118 pounds . However, in Mixed Martial Arts it is 134-136 pounds . Wrestling also has similar weight classes including bantamweight...

 of the 1970s, who unsuccessfully challenged Carlos Zarate and Lupe Pintor
Lupe Pintor
Jose Guadalupe Pintor Guzman , better known as Lupe Pintor, is a former world boxing champion from Cuajimalpa, Mexico. Nicknamed El Indio De Cuajimalpa or The Indian From Cuajimalpa, he started boxing professionally in 1974...

 for the world title.

The young Sandoval met another future world champion, Alberto Davila
Alberto Davila
Albert "Alberto" Dávila is a Mexican-American boxer who boxed during the 1970s and 1980s in the bantamweight division. During parts of 1983 and 1984, he held the World Boxing Council championship. Dávila lost world bantamweight championships matches three times, and temporarily left the sport...

, at Pomona boxing gyms. Eventually, they became friends, and they shared the burden of boxing's dangers later on in life.

Amateur career

He was a two-time National Golden Gloves Champion and from 1979-1980, Sandoval went onto win the National AAU Championship at Light Flyweight
Light flyweight
- Professional boxing :The weight limit at light flyweight in professional boxing is 108 pounds . When New York legalized boxing in 1920, the law stipulated a "junior flyweight" class, with a weight limit of 99 pounds. When the National Boxing Association was formed in 1921, it also recognized this...

 and then in the Flyweight
Flyweight
Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing less than 112 lb but above 108 lb .-Professional boxing:...

 division. Richard also made the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, but couldn't compete due to the U.S.A.'s boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.

Professional career

Richie Sandoval made his professional boxing debut on 5 November 1980, beating Gerardo Pedroza in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

 by a knockout in two rounds. He won his first ten fights by knockout, including two over fringe contender Javier Barajas. For his eleventh fight, Sandoval met Harold Petty, a boxer still fighting professionally at the age of 42 who challenged twice for world titles. On 28 January 1982, he outpointed the undefeated Petty over ten rounds, going on to seven more wins that year, including another ten-round points victory over Petty.

Sandoval had five wins in 1983, the year in which his friend Davila won the WBC
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...

 Bantamweight title by knocking out Kiko Bejines, who died days later. This introduced Sandoval to the darker side of boxing as he saw how hard it was for Davila to recover.

WBA Bantamweight Championship

Sandoval's next fight was held on 15 March 1984. Despite his record of 22 victories without any losses, including fifteen knockouts, he was a virtual unknown to most boxing fans when he met the WBA
World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...

 Bantamweight champion Jeff Chandler
Jeff Chandler (boxer)
"Joltin'" Jeff Chandler is a former boxer. Chandler reigned as the WBA Bantamweight Champion from November 1980 to April 1984....

 in Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...

. After dropping the champion in round eleven, Sandoval knocked Chandler out in round fifteen, to become champion in a major upset. He followed this up with his first trip abroad, to Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....

 on September 22. He outpointed the top ranked and well known Edgar Román‎ over fifteen rounds on the undercard of Donald Curry
Donald Curry
Donald Curry is a retired boxer from Fort Worth, Texas, United States. Nicknamed the "Lone Star Cobra," Curry was the Undisputed World Welterweight Champion and the WBC Super Welterweight Champion.-Amateur career:...

's sixth round knockout win over Nino LaRocca. He fought again on 15 December against Cardenio Ulloa, who was attempting to become the first Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

an world boxing champion in history. According to the report made by Ring En Español
Ring En Español
The Ring En Español was a Spanish version of boxing publication The Ring magazine. Ring En Español was published from 1977 to 1985. Originally published from Caracas, it moved in 1981 to Miami, to Editorial America , the same editorial house that oversaw the production of Cosmopolitans Spanish...

, Ulloa caused Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...

 to jump off his chair with excitement when he dropped Sandoval in the first round, but Sandoval recovered and retained the title with an eighth-round knockout.

By then, however, Sandoval was facing weight problems and he could barely make the weight even for fights in the Featherweight division, two divisions above Bantamweight, and he was forced to fight all his fights in 1985 as a Featherweight instead. He scored three ten round decisions that year and one in 1986, including wins over Frankie Duarte
Frankie Duarte
Frankie Duarte was an American boxer at Super Bantamweight.- Professional career :Frankie Duarte turned pro in 1993 and retired in 2010 after a decision loss to Casper....

 and Diego Avila
Diego Avila
Diego Avila is a field hockey midfielder from Argentina, who was a member of the Men's National Team that competed at the 2003 Champions Trophy in Amstelveen, Netherlands. He played club hockey for Cordóba HC in his home town....

.

Last bout & Title defence

After not defending his title for a year and a half, he was forced by the WBA to defend his title or be stripped of it. He chose to defend it, despite his problems making the weight. On 3 March 1986, Sandoval defended his title against Gaby Canizales
Gaby Canizales
Jose 'Gaby' Canizales is a retired American boxer who won world championships in the bantamweight division. -Pro career:Canizales turned pro in 1979 and in 1983 challenged Jeff Chandler for the World Boxing Association bantamweight title but lost a decision. In 1986 he landed a shot at Richie...

, as part of a super-undercard organized by promoter Bob Arum
Bob Arum
Robert "Bob" Arum is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. He also worked for the US Attorney's Office for the southern district of New York in the tax division....

, which included the Hearns
Thomas Hearns
Thomas "Hitman" Hearns is a retired American boxer. Nicknamed the "Motor City Cobra" and more famously "The Hitman", Hearns became the first boxer in history to win world titles in four divisions. He would also become the first fighter in history to win five world titles in five different divisions...

 versus Shuler
James Shuler
James Shuler was a U.S. Olympic and professional boxer from Philadelphia known as "Black Gold."-Amateur career:Shuler was the 1979 and 1980 National Golden Gloves Light Middleweight Champion....

 and Hagler
Marvin Hagler
Marvelous Marvin Hagler , is a former professional boxer who was undisputed world middleweight champion between 1980 and 1987. Hagler holds the distinction of having the highest KO% of all middleweight champions at 78%...

 versus Mugabi
John Mugabi
John "The Beast" Mugabi is a former boxer and world Jr. Middleweight champion. A world traveller, Mugabi was a part of an early 1980s Jr...

 encounters. Sandoval reportedly had to lose around twelve pounds in three days in order to be able to fight that night, staying off any solid foods and surviving only on water. Weakened and feeling the side-effects of such a sudden drop-off in weight, Sandoval suffered four knockdowns, but he fought on until the fifth knockdown, which happened in round seven, after which the referee stopped the fight. He fell unconscious a few minutes after the fight, stopping breathing for an estimated three minutes. He was rushed to hospital by local on-site paramedics, but he remained in critical condition for the next few nights. He had life-saving brain surgery, but the inevitable consequence was that Sandoval was obliged to retire. His final record was 29 wins and one loss, 17 wins by knockout.

Retirement

Sandoval later went touring across the United States with Davila, as each had been through both sides of a tragic boxing bout. They went on television talk-shows and public appearances to explain to the general public how a boxer feels (in Davila's case) after an opponent has died, and how a boxer can be so close to death in an instant after a fight (in Sandoval's case), and then having to deal with the fact that he or she will never be able to box again. Sandoval and Davila remain friends.

See also


External links

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