Ossie Ocasio

Osvaldo "Ossie" Ocasio (born August 12, 1955) is a Puerto Rican former boxer who held the World Cruiserweight Championship from 1982 to 1984. He was also a Top Contender and Heavyweight Challenger in 1979. He scored notable wins against Former Cruiserweight Champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi as well as beating Top Heavyweight Contender Jimmy Young and Heavyweight Contender Pierre Coetzer, as well as drawing with Future Heavyweight Champion Michael Dokes. Nicknamed "Jaws", his peculiar nickname was the result of him accidentally biting another boxer during a sparring session.

Heavyweight contender

Ocasio campaigned in the heavyweight division, turning pro in 1976 and putting together 10 wins before signing with Don King and making a name for himself outpointing King fighter Kevin Isaac.

In 1978 on the undercard of the Larry Holmes/Ken Norton title fight Ocasio scored a major upset when he outpointed the highly regarded Jimmy Young, who'd outpointed George Foreman only a while back. In a rematch, Ocasio underlined his superiority by again outpointing a this time in-shape Young, in Puerto Rico. It was Ocasio's career high in the Heavyweight division.

This earned him his only world heavyweight title shot, against Larry Holmes in 1979. Attempting to become the first Hispanic to win the world Heavyweight championship, Ocasio was badly outclassed and was knock out in the seventh round.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1980 he fought red hot undefeated prospect Michael Dokes and was unlucky to only get a draw. However a rematch saw Ocasio surprisingly knocked out in 1 round. The following year he travelled to the UK and made little effort against local prospect John L. Gardner, before collapsing without getting hit in the 6th round.

Cruiserweight World Champion

Template:Main Template:External media He later went down in weight, to fight in the then newly created division of the Cruiserweights. In 1982 he was matched with Robbie Williams in South Africa for the vacant WBA title. Ocasio became a world champion by beating Williams by a 15-round split decision. He shared honors as world champion of that division with countryman Carlos De León, the WBC world champion.

Ocasio made three successful defenses, winning 15-round decisions over Young Joe Louis and Randy Stephens, appearing on Jet Magazine the week before the Stephens bout,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and knocking out John Odhiambo in the 15th round in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. After the bout Ocasio turned down a fight with Great Britain fighter David Pearce, after Morgans Palle had provided contracts to make the fight in the USA, due to the BBBoC not sanctioning the cruiserweight division in the UK. Ossie eventually decided to return to South Africa, where he lost his title to Piet Crous by a 15-round decision. One month before losing the title, his brother had been murdered.

Ocasio, during his championship run, was able to buy a house in Trujillo Alto, where he maintained a large farm. He also participated in a Puerto Rican movie, playing a slave in the production.

In 1986, he made a comeback, winning two fights including a 10-round decision over former world champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi in Atlantic City. Most fans had Qawi winning all 10 rounds, and this is considered one of the worst decisions in boxing history. He attempted to regain his world championship against Evander Holyfield in Marseille, France, but lost by a knockout in 11 rounds.

Return to Heavyweight

He returned to the heavyweight division in 1988, defeating Pierre Coetzer in South Africa, but losing the decision in a rematch. After this fight he was relegated to trialhorse status.

In 1989 he made Ray Mercer look bad, losing an 8-round decision. In 1990 he dropped decisions to Tyrell Biggs and Bruce Seldon, then travelled to the UK for two fights losing and being the first opponent to take Lennox Lewis to the distance and scoring an upset when stopping Jess Harding in 8 rounds. Ocasio then travelled to Australia, where he was outpointed by the erratic Mike Hunter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

One last comeback in 1992 resulted in a dreary points loss to ex-contender Carl Williams, but it was hard hitting Hispanic prospect Alex Garcia who convinced the usually durable Ocasio to retire- he decked Ocasio several times before knocking him out in the 8th.

He retired from boxing with a record of 23 wins, 13 losses and 1 draw, with 12 knockout wins. He currently resides in Orlando, Florida.

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
37	Template:No2Loss	Template:Nowrap	Alex Garcia	TKO	8 (10), Template:Small	Nov 23, 1992	Template:Small
36	Template:No2Loss	23–12–1	Carl Williams	UD	10	Aug 20, 1992	Template:Small
35	Template:No2Loss	23–11–1	Mike Hunter	UD	10	Dec 14, 1990	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	23–10–1	Jess Harding	RTD	8 (10), Template:Small	Oct 3, 1990	Template:Small
33	Template:No2Loss	22–10–1	Lennox Lewis	PTS	8	Jun 27, 1990	Template:Small
32	Template:No2Loss	22–9–1	Bruce Seldon	UD	8	May 18, 1990	Template:Small
31	Template:No2Loss	22–8–1	Tyrell Biggs	UD	10	Jan 11, 1990	Template:Small
30	Template:No2Loss	22–7–1	Ray Mercer	SD	8	Dec 7, 1989	Template:Small
29	Template:No2Loss	22–6–1	Pierre Coetzer	UD	10	Nov 26, 1988	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	22–5–1	Pierre Coetzer	UD	10	Mar 6, 1988	Template:Small
27	Template:No2Loss	21–5–1	Evander Holyfield	TKO	11 (15), Template:Small	Aug 15, 1987	Template:Small	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	21–4–1	Dwight Muhammad Qawi	MD	10	May 15, 1987	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	20–4–1	Narcisco Maldonado	UD	10	Mar 23, 1986	Template:Small
24	Template:No2Loss	19–4–1	Piet Crous	UD	15	Dec 1, 1984	Template:Small	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	19–3–1	John Odhiambho	TKO	15 (15), Template:Small	May 5, 1984	Template:Small	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	18–3–1	Randy Stephens	UD	15	May 20, 1983	Template:Small	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	17–3–1	Eddie Taylor	UD	15	Dec 15, 1982	Template:Small	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	16–3–1	Robbie Williams	SD	15	Feb 13, 1982	Template:Small	Template:Small
19	Template:No2Loss	15–3–1	John L. Gardner	KO	6 (10), Template:Small	Mar 17, 1981	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	15–2–1	Barry Funches	UD	10	Oct 23, 1980	Template:Small
17	Template:No2Loss	14–2–1	Michael Dokes	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	Jun 28, 1980	Template:Small
16	Template:DrawDraw	14–1–1	Michael Dokes	SD	10	Apr 19, 1980	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	14–1	Jack Sterling	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	Nov 20, 1979	Template:Small
14	Template:No2Loss	13–1	Larry Holmes	TKO	7 (15), Template:Small	Mar 23, 1979	Template:Small	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	13–0	Jimmy Young	UD	10	Jan 27, 1979	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	12–0	Jimmy Young	SD	10	Jun 9, 1978	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	11–0	Kevin Isaac	UD	10	Apr 8, 1978	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	10–0	Tom Nickson	KO	4 (6)	Jul 12, 1977	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	9–0	Frank Schram	TKO	4 (?)	Jun 25, 1977	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Clarence Morris	KO	2 (6), Template:Small	Jun 14, 1977	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	Gene Idelette	KO	1 (?)	Mar 17, 1977	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Ed Turner	KO	2 (?)	Feb 12, 1977	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Aaron Solomon	KO	1 (?)	Aug 16, 1976	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Ed Turner	PTS	8	Jul 17, 1976	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Luis Reins	KO	1 (?)	Apr 27, 1976	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Rafael Guerrero	KO	2 (?)	Apr 5, 1976	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Lorenzo Simons	KO	3 (?)	Feb 20, 1976	Template:Small

See also

• List of cruiserweight boxing champions
• List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions

External links

• Template:Boxrec