Antonio Cervantes Reyes was born on December 23,1945 and is a Colombian boxing trainer and former professional boxer who competed from 1961 to 1983.
19 Facts About Antonio Cervantes
1.
2.
Antonio Cervantes held the WBA and The Ring light welterweight title twice between 1972 and 1980.
3.
In 2002, Cervantes was chosen for the Ring Magazine's list of 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years.
4.
Antonio Cervantes, who is Afro-Colombian, was born in Palenque, known as the first site of a slave rebellion in the Americas.
5.
Antonio Cervantes used to sell contraband cigarettes and shine shoes as a child to survive.
6.
Antonio Cervantes met boxing trainer Carmelo Prada, who helped shape his style.
7.
Antonio Cervantes only had three amateur bouts, winning two and losing one.
8.
On January 31,1964, Antonio Cervantes entered the boxing ring as a professional for the first time, beating Juan Martinez by decision in six rounds.
9.
Antonio Cervantes followed that win with a ten rounds decision over Nestor Rojas in the very short time of only three days later.
10.
Antonio Cervantes won five and lost two in 1969, splitting his fights between Colombia and Venezuela, and losing a ten-round decision to Antonio Gomez, former world champion.
11.
Antonio Cervantes won two more in 1970, then he and Prada moved, this time to Los Angeles.
12.
Antonio Cervantes knocked Frazer out in round ten and became the world light welterweight champion for the first time.
13.
Antonio Cervantes immediately became a national hero in Colombia, and many enterprises made him their spokesman in the coffee producing country, most notably Sanyo, whose name the popular champion advertised on his clothing and fight trunks.
14.
Antonio Cervantes won five more fights in a row, including a win over Saoul Mamby, before fighting for the world title again.
15.
Antonio Cervantes retained the title six times, beating the likes of Adrian Marrero and Miguel Montilla.
16.
Antonio Cervantes fought two times more for the FECARBOX WBC title, winning both fights shortly before retiring in 1980.
17.
However, Antonio Cervantes came out of retirement due to financial problems and went on boxing until 1983, winning four fights and dropping his last one, a ten-round decision loss to Danny Sanchez on December 9,1983, at Miami.
18.
In retirement, his life was almost as public as it was during his boxing career: In 1985, for example, he and a female passenger in one of the boats Antonio Cervantes owned, suffered a water accident, and the passenger almost drowned, but Antonio Cervantes was able to save her life.
19.
Antonio Cervantes was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998, and in 2000, he was declared by the Colombian Boxing Federation and National Association of Professional Boxing as Colombia's Fighter of the Century.