Alberto Mercado Monserrate (born January 2, 1961) is a former Jr. Featherweight

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who was on the verge of fighting for a world title at least twice in his career.

Amateur boxing career

Mercado started boxing as an amateur at the age of 12, immediately winning a nationwide competition known as the "Olimpiadas Jíbaras de la Vivienda" ("Housing Complex Hillbillies' Olympics"). This motivated him to keep boxing as an amateur and hoping to win a world title in the future. In 1978, Mercado represented Puerto Rico at the

1978 Central American and Caribbean Games The 13th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Medellín, Colombia from July 7 to July 28, 1978, and included 2,605 athletes from nineteen nations, competing in 21 sports. Sports * * References Meta* Central American and Ca ...

held at

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. He won gold at these games and participated in a world cup tournament. Hoping to become the first Puerto Rican ever to win a gold medal at an Olympic Games, Mercado moved to Cuba periodically; there he trained hard towards that goal. Around that era, Mercado befriended and worked alongside one of

Jose Celso Barbosa Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

's children; he criticized the Puerto Rican government which was led by

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of the Statehood supporting New Progressive Party and was fired from his job and taken by Puerto Rico Olympic Committee President

German Rieckehoff Sampayo German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

to live in Mexico for a while. Mercado was one of only three

American citizens Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

to participate in the 1980 Olympics celebrated in Moscow, Soviet Union, bearing the flag of and competing in boxing for Puerto Rico after having won the gold medal at the

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Panamericanos de 1979''), officially the VIII Pan American Games were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to July 15 ...

. The other two were also representants from Puerto Rico and boxers: Luis Pizarro and José Angel Molina.

1980 Olympic results

Below is the record of Alberto Mercado, a Puerto Rican boxer who competed in the flyweight division at the 1980 Moscow Olympics: * Round of 32: bye * Round of 16: lost to

Gilberto Roman Gilberto is the Iberian and Italian version of the originally Norman-French given name '' Gilbert'', used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish languages. In Galician, it's spelled Xilberto or Xilberte. ''Gilbert'' is ultimately derived from the Ger ...

(Mexico) referee stopped contest

Professional career

In the professional ranks Mercado had a winning record, but also had some bad luck. He lost to

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in a USBA Featherweight title try on points by split decision, and on a fight to decide the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

's #1 challenger, he lost by a knockout in 7 rounds to eventual world champion Antonio Rivera, after leading the fight on all scorecards at the end of round 6. Mercado trained at the famous

Bairoa gym Bairoa Gym is a boxing gym located in Caguas, Puerto Rico. ''El gimnasio Bairoa'', as it is known in Spanish, is the most famous boxing gym in Puerto Rico because of the list of world champions and top contenders who have trained there. 2005 shoo ...

at Caguas and he was friends with gym-mate

Juan Carazo Juan Carazo Serrano (born October 10, 1964 in Ponce, Puerto Rico) is a former boxer from Caguas, Puerto Rico. Carazo was considered to be a boxing reincarnation of Wilfred Benítez or Wilfredo Gómez by many of his fans, and he won his first fi ...

Later life

He had a professional record of 31 wins, 14 losses and 1 draw (tie), with 27 wins by

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

. Mercado currently works at the gym of the

University of Puerto Rico at Cayey The University of Puerto Rico in Cayey (UPR-Cayey) is a public university in Cayey, Puerto Rico. It is part of the University of Puerto Rico System. It was initially founded as a regional school in 1967 and became a college in 1969. It was awar ...

. There were plans to build a small museum in Cayey dedicated to him; that museum, named "Casa Museo Alberto Mercado", was opened in 2018. Alberto has three kids, who are Wilnelia Mercado, Gloribel Mercado and Luis Mercado.http://elvocero.com/el-indomable-atleta-boricua-que-conquisto-una-nacion/ (in Spanish)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercado, Alberto 1961 births Living people Olympic boxers of Puerto Rico Boxers at the 1980 Summer Olympics People from Cayey, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican male boxers Boxers at the 1979 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Puerto Rico Puerto Rican expatriates in Cuba Puerto Rican expatriates in Mexico Pan American Games medalists in boxing Flyweight boxers Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games

Amateur boxing career

1980 Olympic results

Professional career

Later life

See also

References