Aurelio Herrera (June 14, 1876 – April 12, 1927) was an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

in the featherweight and lightweight divisions. Aurelio Herrera is the first famous boxer of Latin American origin. He was known for his aggressive fighting style and strong punch. Two-thirds of his fights were won by knockout. He was born in San José to Mexican immigrants. He later moved to

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

with his parents and siblings as a child where he worked harvesting grapes.

Boxing career

After his pro debut in 1895, Herrera amassed a record of 32–0–2 (32KO) and two newspaper decision victories before getting a chance for a world title. On May 29, 1901, in San Francisco, he challenged reigning featherweight champion

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. Reports on the fight by ''The Evening Tribune'' stated that, "The fight had not progressed one minute of the first round before it became evident to all that McGovern was not making an effort to end the contest, but was content with buffeting Herrera about the ring at his pleasure." By the fifth round, McGovern had thoroughly beaten the challenger to the point that Herrera would not rise from the knockdowns anymore. This defeat was the first defeat of Herrera's professional career. He went on one more significant winning streak before losing to other top contenders. On October 15, 1902, he lost to future featherweight champion

Abe Attell Abraham Washington Attell (February 22, 1883 – February 7, 1970), often referred to by newspapers as "The Little Hebrew", was an American boxer who became known for his record-setting, six year consecutive reign as World Featherweight Champion ...

in a 15 round decision to decide a contender for the vacant featherweight title. Attell skillfully avoided Herrera's strong blows and went on to win the vacant title the following year. In 1903, Herrera scored notable knockouts against Kid Broad and

Eddie Santry Edward M. Santry (December 11, 1876 – January 28 1919), was an American featherweight boxer who took the World Featherweight Championship on October 10, 1899 against English Featherweight Champion Ben Jordan in a tenth-round knockout at t ...

. In March 1904, he again lost to Attell on points. On September 5 of the same year in

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...

, he lost a hard-fought 20-round decision against

Battling Nelson Oscar Matthew "Battling" Nelson (June 5, 1882 – February 7, 1954), was a Danish-born American professional boxer who held the World Lightweight championship. He was also nicknamed "the Durable Dane". Personal history Nelson was born Oscar ...

. On January 12, 1906, in Los Angeles, Herrera's most notable victory came when he knocked out former featherweight world champion

Young Corbett II Young Corbett II (October 4, 1880 – April 10, 1927; born William H. Rothwell) was an American boxer who held the World Featherweight championship. He took the name "Young Corbett II" in honor of James J. Corbett, a heavyweight champion. Corb ...

in the fifth round. He fought a few more fights afterward and ended his career in 1909. Although he made a lot of money as a prizefighter, he squandered his fortune and in 1927 was sentenced to 10 days in jail for vagrancy. He died two months later, two days after the death of Corbett. Herrera fought a career total of 102 fights, of which he won 68, lost 12, drew 14 and had 2 no contests. In

newspaper decision A newspaper decision was a type of decision in professional boxing. It was rendered by a consensus of sportswriters attending a bout after it had ended inconclusively with a "no decision", as many regions had not adopted the National Sporting Club o ...

s he held a record of 2–2–1.

Fights against Hall of Famers

Despite not making it into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...

himself, Herrera had a total of 6 fights and a record of 1–4–1 (1KO) versus HOF's having lost to

(twice),

, and

. He drew against Harry Lewis and defeated

Professional boxing record

All information in this section is derived from

BoxRec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profess ...

, unless otherwise stated.

Official record

All

s are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted to the win/loss/draw column.

Unofficial record

Record with the inclusion of

s to the win/loss/draw column.

References

External links

* * * * * https://www.scribd.com/document/38844748/First-Mexican-American-Boxing-Champ * https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19031118.2.121.9&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 * https://sep.yimg.com/ay/yhst-41693642061643/boxing-news-clipping-472-rocky-graziano-vs-tony-zale-battling-nelson-aurelio-herrera-5.gif * http://www.laprensa-sandiego.org/archieve/nov12/greg.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Herrera, Aurelio 1876 births 1927 deaths American male boxers Boxers from California Sportspeople from San Jose, California Featherweight boxers Lightweight boxers