Eleoncio Mercedes (September 12, 1957 – December 22, 1985) was a Dominican boxer, who was world champion in the

Flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of b ...

division. He had a record of 14 wins, 12 losses and 2 draws, with 3 wins by knockout.

Amateur career

As an amateur he competed for his native country at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

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, Canada. He was stopped in the first round of his opening round bout to Aleksandr Tkachenko of the

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Pro career

Born in La Romana Mercedes campaigned most of his career in the western

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and 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 ...

. He debuted as a professional boxer on July 2 of 1978 with a win over

Darryl Jones Darryl Jones (born December 11, 1961) is an American bass guitarist. He has been recording and touring with the Rolling Stones since 1993. He has also played in bands with Miles Davis and Sting, among others. Career Darryl Jones was born on ...

in Stockton. He suffered his first defeat when he lost by a decision in

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to future world champion Joey Olivo, in Mercedes' third bout as a paid fighter. Mercedes' first of 11 fights in a row in Mexico came in 1979, when he lost by a knockout in seven rounds to Juan Díaz. During that span of 11 fights in Mexico, he went 6-3-2, fighting in such places as

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, Monterrey and

Reynosa Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico. It is also the municipal seat of Reynosa Municipality. The city is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande in the international Reynosa–McAllen Me ...

. He lost to Candido Tellez but also beat former world champion Guty Espadas, by a knockout in nine during that span. His first fight in the Dominican Republic was a 1982 rematch with Diaz, held in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

. He won the fight by a decision in twelve rounds, to avenge his defeat at the hands of Diaz. Up until that moment, Mercedes' record was of 10 wins, 6 losses and 2 draws, reason why it was a little surprising to his fans when the WBC announced it would give Mercedes a chance at becoming a world champion, against two time world champion Freddie Castillo, who was in his second reign. The two boxers met on November 6 of 1982, at

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. Mercedes caused another surprise among many

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

fans by defeating Castillo by a decision in 15 rounds and becoming WBC and Lineal Flyweight champion. In his first defense, Mercedes put the titles on the line against the

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boxer

Charlie Magri Carmel Magri (born 20 July 1956), who boxed under the name Charlie Magri, is a British former professional boxer. He is from a Tunisian family that settled in Mile End, London, where he grew up. During his professional career he held the WBC a ...

. In round seven, the fight had to be stopped because of a cut suffered by Mercedes, which had been determined to be from a punch by Magri. Mercedes then lost his world Flyweight championships by a technical knockout in that round. After that, Mercedes kept on boxing, but had mixed fortunes. He managed to beat future world title challenger Alonzo Gonzalez by a decision, but lost to future world champion, Mexican German Torres by a knockout in the ninth round. Mercedes also lost a twelve-round decision to future world champion Raul Jibaro Perez, as well as being knocked out in the sixth round by former world Bantamweight champion Alberto Davila.

Death

A few days before

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in 1985, Mercedes was shot and killed by a policeman in his native La Romana, aged 28, after allegedly pulling a gun on the policeman. Mercedes had been drinking in a bar when he was shot to death. Confusion exists as to how this incident took place as some sources state the altercation happened after a car accident.

References

External links

*
Eleoncio Mercedes - CBZ Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercedes, Eleoncio 1957 births 1985 deaths Boxers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of the Dominican Republic Flyweight boxers World boxing champions World flyweight boxing champions World Boxing Council champions People from La Romana, Dominican Republic Deaths by firearm in the Dominican Republic People shot dead by law enforcement officers Dominican Republic male boxers

Amateur career

Pro career

Death

See also

References

External links