Carlos De León
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Carlos De León | |
---|---|
Statistics | |
Nickname(s) | Sugar |
Weight(s) | Cruiserweight |
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
Nationality | Puerto Rican |
Born | Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico | May 3, 1959
Died | January 1, 2020 Buffalo, New York | (aged 60)
Stance | Orthodox |
Boxing record | |
Total fights | 61 |
Wins | 52 |
Wins by KO | 32 |
Losses | 8 |
Draws | 1 |
Carlos De León, also known as "Sugar" De Leon, (May 3, 1959 – January 1, 2020) was a Puerto Rican boxer who made history by becoming the first cruiserweight to win the world title twice. Subsequently, he kept breaking his own record for the most times as cruiserweight champion by regaining the title on two further occasions.
Career[]
De León, a native of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, first won a world title when replacing David Pearce (the Great Britain fighting man who had KO'd him in a sparring session at Angelo Dundee Boxing gym) to face the WBC world champion Marvin Camel on November 25, 1980, on the undercard of Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Durán's second fight in New Orleans. De León outpointed Camel over fifteen rounds. In a rematch later, De León knocked out Camel in eight rounds. When his countryman Ossie Ocasio won the WBA world title, De León and Ocasio became the second pair of Puerto Ricans to share world titles in the same division at the same time; Alfredo Escalera and Samuel Serrano had achieved the feat in the 1970s in the junior lightweight division.
Taking loss[]
De León lost his title in a shocking upset to former Gerry Cooney victim S. T. Gordon by a knockout in round two in Cleveland in 1982, and won a comeback fight versus former world heavyweight champion Leon Spinks by a knockout in round six in 1983. After that, he and Gordon boxed a rematch in Las Vegas, and De León dropped Gordon once in the first round and once in the twelfth, en route to a unanimous decision win in a history-making bout: De León had now become the first boxer to win the world cruiserweight title twice.
Champion again[]
He defended his title against Yaqui López by a knockout in four at San Jose, California, and with decisions over and . The Davis bout took place in Las Vegas and the fight with Ali was in Oakland, California. De León next lost his title in Las Vegas to Alfonzo Ratliff in a decision. Ratliff was in turn beaten by Bernard Benton, who defended against De León on March 22, 1986, once again in Las Vegas. De León joined the likes of Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali in becoming one of the few boxers ever to win one division's world championship at least three times, defeating Benton by decision.
Once more[]
He made a couple of defenses in Italy and then in 1988, he defended the title against Uruguayan José María Flores Burlón in Atlantic City, New Jersey, winning by twelve rounds in a unanimous decision but then he lost his titles in a unification bout with WBA world champion Evander Holyfield, by technical knockout in the eighth round, also in Las Vegas. But Holyfield soon left the division to pursue the world heavyweight championship, and De León was left with an open door to break his own record and win the title for a record fourth time. He went to London, where he beat the WBC's number two ranked contender, Sammy Reeson, by a knockout in the ninth round, breaking his own record and was crowned world cruiserweight champion once again.
Holding on[]
Carlos held on to the title for two years until finally losing it to Massimiliano Duran in Italy in an eleventh-round disqualification. He gained the title by his aforementioned win over Sammy Reeson. He made a defense by drawing with Johnny Nelson before the loss to Massimilano Duran mentioned earlier.
After boxing[]
During the 1990s, De León ran afoul of the law a number of times, once while he was carrying a rifle. He worked on helping the professional boxing career of his son, prospect .
He died on January 1, 2020, due to a cardiac arrest.[1] He was 60.
Professional boxing record[]
62 fights | 53 wins | 8 losses |
---|---|---|
By knockout | 33 | 5 |
By decision | 20 | 2 |
By disqualification | 0 | 1 |
Draws | 1 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
62 | Loss | 53–8–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (8) | Nov 24, 1995 | ![]() |
|
61 | Loss | 53–7–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 1 (10), 0:49 | Aug 13, 1994 | ![]() |
|
60 | Win | 53–6–1 | ![]() |
MD | 10 | Feb 17, 1994 | ![]() |
|
59 | Win | 52–6–1 | ![]() |
PTS | 8 | Jan 14, 1994 | ![]() |
|
58 | Win | 51–6–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 5 (?) | Nov 5, 1993 | ![]() |
|
57 | Win | 50–6–1 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (8) | Jun 19, 1993 | ![]() |
|
56 | Win | 49–6–1 | ![]() |
PTS | 6 | May 15, 1993 | ![]() |
|
55 | Win | 48–6–1 | ![]() |
UD | 10 | Mar 13, 1993 | ![]() |
|
54 | Win | 47–6–1 | ![]() |
UD | 10 | Jan 22, 1993 | ![]() |
|
53 | Win | 46–6–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 4 (10) | Jun 27, 1992 | ![]() |
|
52 | Loss | 45–6–1 | ![]() |
DQ | 11 (12) | Jul 27, 1990 | ![]() |
Lost WBC cruiserweight title; DeLeon disqualified for hitting after the bell |
51 | Draw | 45–5–1 | ![]() |
SD | 12 | Jan 27, 1990 | ![]() |
Retained WBC cruiserweight title |
50 | Win | 45–5 | ![]() |
TKO | 9 (12), 2:04 | May 17, 1989 | ![]() |
Won vacant WBC cruiserweight title |
49 | Loss | 44–5 | ![]() |
TKO | 8 (12), 1:08 | Apr 9, 1988 | ![]() |
Lost WBC cruiserweight title; For WBA, and IBF cruiserweight titles |
48 | Win | 44–4 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | Jan 22, 1988 | ![]() |
Retained WBC cruiserweight title |
47 | Win | 43–4 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (10), 1:33 | Aug 1, 1987 | ![]() |
Retained WBC cruiserweight title |
46 | Win | 42–4 | ![]() |
TKO | 5 (12) | Feb 21, 1987 | ![]() |
Retained WBC, and The Ring cruiserweight titles |
45 | Win | 41–4 | ![]() |
TKO | 8 (12), 1:43 | Aug 10, 1986 | ![]() |
Retained WBC, and The Ring cruiserweight titles |
44 | Win | 40–4 | ![]() |
MD | 12 | Mar 22, 1986 | ![]() |
Won WBC, and The Ring cruiserweight titles |
43 | Loss | 39–4 | ![]() |
SD | 12 | Jun 6, 1985 | ![]() |
Lost WBC, and The Ring cruiserweight titles |
42 | Win | 39–3 | ![]() |
TKO | 9 (10) | Jan 12, 1985 | ![]() |
|
41 | Win | 38–3 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | Jun 2, 1984 | ![]() |
Retained WBC, and The Ring cruiserweight titles |
40 | Win | 37–3 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | Mar 9, 1984 | ![]() |
Retained WBC, and The Ring cruiserweight titles |
39 | Win | 36–3 | ![]() |
TKO | 4 (12), 2:51 | Sep 21, 1983 | ![]() |
Retained WBC cruiserweight title |
38 | Win | 35–3 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | Jul 17, 1983 | ![]() |
Won WBC cruiserweight title |
37 | Win | 34–3 | ![]() |
RTD | 6 (10), 3:00 | Mar 6, 1983 | ![]() |
|
36 | Win | 33–3 | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | Nov 26, 1982 | ![]() |
|
35 | Loss | 32–3 | ![]() |
TKO | 2 (15), 2:51 | Jun 27, 1982 | ![]() |
Lost WBC cruiserweight title |
34 | Win | 32–2 | ![]() |
TKO | 8 (15) | Feb 24, 1982 | ![]() |
Retained WBC cruiserweight title |
33 | Win | 31–2 | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (10), 1:38 | Dec 12, 1981 | ![]() |
|
32 | Win | 30–2 | ![]() |
MD | 15 | Nov 25, 1980 | ![]() |
Won WBC cruiserweight title |
31 | Win | 29–2 | ![]() |
PTS | 8 | Jun 28, 1980 | ![]() |
|
30 | Win | 28–2 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (12), 0:28 | Apr 25, 1980 | ![]() |
|
29 | Win | 27–2 | ![]() |
TKO | 4 (12), 1:15 | Sep 25, 1979 | ![]() |
|
28 | Win | 26–2 | ![]() |
TKO | 1 (10) | Aug 25, 1979 | ![]() |
|
27 | Win | 25–2 | ![]() |
TKO | 1 (?), 1:25 | Apr 8, 1979 | ![]() |
|
26 | Win | 24–2 | ![]() |
TKO | 2 (10), 2:46 | Jan 27, 1979 | ![]() |
|
25 | Win | 23–2 | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | Nov 18, 1978 | ![]() |
|
24 | Win | 22–2 | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (10) | Sep 26, 1978 | ![]() |
|
23 | Win | 21–2 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (10), 2:14 | Sep 8, 1978 | ![]() |
|
22 | Win | 20–2 | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (10), 2:28 | Apr 8, 1978 | ![]() |
|
21 | Win | 19–2 | ![]() |
TKO | 2 (?), 1:13 | Mar 25, 1978 | ![]() |
|
20 | Win | 18–2 | ![]() |
TKO | 5 (10) | Jan 28, 1978 | ![]() | |
19 | Win | 17–2 | ![]() |
TKO | 5 (10) | Nov 8, 1977 | ![]() |
|
18 | Win | 16–2 | Battling Douglas | TKO | 5 (10), 2:12 | Oct 14, 1977 | ![]() |
|
17 | Loss | 15–2 | ![]() |
PTS | 8 | Sep 10, 1977 | ![]() |
|
16 | Win | 15–1 | ![]() |
UD | 10 | Jul 29, 1977 | ![]() |
|
15 | Win | 14–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (?) | Jun 25, 1977 | ![]() |
|
14 | Win | 13–1 | Antonio Colon | TKO | 6 (?) | Feb 12, 1977 | ![]() |
|
13 | Win | 12–1 | Carlos Soto | PTS | 8 | Oct 11, 1976 | ![]() |
|
12 | Win | 11–1 | Astor Agosto | PTS | 8 | Aug 16, 1976 | ![]() |
|
11 | Win | 10–1 | ![]() |
PTS | 8 | Jul 19, 1976 | ![]() |
|
10 | Win | 9–1 | Carlos Soto | PTS | 8 | Apr 5, 1976 | ![]() |
|
9 | Loss | 8–1 | ![]() |
PTS | 4 | Feb 15, 1976 | ![]() |
|
8 | Win | 8–0 | ![]() |
PTS | 8 | Sep 15, 1975 | ![]() |
|
7 | Win | 7–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (?) | Nov 11, 1975 | ![]() |
|
6 | Win | 6–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 4 (?) | May 17, 1975 | ![]() |
|
5 | Win | 5–0 | Kid Gavilan | TKO | 6 (?) | Apr 5, 1975 | ![]() |
|
4 | Win | 4–0 | Tripodi Guadalupe | TKO | 5 (?) | Mar 17, 1975 | ![]() |
|
3 | Win | 3–0 | Vernon Laws | TKO | 3 (?) | Nov 2, 1974 | ![]() |
|
2 | Win | 2–0 | Jesse Torres | TKO | 2 (?) | Oct 19, 1974 | ![]() |
|
1 | Win | 1–0 | Roy Harris | TKO | 4 (?) | Aug 3, 1974 | ![]() |
See also[]
- List of cruiserweight boxing champions
- List of WBC world champions
- List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions
- List of Puerto Ricans
References[]
External links[]
- 1959 births
- 2020 deaths
- People from Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
- Cruiserweight boxers
- World Boxing Council champions
- Puerto Rican male boxers