Pedro Lovell (born June 8, 1945) is a retired

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

, a

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 ...

artist with a promising

career The career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work and other aspects of life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways. Definitions The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defin ...

in the 1970s. He is also known for his role as Spider Rico in the films ''

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess M ...

'' (1976) and ''

Rocky Balboa Robert "Rocky" Balboa (also known by his ring name The Italian Stallion), is a fictional title character and the protagonist of the ''Rocky'' film series. The character was created by Sylvester Stallone, who has also portrayed him in all eigh ...

'' (2006).

Life and career

Lovell was born in Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina. His father, Santiago Alberto Lovell, who was the brother of former boxer

Guillermo Lovell Guillermo José Lovell (January 14, 1918 – October 25, 1967) was an Argentine heavyweight boxer. He competed at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and won a silver medal, losing by points to Herbert Runge in the final. His elder brother Alberto Lovell a ...

, came from an

Afro-Argentine Afro-Argentines are people in Argentina of primarily Sub-Saharan African descent. The Afro-Argentine population is the result of people being brought over during the transatlantic slave trade during the centuries of Spanish domination in the reg ...

and English-Argentine family, and his mother came from an Italian-Argentine family. He was a citizen of Argentina who decided to make his

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

career in the United States. Lovell traveled to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where, after only a few fights, he became a big drawing card. While his brother, Alberto, Jr., was fighting in Argentina and knocking out the likes of Jose Manuel Ibar Urtain, Pedro racked up a string of nine straight knockouts. However, Pedro's career was hampered by physical injuries and prostate problems. In 1973, Lovell was stunningly upset by

Texan Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

knockout king Terry Krueger. Lovell had been winning the fight. He bloodied Krueger's nose and seemed headed for an easy stoppage. However, Krueger let go with a wild left hook, and Pedro Lovell's undefeated streak ended. He was unconscious for more than three minutes. A few months later the pair were rematched, and Lovell broke Krueger's jaw on the way to scoring three knockdowns and a first round victory. Lovell went on to defeat former heavyweight contender Billy Daniels in one round. Lovell was on the road to a title fight. He played the part of Spider Rico in the 1976 movie ''

''. He appeared in '' The Ring'' magazine and on television. He took his impressive record of knockouts into a nationally televised fight with

Ken Norton Kenneth Howard Norton Sr. (August 9, 1943 – September 18, 2013) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1967 to 1981, and held the WBC world heavyweight championship in 1978. He is best known for his fights with Muhammad Ali, i ...

. After a competitive first three rounds, Norton took control of the fight in the fourth, and knocked out Lovell in fifth round. A short time later, Lovell drew a fight against unbeaten Leroy Jones and two fights later lost a unanimous decision to future world champion Mike Weaver and announced his retirement. Lovell was at times referred to as "KO King", "The LA Bomber", "The Jawbreaker", and "One Punch".IMDb Biography
/ref> Some 30 years after the first Rocky film, Lovell reprised his role as Spider Rico for the film ''

'' in 2006.

Filmography

Film

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lovell, Pedro 1945 births Living people People from Quilmes Boxers from Buenos Aires Boxers from Los Angeles Argentine male boxers American male boxers Heavyweight boxers