Ernesto "Ernie" Magdaleno (December 29, 1962 – December 31, 1995) was an American professional boxer.

Life and career

Magdaleno, who attended Westminster High School, was of

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

origin. He participated in only eleven amateur fights. His first fight as a professional boxer came in November 1989, when he defeated Steve Montoya in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

. On February 24, 1992, Magdaleno won the California State

Light-Heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserw ...

title by knocking out Bomani Parker in round five. After having won all of his first 15 bouts as a professional, Magdaleno had a draw against Mexican

Lupe Aquino Isaias Guadalupe "Lupe" Aquino (born 23 January 1963) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1999. Aquino, known as "Lupe", turned pro in 1981 and won the WBC light middleweight title in 1987 with a decision over Duane ...

in February 1993. Later that year, Magdaleno held off Tim Hillie to claim 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 ...

USBA Light-Heavyweight title. Until 1993, Magdaleno was promoted by Don King. His manager and trainer was Clyde Armijo. Magdaleno was sitting in first place in the IBF World ranking, when taking on German

Henry Maske Henry Maske (, ; born 6 January 1964) is a German former professional boxer and one of Germany's most popular sports figures. He held the IBF light heavyweight title from 1993 until 1996. Amateur career Maske was born in Treuenb ...

, the reigning IBF Light-Heavyweight World champion, on March 26, 1994. German newspaper '' Hamburger Abendblatt'' described Magdaleno as a "tough fighter with limited technical skills". Fighting in front of a sell-out crowd of 13,500 in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

Westfalenhalle Westfalenhallen (English: Halls of Westphalia) is a commercial complex composed of conference (Kongresszentrum Dortmund) and exhibition centers (Messe Dortmund) with an indoor arena (Westfalenhalle), located in Dortmund, Germany. It is surround ...

, Magdaleno dominated the early stages of the bout, before being stopped by T/KO in round nine, after have suffered a cut above the eye. After the fight, Magdaleno's opponent Maske called the bout his most difficult world championship fight so far. Following the title fight in Germany, Magdaleno won the last three bouts of his professional career. His overall record was 21 wins (8 by KO), one loss and one draw. Besides boxing, he worked as a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

and

carpet layer A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester have ...

. Magdaleno died on December 31, 1995, only three days after his last fight. At this time, he was ranked fifth in the world by the

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

. Driving in

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 duri ...

, Magdaleno's car was hit by a vehicle, which fled from police. His wife and two children sustained minor injuries in the crash, while Magdaleno was thrown out of the car following the impact.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magdaleno, Ernesto 1962 births 1995 deaths Boxers from California American male boxers Light-heavyweight boxers