Baltasar Berenguer Hervas (October 15, 1911 – September 2, 1992), popularly known in his time as Baltasar Sangchili, was a Spanish
boxer who claimed the World Bantamweight Championship. He was the first Spanish fighter in history to win a world championship in boxing. During his illustrious career, he defeated many great fighters including
"Panama" Al Brown,
Tony Marino
Tony Silipini (April 20, 1931 – May 28, 2021) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tony Marino.
Professional wrestling career Early career (1954-1963)
Tony Silipini was born in 1931. He started wrestling i ...
, Victor "Young" Perez, Maurice Dubois, Ronnie James, Nicolas Petit-Biquet, Maurice Dubois,
Eugène Huat, Carlos Flix and Joseph David.
Boxing career
Sangchili was born in
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
on October 15, 1911. When he started his boxing career, to prevent his father from learning of his travels, Baltasar Belenguer took the name of his Chinese partner and friend Chang-Chi-Li (Shang-Chi-Li). Sangchili later told his team: "From now on I want to announce myself as Sangchili Baltasar..."
Before winning the World title, he engaged in 60 fights, and emerged victorious in 50 of them with five defeats. He defeated Carlos Flix to claim the Bantamweight Championship of Spain. He made two attempts to conquer the Bantamweight Championship of Europe against Nicolas Petit-Biquet which ended in draws. In his second attempt, he was defeated in their rematch by a 15-round decision.
He defeated former IBU and NBA Flyweight champion, Victor "Young" Perez on points in 10 rounds in Madrid.
World Bantamweight Championship
On March 18, 1935, Sangchili got his chance to fight reigning World Bantamweight champion
Panama Al Brown
Alfonso Teofilo Brown (July 5, 1902 – April 11, 1951), better known as Panama Al Brown, was a Panamanian professional boxer. He made history by becoming boxing's first Latin American world champion, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...
which ended in a draw but Sangchili won their rematch in a points decision. Once he gained the title, he made successful tours garnering many victories both in Spain and abroad, without putting his title on the line until the veteran Benny Sharkey with over one hundred victories defeated him in
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
, England. One month later, he recovered from his defeat against Sharkey by defeating another great opponent, Ronnie James in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
. James had won over fifty fights with only one defeat. On February 10, 1936, he made his debut in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, defeating Jimmy Martin and Lew Farber in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
.
On June 29, 1936 in a bout at New York's
Madison Square Garden, against
Tony Marino
Tony Silipini (April 20, 1931 – May 28, 2021) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tony Marino.
Professional wrestling career Early career (1954-1963)
Tony Silipini was born in 1931. He started wrestling i ...
, Sangchili put his title at stake and was knocked out in 14th round, though Sangchili held a points advantage through much of the bout. In October of the same year, Sangchili got his revenge on Marino, defeating him by points in 10 rounds, though the bout was not for the title.
Sangchili ended his North American tour with a defeat in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
against local boxer Juan Zurita and returned to Europe where he made several battles in France in the next two years. He fought former champion
Panama Al Brown
Alfonso Teofilo Brown (July 5, 1902 – April 11, 1951), better known as Panama Al Brown, was a Panamanian professional boxer. He made history by becoming boxing's first Latin American world champion, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...
for the third time for the vacant IBU Bantamweight Championship of the World. The fight was held in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
and this time Brown won in a fifteen-round points decision.
He ended his career in 1940 by taking the national Bantamweight Championship of Spain against Miguel Safont in a twelve-round points decision. He ended his career with a record of 77 wins with 37 knockouts, 20 losses and 12 draws. He died in September 1992.
Professional boxing record
See also
*
List of Bantamweight boxing champions
This is a list of world bantamweight boxing champions, as recognized by the four major sanctioning organizations in boxing:
* The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA). The WBA often recognize ...
*
List of The Ring world champions#Bantamweight
References
External links
Baltasar Sangchili Profile
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sangchili, Baltasar
1911 births
1992 deaths
Bantamweight boxers
Spanish male boxers