Eleoncio Mercedes

Eleoncio Mercedes (September 12, 1957 – December 22, 1985) was a Dominican boxer, who was world champion in the Flyweight division.

Amateur career

As an amateur he competed for his native country at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was stopped in the first round of his opening round bout to Aleksandr Tkachenko of the Soviet Union. Mercedes was the flag bearer for the Dominican Republic in the 1976 opening ceremony.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Pro career

Born in La Romana, Mercedes campaigned most of his career in the western United States and in Mexico. He debuted as a professional boxer on July 2 of 1978 with a win over Darryl Jones in Stockton. He suffered his first defeat when he lost by a decision in Las Vegas to future world champion Joey Olivo, in Mercedes' third bout as a paid fighter.

Mercedes' first of 11 fights in a row in Mexico came in 1979, when he lost by a knockout in seven rounds to Juan Díaz. During that span of 11 fights in Mexico, he went 6-3-2, fighting in such places as Mexico City, Monterrey and Reynosa. He lost to Candido Tellez but also beat former world champion Guty Espadas, by a knockout in nine during that span.

His first fight in the Dominican Republic was a 1982 rematch with Diaz, held in Santo Domingo. He won the fight by a decision in twelve rounds, to avenge his defeat at the hands of Diaz. Up until that moment, Mercedes' record was of 10 wins, 6 losses and 2 draws, reason why it was a little surprising to his fans when the WBC announced it would give Mercedes a chance at becoming a world champion, against two time world champion Freddie Castillo, who was in his second reign. The two boxers met on November 6 of 1982, at Los Angeles. Mercedes caused another surprise among many boxing fans by defeating Castillo by a decision in 15 rounds and becoming WBC and Lineal Flyweight champion.

In his first defense, Mercedes put the titles on the line against the British boxer Charlie Magri. In round seven, the fight had to be stopped because of a cut suffered by Mercedes, which had been determined to be from a punch by Magri. Mercedes then lost his world Flyweight championships by a technical knockout in that round.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

After that, Mercedes kept on boxing, but had mixed fortunes. He managed to beat future world title challenger Alonzo Gonzalez by a decision, but lost to future world champion, Mexican German Torres by a knockout in the ninth round. Mercedes also lost a twelve-round decision to future world champion Raul Jibaro Perez, as well as being knocked out in the sixth round by former world Bantamweight champion Alberto Davila.

Death

A few days before Christmas in 1985, Mercedes was shot and killed by a policeman in his native La Romana, aged 28, after allegedly pulling a gun on the policeman. Mercedes had been drinking in a bar when he was shot to death. Confusion exists as to how this incident took place as some sources state the altercation happened after a car accident.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
28	Template:No2Loss	14–12–2	Alberto Dávila	RTD	6 (10)	Nov 7, 1985	Template:Small
27	Template:No2Loss	14–11–2	Raúl Pérez	UD	10	Sep 23, 1985	Template:Small
26	Template:No2Loss	14–10–2	Joel Meza	PTS	10	Oct 26, 1984	Template:Small
25	Template:No2Loss	14–9–2	Jong Kwan Chung	KO	5 (10), Template:Small	Jul 22, 1984	Template:Small
24	Template:No2Loss	14–8–2	Germán Torres	TKO	9 (10), Template:Small	Mar 15, 1984	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	14–7–2	Alonzo Gonzalez	PTS	10	Dec 8, 1983	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	13–7–2	Javier Brown	DQ	4 (?)	Jul 2, 1983	Template:Small
21	Template:No2Loss	12–7–2	Charlie Magri	TKO	7 (12), Template:Small	Mar 15, 1983	Template:Small	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	12–6–2	Freddy Castillo	SD	15	Nov 6, 1982	Template:Small	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	11–6–2	Juan Diaz	UD	12	Jul 17, 1982	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	10–6–2	Antonio Escobar	TKO	10 (?)	Feb 13, 1982	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	9–6–2	Juan Guzman	TKO	1 (?)	Sep 8, 1981	Template:Small
16	Template:No2Loss	8–6–2	Candido Tellez	DQ	2 (?)	Jun 20, 1981	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	8–5–2	Jorge Herrera	PTS	10	May 9, 1981	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	7–5–2	Jose Herrera	PTS	10	Apr 3, 1981	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	6–5–2	Guty Espadas	TKO	9 (10)	Feb 21, 1981	Template:Small
12	Template:DrawDraw	5–5–2	Jorge de Jesus	PTS	10	Jan 3, 1981	Template:Small
11	Template:DrawDraw	5–5–1	Jose Luis Cruz	PTS	10	Nov 1, 1980	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	5–5	Rafael Morales	PTS	10	Sep 6, 1980	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	4–5	Baldomero Santos	PTS	10	Jan 25, 1980	Template:Small
8	Template:No2Loss	3–5	Jose Gallegos	PTS	10	Dec 21, 1979	Template:Small
7	Template:No2Loss	3–4	Juan Diaz	TKO	7 (?)	Sep 29, 1979	Template:Small
6	Template:No2Loss	3–3	Adelaido Galindo	UD	10	Mar 10, 1979	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	3–2	Chocolate Reyes	SD	10	Nov 29, 1978	Template:Small
4	Template:No2Loss	2–2	Aaron Morua	SD	10	Aug 30, 1978	Template:Small
3	Template:No2Loss	2–1	Joey Olivo	UD	10	Aug 10, 1978	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Juan Garcia	PTS	5	Jul 13, 1978	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Darryl Jones	PTS	6	Jul 2, 1978	Template:Small

Honors

The Polideportivo Eleoncio Mercedes Coliseum in La Romana, which opened in 1983, is named after him.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• List of world flyweight boxing champions
• List of people from the Dominican Republic

External links

• Template:Boxrec
• Eleoncio Mercedes - CBZ Profile
• Template:Olympedia