Carlos Ortiz (boxer)

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Carlos Ortiz (9 September 1936 – 13 June 2022) was a Puerto Rican professional boxer. He held world titles in lightweight and light welterweight weight divisions. Along with Félix Trinidad, Miguel Cotto, Wilfredo Gómez, Héctor Camacho, José Torres, Edwin Rosario and Wilfred Benítez, Ortiz is considered among the best Puerto Rican boxers of all time by sports journalists and analysts.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As of January 2018, Ortiz holds the record for the most wins in unified lightweight title bouts in boxing history at 10.

In 1991, Ortiz was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In 2002, Ortiz was voted by The Ring magazine as the 60th greatest fighter of the last 80 years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He held 21st place in BoxRec ranking of the greatest pound for pound boxers of all time.<ref>Boxrec all time p4p rankings</ref>

Boxing career

Template:More citations needed Ortiz, born in Ponce, started his professional career in 1955 with a first round knockout of Harry Bell in New York City. He moved from Puerto Rico to New York before he began boxing as a professional, he would campaign there during the first stages of his career. After 9 bouts there, he fought outside New York for the first time, moving to Massachusetts to knock Al Duarte out in 4 rounds. His next 3 bouts were also outside New York, but he stayed within the confines of New England, as they happened, once again in Massachusetts, and in New Jersey.

He returned to New York again and won 4 more bouts in a row, then made his California debut, beating Mickey Northrup by a decision in 10 rounds. 2 more fights in California and one in New York went by, after which he returned to California to meet Lou Filippo, who was subsequently inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame as a referee. The first time, it was declared a no-contest after 9 rounds, but in the second, Carlos prevailed, by a knockout in 9. 5 more wins followed, and then he met Johnny Busso, who handed Carlos his first loss, on a 10-round decision. That fight was held in New York, and in an immediate rematch between Ortiz and Busso, Carlos won, also by a 10-round decision, and also in New York.

Next Carlos flew to England to meet Dave Charnley, who was considered one of the top challengers of that time. Ortiz won the fight at Harringay Arena on a 10-round decision, after which promoters thought he was ready for a world title try.

Junior welterweight world champion

Carlos met Kenny Lane for the vacant world Jr. Welterweight title, in New York on the night of 12 June 1959. Lane had handed Carlos his second loss months before, winning a 10-round decision over Ortiz in Florida. This time, Carlos became the World's Jr Welterweight champion, with a TKO of Lane at the end of 2nd round.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ortiz became the first Puerto Rican world boxing champion since Sixto Escobar more than 30 years before, and only the second Puerto Rican world boxing champion ever. Unfortunately for him, not much importance was being given to that division at the time, since that division's title had been vacant for 13 years. But Carlos defended his title twice, knocking out the respected, until then undefeated Mexican puncher Battling Torres in Torres' home ground of Los Angeles, and beating Duilio Loi in 15 rounds by decision at San Francisco.

His next fight was a rematch with Loi, and it took Ortiz to Milan, Italy to defend his crown. This time, it was Loi's turn to become a world champion, winning by a 15-round decision.

After another win, Ortiz traveled to Milan once again, and met Loi in a rubber match. This time, he lost again, by 15-round decision.

Lightweight world champion

Instead of going up in weight, like most boxers throughout history have done after losing the title in their original division, Ortiz went down in weight, and challenged world champion Joe Brown (also a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame). Ortiz won a 15-round decision over Brown on 21 April 1962 in Las Vegas, to win his second world title, this time in his second championship division. Ortiz defended with a 5-round knockout of Teruo Kosaka in Tokyo before making his Puerto Rican debut, with a 13-round knockout win over Doug Valiant to retain his title on 7 April 1963 in San Juan.

A knockout win in 14 rounds over another Hall of Famer, Gabriel Elorde, Flash in the Philippines followed, and then a rematch with Lane, this time Ortiz retaining his world Lightweight title with a 15-round decision in San Juan. But in 1965 he went to Panama and fought yet another member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Ismael Laguna who defeated him in 15 rounds to claim Ortiz's world Lightweight title. A rematch in San Juan followed, and Ortiz regained the world Lightweight title beating Laguna by a 15-round decision also.

1966 saw Ortiz draw with world Jr Welterweight champion Nicolino Locche in a ten-round non-title affair in Argentina, and retain his title vs Johnny Bizarro (KO in 12 in Pittsburgh), Cuban Sugar Ramos (another International Boxing Hall of Fame Member, KO in 5 rounds in Mexico City), and Filipino Flash Elorde, also by KO in 14 at a New York rematch. The Ramos fight proved controversial, because the WBC's president proclaimed at first that the punch with which Ortiz had beaten Ramos had been illegal, but he later reconsidered and gave Ortiz the title, and the knockout victory, back, with the condition that a rematch be fought in the future.

And so 1967 came, and Ortiz and Ramos met once again, this time in San Juan. Ortiz retained the title by a knockout in 4 rounds, and this time the bout went without any controversies. Then, he and Laguna fought a third time, and Ortiz retained his title by a 15-round decision in New York.

Later career

29 June 1968 proved to be Ortiz's last day as a world champion, as he lost his world lightweight title to Dominican Carlos Cruz on a 15-round decision in the Dominican Republic. Ortiz kept on fighting, but he never got another chance at a world title. He retired after losing at Madison Square Garden by a knockout in 6 rounds to Ken Buchanan. It was the only time he was stopped in his career. His final record was of 61 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw, with one bout declared a no-contest and 30 knockout wins.

Ortiz is also a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame and he always enjoyed taking photos with his fans and signing autographs for them.

Death

Carlos Ortiz died on 13 June 2022, in New York at age 85.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Professional boxing record

Template:BoxingRecordSummary

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
70	Template:No2Loss	61–7–1 Template:Small	Ken Buchanan	RTD	6 (10)	20 Sep 1972	Template:Small
69	Template:Yes2Win	61–6–1 Template:Small	Johnny Copeland	KO	3 (10)	1 Aug 1972	Template:Small
68	Template:Yes2Win	60–6–1 Template:Small	Gerardo Ferrat	TKO	3 (10)	3 Jun 1972	Template:Small
67	Template:Yes2Win	59–6–1 Template:Small	Greg Potter	UD	10	1 May 1972	Template:Small
66	Template:Yes2Win	58–6–1 Template:Small	Junior Varney	TKO	7 (10)	20 Mar 1972	Template:Small
65	Template:Yes2Win	57–6–1 Template:Small	Leo DiFiore	KO	2 (10)	19 Feb 1972	Template:Small
64	Template:Yes2Win	56–6–1 Template:Small	Ivelaw Eastman	TKO	2 (10)	31 Jan 1972	Template:Small
63	Template:Yes2Win	55–6–1 Template:Small	Terry Rondeau	TKO	4 (10)	20 Jan 1972	Template:Small
62	Template:Yes2Win	54–6–1 Template:Small	Bill Whittenburg	KO	7 (10)	8 Jan 1972	Template:Small
61	Template:Yes2Win	53–6–1 Template:Small	Jimmy Ligons	TKO	3 (10)	1 Dec 1971	Template:Small
60	Template:Yes2Win	52–6–1 Template:Small	Edmundo Leite	MD	10	21 Nov 1969	Template:Small
59	Template:No2Loss	51–6–1 Template:Small	Carlos Teo Cruz	SD	15	29 Jun 1968	Template:Small	Template:Small
58	Template:Yes2Win	51–5–1 Template:Small	Ismael Laguna	UD	15	16 Aug 1967	Template:Small	Template:Small
57	Template:Yes2Win	50–5–1 Template:Small	Sugar Ramos	TKO	4 (15)	1 Jul 1967	Template:Small	Template:Small
56	Template:Yes2Win	49–5–1 Template:Small	Flash Elorde	TKO	14 (15)	28 Nov 1966	Template:Small	Template:Small
55	Template:Yes2Win	48–5–1 Template:Small	Sugar Ramos	TKO	5 (15)	22 Oct 1966	Template:Small	Template:Small
54	Template:Yes2Win	47–5–1 Template:Small	Johnny Bizzarro	TKO	12 (15)	20 Jun 1966	Template:Small	Template:Small
53	Template:DrawDraw	46–5–1 Template:Small	Nicolino Locche	MD	10	7 Apr 1966	Template:Small
52	Template:Yes2Win	46–5 Template:Small	Ismael Laguna	UD	15	13 Nov 1965	Template:Small	Template:Small
51	Template:No2Loss	45–5 Template:Small	Ismael Laguna	MD	15	10 Apr 1965	Template:Small	Template:Small
50	Template:Yes2Win	45–4 Template:Small	Dick Divola	TKO	1 (10)	14 Dec 1964	Template:Small
49	Template:Yes2Win	44–4 Template:Small	Kenny Lane	UD	15	11 Apr 1964	Template:Small	Template:Small
48	Template:Yes2Win	43–4 Template:Small	Flash Elorde	TKO	14 (15)	15 Feb 1964	Template:Small	Template:Small
47	Template:Yes2Win	42–4 Template:Small	Maurice Cullen	PTS	10	22 Oct 1963	Template:Small
46	Template:Yes2Win	41–4 Template:Small	Pete Acera	TKO	7 (10)	18 Sep 1963	Template:Small
45	Template:Yes2Win	40–4 Template:Small	Doug Vaillant	TKO	13 (15)	7 Apr 1963	Template:Small	Template:Small
44	Template:Yes2Win	39–4 Template:Small	Teruo Kosaka	KO	5 (15)	3 Dec 1962	Template:Small	Template:Small
43	Template:Yes2Win	38–4 Template:Small	Kazuo Takayama	UD	10	7 Nov 1962	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	37–4 Template:Small	Arthur Persley	UD	10	1 Aug 1962	Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	36–4 Template:Small	Joe Brown	UD	15	21 Apr 1962	Template:Small	Template:Small
40	Template:Yes2Win	35–4 Template:Small	Paolo Rosi	UD	10	18 Nov 1961	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	34–4 Template:Small	Doug Vaillant	UD	10	2 Sep 1961	Template:Small
38	Template:No2Loss	33–4 Template:Small	Duilio Loi	UD	15	10 May 1961	Template:Small	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	33–3 Template:Small	Cisco Andrade	UD	10	2 Feb 1961	Template:Small
36	Template:No2Loss	32–3 Template:Small	Duilio Loi	MD	15	1 Sep 1960	Template:Small	Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	32–2 Template:Small	Duilio Loi	SD	15	15 Jun 1960	Template:Small	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	31–2 Template:Small	Battling Torres	KO	10 (15)	4 Feb 1960	Template:Small	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	30–2 Template:Small	Kenny Lane	TKO	2 (15)	12 Jun 1959	Template:Small	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	29–2 Template:Small	Len Matthews	TKO	6 (10)	13 Apr 1959	Template:Small
31	Template:No2Loss	28–2 Template:Small	Kenny Lane	MD	10	31 Dec 1958	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	28–1 Template:Small	Dave Charnley	PTS	10	28 Oct 1958	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	27–1 Template:Small	Johnny Busso	UD	10	19 Sep 1958	Template:Small
28	Template:No2Loss	26–1 Template:Small	Johnny Busso	SD	10	27 Jun 1958	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	26–0 Template:Small	Joey Lopes	UD	10	9 May 1958	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	25–0 Template:Small	Tommy Tibbs	UD	10	28 Feb 1958	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	24–0 Template:Small	Harry Bell	UD	10	23 Sep 1957	Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	23–0 Template:Small	Felix Chiocca	UD	10	29 May 1957	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	22–0 Template:Small	Ike Vaughn	UD	10	7 May 1957	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	21–0 Template:Small	Lou Filippo	TKO	7 (10)	9 Apr 1957	Template:Small
21	NC	20–0 Template:Small	Lou Filippo	ND	9 (10)	2 Mar 1957	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	20–0	Bobby Rogers	UD	10	23 Jan 1957	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	19–0	Gale Kerwin	UD	10	31 Dec 1956	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	18–0	Philip Kim	TKO	9 (10)	15 Dec 1956	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	17–0	Mickey Northrup	UD	10	27 Oct 1956	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	16–0	Tommy Salem	SD	10	30 Jul 1956	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	15–0	Tommy Salem	PTS	6	25 May 1956	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	14–0	Ray Portilla	PTS	8	17 Feb 1956	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	13–0	Ray Portilla	UD	8	9 Jan 1956	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	12–0	Charley Titone	TKO	2 (8)	10 Dec 1955	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	11–0	Lem Miller	PTS	8	12 Nov 1955	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	10–0	Al Duarte	TKO	4 (6)	29 Oct 1955	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	9–0	Leroy Graham	KO	2 (6)	3 Oct 1955	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Hector Rodriguez	KO	2 (6)	19 Sep 1955	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	Armand Bush	PTS	6	22 Aug 1955	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Tony DeCola	PTS	6	10 Aug 1955	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Jimmy DeMura	PTS	6	24 Jun 1955	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Juan Pacheco	KO	2 (4)	30 May 1955	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Danny Roberts	KO	3 (4)	13 May 1955	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Morris Hodnett	TKO	1 (4)	28 Feb 1955	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Harry Bell	KO	1 (4)	14 Feb 1955	Template:Small

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

NYSAC lightweight champion (135 lbs)
NBA (WBA) lightweight champion (135 lbs) (2×)
WBC lightweight champion Template:Efn (135 lbs) (3×)
NYSAC light welterweight champion (140 lbs)
NBA (WBA) light welterweight champion (140 lbs)

The Ring magazine titles

The Ring lightweight champion (135 lbs) (2×)

Undisputed titles

Legacy

He is recognized at Ponce's Parque de los Ponceños Ilustres in the area of sports.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notes and references

Notes

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References

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External links

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