Kid Gavilán

Gerardo González (January 6, 1926 – February 13, 2003), better known in the boxing world as Kid Gavilan, was a Cuban boxer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Gavilán was the former undisputed world welterweight champion from 1951 to 1954 having simultaneously held the NYSAC, WBA, and The Ring welterweight titles. The Boxing Writers Association of America named him Fighter of the Year in 1953. Gavilán was voted by The Ring magazine as the 26th greatest fighter of the last 80 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Gavilán was a 1966 inductee to The Ring magazine's Boxing Hall of Fame (disbanded in 1987), and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1990.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early career

Gavilan was managed by Yamil Chade, a boxing manager (based in Puerto Rico) who directed the careers of Wilfredo Gómez, Wilfred Benítez, Carlos De León and Félix Trinidad . He started as a professional boxer on the evening of June 5, 1943, when he beat Antonio Diaz by a decision in four rounds in Havana. His first 10 bouts were in Havana, and then he had one in Cienfuegos, but soon he returned to Havana for three more wins. After 14 bouts, he left Cuba for his first fight abroad, and he beat Julio César Jimenez by a decision in 10 rounds in his first of three consecutive fights in Mexico City. It was there that he suffered his first defeat, at the hands of Carlos Macalara by a decision. They had an immediate rematch, this time in Havana, and Gavilan avenged that loss, winning by decision too. Gavilan had a record of 25 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw already when he had his first fight on American soil. This happened on November 1, 1946, when he beat Johnny Ryan by a knockout in five rounds at New York City.Template:Citation needed

Move to the United States

He would split his time between the Eastern coast of the United States and Havana in 1947, a year in which he went 11-1-1 with 3 knockouts. However, by 1948 he had decided to stay in the United States indefinitely. That year, he met some very important fighters, like former world champion Ike Williams, who beat him by decision in ten, Tommy Bell, against whom Gavilan won by decision, Sugar Ray Robinson, who beat him by decision in ten, and Tony Pellone, with Gavilan obtaining a decision against Pellone.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

After beating Williams twice by decision, he met Robinson with Robinson's world Welterweight title on the line. He lost his first title try, when Robinson won a decision in 15 rounds. Back to the drawing board, he beat Rocky Castellani, the then lightweight world champion Beau Jack, and Laurent Dauthuille (the latter of whom fought Gavilan in Montreal, Quebec). All of them were beaten by decision in 10. In 1950, he went 10-4-1, beating Billy Graham, Sonny Horne, Robert Villemain, Eugene Hairston, and Tony Janiro among others.Template:Citation needed

World champion

In 1951 after beating Tommy Ciarlo twice, once in Caracas, Venezuela, and Hairston once again, he finally became a world champion when he beat Johnny Bratton for the world Welterweight title by a decision in 15 on May 18. He defended that title for the first time against Graham, winning by a decision, and promptly made four non-title bouts before the end of the year, including another win over Janiro and a draw in ten with Bratton.Template:Citation needed

In 1952 he defended the title with success against Bobby Dykes, Gil Turner, and with Graham in a third encounter between the two. All those fights were won by decision in 15. He also had five non-title bouts, including three that were a part of an Argentinian tour. His third fight with Graham was his first world title defense in Havana and his fight with Dykes marked the first time that a black man and a white man had a boxing fight in then-segregated Miami, Florida. In 1953, Gavilan retained the title by a knockout in ten against Chuck Davey, by a decision in 15 against Carmen Basilio and by a decision in 15 against Bratton. He had seven non-title bouts, losing to Danny Womber, but beating Ralph Tiger Jones. In 1954 Gavilan went up in weight. After two more points wins, he challenged world Middleweight champion Bobo Olson for the world title, but lost a decision in 15. Then, he went down in weight, and lost his world Welterweight championship, by a decision in 15 to Johnny Saxton. That same year, he appeared on a Telemundo Puerto Rico poster that promoted that country's first television transmission.Template:Citation needed

Personal life

Gavilan's wife, Leonor, gave birth to their daughters, Elena 1950,Victoria 1954, and son Gerardo in 1953.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After retiring from boxing Gavilán became one of Jehovah's Witnesses and was jailed under the Castro regime for preaching. In the 1980s he made a living selling sausages in Chicago.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Later career and retirement

From that point until 1958, when he retired, he had a career of ups and downs. He lost to Dykes, Jones, Eduardo Lausse, former world champion Tony DeMarco, Vince Martinez and Gaspar Ortega, but he also beat Ortega, Jones and Chico Vejar, among others. After losing to Yama Bahama by decision in ten on June 18, 1958, he never fought again, announcing his retirement on September 11 of that year. Gavilan was never knocked out in his professional career. He had a record of 107 wins, 30 losses and 6 draws, with one no contest and 27 wins by knockout in a career that spanned 143 professional fights.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Death

Gavilan died in Miami, Florida of a heart attack at age 77.<ref>New York Times obituary for Kid Gavilan, February 15, 2003; accessed January 19, 2014.</ref>

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
143	Template:No2Loss	108–30–5	Yama Bahama	UD	10	Jun 18, 1958	Template:Small
142	Template:Yes2Win	108–29–5	Ralph Jones	SD	10	Apr 4, 1958	Template:Small
141	Template:No2Loss	107–29–5	Ralph Jones	SD	10	Feb 19, 1958	Template:Small
140	Template:Yes2Win	107–28–5	Walter Byars	UD	10	Nov 20, 1957	Template:Small
139	Template:No2Loss	106–28–5	Gaspar Ortega	SD	12	Oct 22, 1957	Template:Small
138	Template:Yes2Win	106–27–5	Gaspar Ortega	UD	10	Jul 31, 1957	Template:Small
137	Template:No2Loss	105–27–5	Vince Martinez	PTS	10	Jun 17, 1957	Template:Small
136	Template:No2Loss	105–26–5	Del Flanagan	UD	10	Apr 24, 1957	Template:Small
135	Template:No2Loss	105–25–5	Vince Martinez	PTS	10	Feb 26, 1957	Template:Small
134	Template:No2Loss	105–24–5	Ramon Fuentes	SD	10	Dec 20, 1956	Template:Small
133	Template:No2Loss	105–23–5	Walter Byars	SD	10	Dec 4, 1956	Template:Small
132	Template:Yes2Win	105–22–5	Chico Vejar	UD	10	Nov 13, 1956	Template:Small
131	Template:No2Loss	104–22–5	Tony DeMarco	UD	10	Oct 13, 1956	Template:Small
130	Template:Yes2Win	104–21–5	Jimmy Beecham	SD	10	Aug 28, 1956	Template:Small
129	Template:DrawDraw	103–21–5	Louis Trochon	PTS	10	May 12, 1956	Template:Small
128	Template:Yes2Win	103–21–4	Peter Waterman	PTS	10	Apr 24, 1956	Template:Small
127	Template:No2Loss	102–21–4	Germinal Ballarin	PTS	10	Mar 29, 1956	Template:Small
126	Template:No2Loss	102–20–4	Peter Waterman	PTS	10	Feb 7, 1956	Template:Small
125	Template:No2Loss	102–19–4	Dogomar Martinez	PTS	10	Dec 3, 1955	Template:Small
124	Template:No2Loss	102–18–4	Eduardo Lausse	PTS	12	Sep 3, 1955	Template:Small
123	Template:Yes2Win	102–17–4	Juan Bautista Burgues	KO	7 (10)	Aug 13, 1955	Template:Small
122	Template:Yes2Win	101–17–4	Cirilo Gil	PTS	10	Jul 24, 1955	Template:Small
121	Template:Yes2Win	100–17–4	Luigi Cemulini	KO	3 (10)	Jun 2, 1955	Template:Small
120	Template:No2Loss	99–17–4	Bobby Dykes	UD	10	Mar 16, 1955	Template:Small
119	Template:No2Loss	99–16–4	Hector Constance	UD	10	Feb 23, 1955	Template:Small
118	Template:Yes2Win	99–15–4	Ernie Durando	SD	10	Feb 4, 1955	Template:Small
117	Template:No2Loss	98–15–4	Johnny Saxton	UD	15	Oct 20, 1954	Template:Small	Template:Small
116	Template:No2Loss	98–14–4	Bobo Olson	MD	15	Apr 2, 1954	Template:Small	Template:Small
115	Template:Yes2Win	98–13–4	Livio Minelli	UD	10	Mar 8, 1954	Template:Small
114	Template:Yes2Win	97–13–4	Johnny Cunningham	UD	10	Feb 23, 1954	Template:Small
113	Template:Yes2Win	96–13–4	Johnny Bratton	UD	15	Nov 13, 1953	Template:Small	Template:Small
112	Template:Yes2Win	95–13–4	Carmen Basilio	SD	15	Sep 18, 1953	Template:Small	Template:Small
111	Template:Yes2Win	94–13–4	Ralph Jones	UD	10	Aug 26, 1953	Template:Small
110	Template:Yes2Win	93–13–4	Ramon Fuentes	UD	10	Jul 15, 1953	Template:Small
109	Template:Yes2Win	92–13–4	Italo Scortichini	UD	10	Jun 10, 1953	Template:Small
108	Template:No2Loss	91–13–4	Danny Womber	UD	10	May 2, 1953	Template:Small
107	Template:Yes2Win	91–12–4	Livio Minelli	SD	10	Apr 14, 1953	Template:Small
106	Template:Yes2Win	90–12–4	Chuck Davey	TKO	10 (15)	Feb 11, 1953	Template:Small	Template:Small
105	Template:Yes2Win	89–12–4	Vic Cardell	UD	10	Jan 21, 1953	Template:Small
104	Template:Yes2Win	88–12–4	Aman Peck	UD	10	Jan 13, 1953	Template:Small
103	Template:Yes2Win	87–12–4	Billy Graham	UD	15	Oct 5, 1952	Template:Small	Template:Small
102	Template:Yes2Win	86–12–4	Eduardo Lausse	PTS	10	Sep 13, 1952	Template:Small
101	Template:Yes2Win	85–12–4	Rafael Merentino	TKO	9 (12)	Sep 6, 1952	Template:Small
100	Template:Yes2Win	84–12–4	Mario Diaz	MD	10	Aug 16, 1952	Template:Small
99	Template:Yes2Win	83–12–4	Gil Turner	TKO	11 (15)	Jul 7, 1952	Template:Small	Template:Small
98	Template:Yes2Win	82–12–4	Fritzie Pruden	TKO	6 (10)	May 28, 1952	Template:Small
97	Template:Yes2Win	81–12–4	Ralph Zannelli	UD	10	May 19, 1952	Template:Small
96	Template:Yes2Win	80–12–4	Don Williams	SD	10	Feb 28, 1952	Template:Small
95	Template:Yes2Win	79–12–4	Bobby Dykes	SD	15	Feb 4, 1952	Template:Small	Template:Small
94	Template:Yes2Win	78–12–4	Walter Cartier	TKO	10 (10)	Dec 14, 1951	Template:Small
93	Template:DrawDraw	77–12–4	Johnny Bratton	PTS	10	Nov 28, 1951	Template:Small
92	Template:Yes2Win	77–12–3	Tony Janiro	TKO	4 (10)	Nov 7, 1951	Template:Small
91	Template:Yes2Win	76–12–3	Bobby Rosado	KO	7 (10)	Oct 4, 1951	Template:Small
90	Template:Yes2Win	75–12–3	Billy Graham	SD	15	Aug 29, 1951	Template:Small	Template:Small
89	Template:Yes2Win	74–12–3	Fritzie Pruden	UD	10	Jul 16, 1951	Template:Small
88	Template:Yes2Win	73–12–3	Johnny Bratton	UD	15	May 18, 1951	Template:Small	Template:Small
87	Template:Yes2Win	72–12–3	Aldo Minelli	UD	10	Apr 20, 1951	Template:Small
86	Template:Yes2Win	71–12–3	Gene Hairston	UD	10	Mar 30, 1951	Template:Small
85	Template:Yes2Win	70–12–3	Tommy Ciarlo	TKO	8 (10)	Mar 10, 1951	Template:Small
84	Template:Yes2Win	69–12–3	Tommy Ciarlo	PTS	10	Feb 19, 1951	Template:Small
83	Template:Yes2Win	68–12–3	Paddy Young	MD	10	Jan 26, 1951	Template:Small
82	Template:Yes2Win	67–12–3	Joe Miceli	SD	10	Dec 22, 1950	Template:Small
81	Template:Yes2Win	66–12–3	Tony Janiro	UD	10	Dec 4, 1950	Template:Small
80	Template:Yes2Win	65–12–3	Billy Graham	MD	10	Nov 17, 1950	Template:Small
79	Template:No2Loss	64–12–3	Gene Hairston	SD	10	Oct 30, 1950	Template:Small
78	Template:DrawDraw	64–11–3	Tommy Ciarlo	PTS	10	Oct 23, 1950	Template:Small
77	Template:Yes2Win	64–11–2	Johnny Greco	KO	6 (10)	Aug 16, 1950	Template:Small
76	Template:Yes2Win	63–11–2	Phil Burton	PTS	10	Jul 13, 1950	Template:Small
75	Template:Yes2Win	62–11–2	Sonny Horne	PTS	10	Jul 3, 1950	Template:Small
74	Template:Yes2Win	61–11–2	Bobby Mann	PTS	10	Jun 19, 1950	Template:Small
73	Template:Yes2Win	60–11–2	Mike Koballa	UD	10	Jun 8, 1950	Template:Small
72	Template:Yes2Win	59–11–2	Georgie Small	UD	10	May 26, 1950	Template:Small
71	Template:No2Loss	58–11–2	George Costner	MD	10	May 8, 1950	Template:Small
70	Template:No2Loss	58–10–2	Robert Villemain	SD	10	Mar 20, 1950	Template:Small
69	Template:Yes2Win	58–9–2	Otis Graham	SD	10	Mar 6, 1950	Template:Small
68	Template:No2Loss	57–9–2	Billy Graham	SD	10	Feb 10, 1950	Template:Small
67	Template:Yes2Win	57–8–2	Bobby Lee	PTS	10	Dec 17, 1949	Template:Small
66	Template:Yes2Win	56–8–2	Laurent Dauthuille	UD	10	Nov 21, 1949	Template:Small
65	Template:No2Loss	55–8–2	Lester Felton	SD	10	Oct 21, 1949	Template:Small
64	Template:Yes2Win	55–7–2	Beau Jack	UD	10	Oct 14, 1949	Template:Small
63	Template:Yes2Win	54–7–2	Rocky Castellani	UD	10	Sep 9, 1949	Template:Small
62	Template:No2Loss	53–7–2	Sugar Ray Robinson	UD	15	Jul 11, 1949	Template:Small	Template:Small
61	Template:Yes2Win	53–6–2	Cliff Hart	TKO	2 (10)	Jun 2, 1949	Template:Small
60	Template:Yes2Win	52–6–2	Al Priest	UD	10	May 2, 1949	Template:Small
59	Template:Yes2Win	51–6–2	Ike Williams	UD	10	Apr 1, 1949	Template:Small
58	Template:Yes2Win	50–6–2	Ike Williams	MD	10	Jan 28, 1949	Template:Small
57	Template:Yes2Win	49–6–2	Abdeslam ben Buker	PTS	10	Dec 11, 1948	Template:Small
56	Template:Yes2Win	48–6–2	Tony Pellone	UD	10	Nov 12, 1948	Template:Small
55	Template:Yes2Win	47–6–2	Vinnie Rossano	TKO	6 (10)	Oct 21, 1948	Template:Small
54	Template:No2Loss	46–6–2	Sugar Ray Robinson	UD	10	Sep 23, 1948	Template:Small
53	Template:Yes2Win	46–5–2	Buster Tyler	UD	10	Aug 12, 1948	Template:Small
52	Template:Yes2Win	45–5–2	Roman Alvarez	UD	10	Jul 22, 1948	Template:Small
51	Template:Yes2Win	44–5–2	Rocco Rossano	KO	1 (10)	May 28, 1948	Template:Small
50	Template:Yes2Win	43–5–2	Tommy Bell	SD	10	Apr 26, 1948	Template:Small
49	Template:No2Loss	42–5–2	Doug Ratford	UD	10	Apr 13, 1948	Template:Small
48	Template:No2Loss	42–4–2	Ike Williams	UD	10	Feb 27, 1948	Template:Small
47	Template:Yes2Win	42–3–2	Vinnie Rossano	UD	10	Feb 13, 1948	Template:Small
46	Template:Yes2Win	41–3–2	Joe Curcio	TKO	2 (10)	Jan 23, 1948	Template:Small
45	Template:DrawDraw	40–3–2	Gene Burton	PTS	10	Jan 12, 1948	Template:Small
44	Template:DrawDraw	40–3–1	Buster Tyler	PTS	10	Dec 29, 1947	Template:Small
43	Template:Yes2Win	40–3	Bee Bee Wright	TKO	10 (10)	Nov 3, 1947	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	39–3	Billy Nixon	UD	8	Oct 23, 1947	Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	38–3	Billy Justine	UD	8	Sep 18, 1947	Template:Small
40	Template:Yes2Win	37–3	Charley Milan	TKO	1 (10)	Sep 15, 1947	Template:Small
39	Template:No2Loss	36–3	Doug Ratford	PTS	10	Sep 2, 1947	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	36–2	Bobby Lee	UD	10	Aug 18, 1947	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	35–2	Charley Williams	KO	2 (10)	Aug 11, 1947	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	34–2	Vince Gambill	KO	2 (10)	Apr 26, 1947	Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	33–2	Nick Moran	PTS	10	Mar 12, 1947	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	32–2	Baby Coullimber	PTS	10	Feb 22, 1947	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	31–2	Jose Garvia Alvarez	PTS	10	Feb 8, 1947	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	30–2	Julio Pedroso	PTS	10	Jan 25, 1947	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	29–2	Johnny Williams	PTS	10	Dec 13, 1946	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	28–2	Johnny Williams	UD	10	Dec 2, 1946	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	27–2	Johnny Ryan	TKO	5 (6)	Nov 1, 1946	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	26–2	Hankin Barrow	PTS	10	Sep 7, 1946	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	25–2	Jack Larrimore	KO	3 (10)	Aug 24, 1946	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	24–2	Hankin Barrow	KO	7 (10)	Aug 3, 1946	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	23–2	Chico Varona	PTS	10	Jun 22, 1946	Template:Small
24	Template:No2Loss	22–2	Tony Mar	PTS	10	May 4, 1946	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	22–1	Santiago Sosa	PTS	10	Mar 9, 1946	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	21–1	Jose Zorilla	KO	4 (10)	Mar 2, 1946	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	20–1	Kid Bururu	PTS	10	Feb 9, 1946	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	19–1	Kid Bururu	PTS	10	Jan 26, 1946	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	18–1	Johnny Suarez	PTS	10	Nov 17, 1945	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	17–1	Carlos Malacara	PTS	10	Nov 3, 1945	Template:Small
17	Template:No2Loss	16–1	Carlos Malacara	PTS	10	Sep 25, 1945	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	16–0	Pedro Ortega	KO	6 (10)	Sep 8, 1945	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	15–0	Julio Cesar Jimenez	PTS	10	Aug 11, 1945	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	14–0	Joe Pedroso	KO	4 (12)	Jul 7, 1945	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	13–0	Pedro Ortega	PTS	10	Jun 23, 1945	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	12–0	Julio Cesar Jimenez	PTS	10	May 26, 1945	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	11–0	Kid Bebo	KO	4 (10)	May 13, 1945	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	10–0	Santiago Sosa	KO	9 (10)	Apr 21, 1945	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	9–0	Joe Pedroso	PTS	10	Mar 10, 1945	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Bombon Oriental	PTS	10	Feb 10, 1945	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	Miguel Acevedo	PTS	10	Dec 23, 1944	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Bombon Oriental	PTS	10	Nov 25, 1944	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Juan Villalba	TKO	9 (10)	Oct 1, 1944	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Sergio Prieto	TKO	5 (6)	Sep 11, 1943	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Nanito Kid Dustet	PTS	6	Aug 7, 1943	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Bartolo Molina	PTS	4	Jun 12, 1943	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Antonio Diaz	PTS	6	Jun 5, 1943	Template:Small

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

• NYSAC welterweight champion (147 lbs)
• NBA (WBA) welterweight champion (147 lbs)

The Ring magazine titles

• The Ring welterweight champion (147 lbs)

Undisputed titles

• Undisputed welterweight champion

See also

• List of welterweight boxing champions

External links

• Template:Boxrec
• Kid Gavilan biodata, IBHOF.com; accessed January 19, 2014.
• https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1949
• https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1951
• https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1952
• https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1953
• https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1954
• Template:Find a Grave

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