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Wilfred Raleigh Pastrano (November 27 1935—December 6 1997) was a light heavyweight boxer who held the world crown from 1963 until 1965.

rano was born in New Orleans. Pastrano's best friend, Ralph Dupas
Ralph Dupas

Ralph Dupas was a boxer from New Orleans who won the world light middleweight championship....
 started training in boxing at a local gym. Pastrano, who weighed over 250 pounds, decided to start working out with his friend.

As Willie lost weight, he realized two things.






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Wilfred Raleigh Pastrano (November 27 1935—December 6 1997) was a light heavyweight boxer who held the world crown from 1963 until 1965.

Early life

Pastrano was born in New Orleans. Pastrano's best friend, Ralph Dupas
Ralph Dupas

Ralph Dupas was a boxer from New Orleans who won the world light middleweight championship....
 started training in boxing at a local gym. Pastrano, who weighed over 250 pounds, decided to start working out with his friend.

As Willie lost weight, he realized two things. First, he loved boxing. Second, he hated getting hit. So, Pastrano developed a style of boxing in which he hardly got hit, and in return, tried not to hurt his opponent as well.

Pastrano was already married as a teenager, and by 1962, he and his wife Faye, had five children; John (born 1955), Donna (1957), Frank (1959), Nicholas (1960), and Angelo (1962).

Pro career

Pastrano began his career at the age of 16. He fought many heavyweights and outpointed heavyweight contenders Rex Layne
Rex Layne

Rex Layne was born in Lewiston, Utah, Utah on June 7,1928. He died on June 7,2000...
, Brian London
Brian London

Brian London He was an orthodox fighter, who was 6ft tall and fought at about 205 lbs. His nicknames in the ring were "The British Bulldog" and "The Blackpool Rock"....
 and Tom McNeeley
Tom McNeeley

Thomas "Tom" McNeeley, Jr., was a heavyweight Boxing in the 1950s and 1960s. He was from Arlington, Massachusetts, and played American football for Michigan State University....
.

The talented Pastrano won the light heavyweight championship when he outpointed the great Harold Johnson
Harold Johnson (boxer)

Harold Johnson was a professional boxing.Johnson won his first twenty four fights before losing a ten round decision to Archie Moore, who would be Johnson's biggest career rival....
 on a close 15 round decision. He successfully defended his crown by stopping Gregorio Peralta
Gregorio Peralta

Gregorio Manuel Peralta , better known as Gregorio "Goyo" Peralta, was an Argentina Boxing. Peralta enjoyed success as a both a light heavyweight and a heavyweight, one of a select group Latin American Heavyweights to attain world-class status....
 of Argentina
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
 on a TKO, and by coming back from a certain defeat on points to KO English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 challenger Terry Downes
Terry Downes

Terry Downes, is a retired British middleweight boxer....
 in 11 rounds in Manchester
Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. Manchester was granted City status in the United Kingdom in 1853....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
. Pastrano lost his crown when he was TKOed by Jose Torres
José Torres

Jos? Torres, known as "Chegui", was a Puerto Rican people professional boxing. As an amateur boxer, Torres won a silver medal in the junior middleweight at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne....
 in 10 rounds. In the Torres fight, Pastrano was knocked down for the only time in his career by a powerful left hook to the kidney. Pastrano retired after that match and never fought again.

Managed by the legendary Angelo Dundee
Angelo Dundee

Angelo Merena , better known in the boxing world as Angelo Dundee, is a boxing cornerman who has worked with 15 world boxing champions, including Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Jose Napoles, George Foreman, Jimmy Ellis, Carmen Basilio and Luis Rodriguez ....
, Pastrano was a smooth, quick boxer with a great left hand. He was a stablemate of Cassius Clay and often sparred with the future champion early in Clay's career. His talent was dissipated by his aversion to training and a fondness for partying and carousing. Nevertheless, he defeated most of the light heavyweight challengers of his generation. He also outpointed former light heavyweight champion Joey Maxim
Joey Maxim

Giuseppe Antonio Berardinelli, , was an USA Boxing. He was a light heavyweight champion of the world. He took the ring-name Joey Maxim from the Maxim gun, the world's first self-acting machine gun, based on his ability to rapidly throw a large number of left jabs....
, and boxed a draw with the legendary Archie Moore
Archie Moore

Archie Moore, Born Archibald Wright , was light heavyweight world boxing champion between 1952 and 1959 and had one of the longest professional careers in the history of his sport....
. He retired with a record of 63 wins (14 by KO), 13 losses and 8 draws.

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