Ernesto Marcel (23 May 1948 – 29 June 2020) was a Panamanian

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 ...

who competed from 1966 to 1974. He held the WBA

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

title from 1972 to 1974 and challenged for the WBC featherweight title in 1971.

Career

Making his professional debut as a teenager in 1966, Marcel built up a record of 31–3–1, which included a second round knockout of

Bernardo Caraballo Bernardo Caraballo (1 January 1942 – 20 January 2022) was a Colombian boxer, and perennial world title contender, of the 1960s and 70s. He was born in Cartagena. His name ended up being used for the uncontacted Carabayo people of Amazonas.Seif ...

, who had previously fought

Fighting Harada Masahiko Harada (born April 5, 1943), better known as Fighting Harada, is a Japanese former professional boxer. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the NYSAC, WBA, and ''The Ring'' undisputed flyweight titles from 1962 t ...

and

Éder Jofre Eder Jofre (; 26 March 1936 – 2 October 2022)

for world titles, and a tenth-round

technical 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 ...

loss to a young

Roberto Durán Roberto Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, as wel ...

, the only stoppage defeat of Marcel's career. On 11 November 1971, Marcel faced WBC featherweight champion

Kuniaki Shibata Kuniaki Shibata (柴田国明, born March 29, 1947, in Hitachi, Japan) is a Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1977. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC and ''The Ring featherweight titl ...

Matsuyama file:Matsuyama city office Ehime prefecture Japan.jpg, 270px, Matsuyama City Hall file:Ehimekencho-20040417.JPG, 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku in Japan ...

, Japan, but the fight was scored a draw, meaning Shibata retained his title. Less than a year later, Marcel defeated Antonio Gómez for the WBA featherweight title, and made three successful defences of the crown. He made his fourth and final defence against

Alexis Argüello Alexis Argüello (April 19, 1952 – July 1, 2009) was a Nicaraguan professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 1995, and later became a politician. He was a three-weight world champion, having held the WBA featherweight title from 1974 to 19 ...

on 16 February 1974, winning a

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter ...

after fifteen rounds. With a record of 40–4–2, Marcel announced his retirement from boxing after the fight, making him one of only a handful of boxers to retire as a reigning world champion.

References

External links

* 1948 births 2020 deaths Sportspeople from Colón, Panama Panamanian male boxers Bantamweight boxers Featherweight boxers World Boxing Association champions World featherweight boxing champions {{Panama-boxing-bio-stub