Gilberto Mendoza (March 30, 1943 – March 11, 2016) served as president of 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 ...

(WBA), the oldest of the four major boxing organizations. He served from 1982 until stepping down in December 2015. He continued as President Emeritus until his death.

Early life

Mendoza was born in

Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; guc, Watkisimeeta) is a city in Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial and transportation center of the country, recognized as the fou ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

in 1943. He grew up under difficult circumstances and found success playing baseball and soccer. However,

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 predetermined ...

became his passion. He was a

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

amateur fighter for three years, while attending college in Caracas. He moved from Venezuela to the United States to pursue his master's degree at the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...

Career

Mendoza served as Chairman of the WBA Ratings Committee from October 1978 to 1979. During this time, he led the committee in writing the Norms and Procedures for Ratings, which established rules for the sport. This manual became known as "Mendoza's Manual for Ratings" in recognition. Shortly before his death, then-WBA President Rodrigo Sanchez nominated Mendoza for the position when it became clear to Sanchez that he would not be able to continue his duties. Sanchez died in 1982, and Mendoza was elected President over deputy commissioner of the New Jersey Athletic Commission, Bob Lee, in a 41 to 32 vote. During his time as WBA President, Mendoza created KO Drugs, a

substance abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

program aimed at helping young people find a better future via boxing. In March 2022, KO Drugs had its 37th edition festival in

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

. In December of 2015, Gilberto Mendoza Sr. stepped down as President due to his health. In a unanimous decision, WBA delegates agreed that Mendoza Sr. would be succeeded by his son, Gilberto Mendoza Jr., then Vice-President of the WBA. Mendoza Jr. had already taken on many of the President's duties. In another unanimous vote, Mendoza Sr. was named WBA President Emeritus.

Death

In March of 2016, Mendoza passed away at the age of 72. Mendoza had been fighting cancer for nearly a decade, although he served as WBA President Emeritus until his death. His funeral was held in Caracas, Venezuela. He was laid to rest in his hometown of Barquisimeto.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendoza, Gilberto 1943 births Venezuelan male boxers Andrés Bello Catholic University alumni University of Toledo alumni 2016 deaths