Yamil Chade ( 1921 – 25 April 2009) was a Puerto Rican sports team owner and athlete manager.
Biography
Yamil Chade was born in Lebanon. He spent his teenage years in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, but by his 20s he had moved to
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
, where some of his ancestors came from. By the late 1940s, he became interested in
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 ...
; although he himself had no interest in getting into boxing as a participator, he gained a license to manage boxers while still a relatively young man. One of the first boxers that Chade managed was
Kid Gavilán
Gerardo González (January 6, 1926 – February 13, 2003), better known in the boxing world as Kid Gavilan, was a Cuban boxer. Gavilán was the former undisputed welterweight champion from 1951 to 1954 having simultaneously held the NYSAC, WB ...
. On 17 May 1951, Gavilán became Chade's first world boxing champion when he defeated Johnny Saxton by a decision in fifteen rounds to win the world Welterweight title. By then, he had become a fixture around boxing circles on the East Coast of the U.S.
Two decades later, Chade met a young Puerto Rican prospect,
Wilfredo Gómez
Wilfredo Gómez RiveraWBC world Jr. featherweight title in 1977. Chade's relationship with Gómez soured after Gómez's fight with
Lupe Pintor
José Guadalupe Pintor Guzmán (born 13 April 1955), better known as Lupe Pintor, is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1995. He won the WBC bantamweight title in 1979 after defeating Carlos Zárate Serna, and made ...
in 1982. Gómez went through a transitional period in 1983, becoming a Featherweight, and he only had two, non-title bouts that year. He won the world Featherweight title in 1984, beating Juan Laporte. Chade signed a contract to try to revive
Wilfred Benítez
Wilfred "Wilfredo" Benítez (born September 12, 1958) is an American-born Puerto Rican former professional boxer and the youngest world champion in the sport's history. Earning his first of three career world titles in separate weight division ...
's career during that same year. After Benítez lost to Davey Moore in
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
, retirement seemed imminent. However, with training from Chade, Benitez returned with three wins, including two over world ranked boxers: Elio Díaz in two rounds at
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 ...
, and Kevin Moley, who was ranked among the top ten junior middleweights at the time, in ten rounds at Madison Square Garden. Benítez lost his next two fights and was left stranded in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
after his passport was stolen; Chade then concentrated on
Carlos De León
Carlos may refer to:
Places
;Canada
* Carlos, Alberta, a locality
;United States
* Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community
* Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County
* Carlos, Minnesota, a small city
* Carlos, West Virginia
;Elsewher ...
, four times world Cruiserweight champion.
During his tenure with DeLeon, there were talks about a "super-fight" involving DeLeon and the then undisputed world Heavyweight champion Mike Tyson (the term "super-fight" is used in boxing when two well known boxers are to fight each other; for example, Tyson's fight with
Michael Spinks
Michael Spinks (born July 13, 1956) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1988. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed light heavyweight title from 1983 to 1985, and the lineal ...
in 1988 was named the "super-fight 1988" by most United States boxing magazines). During 1991, Chade and Félix Trinidad Sr. began a partnership in order to take Félix Trinidad Jr. to professional world championships. Once again, Chade employed the same tactics that he tried to use with Gómez on Trinidad Jr., by taking him to different countries to box so he could become well known around the world. Trinidad Jr. fought in France and Italy early in his career. Before Trinidad
knocked out
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 strikin ...
Pedro Torres
Pedro Torres Cruces (born 27 April 1949 in Humilladero) is a Spanish former road bicycle racer. He was a GC contender in Grand Tours.
His first was the 1972 Vuelta. In the following year he placed 5th overall in the Vuelta and won the King ...
in Mexico as part of the Julio César Chávez-Greg Haugen undercard, Chade suffered a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
, requiring hospitalization. He recuperated and was soon again one of the two men leading Trinidad Jr.'s career.
After Trinidad became 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 ...
's world Welterweight champion in 1993, Chade continued on trying to make him well known across the world; Trinidad defended his title once in Monterrey, Mexico, in 1994. The relationship between Chade and the Trinidads became so bad that, in 1995, a
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...
dissolved the contract tying Chade and the Trinidads. Perhaps fed up with boxing, Chade turned to
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
, buying the BSN's Arecibo Captains in 2003. The Captains had not won a Puerto Rican national championship tournament since 1959, and when Chade and other team personnel promised the people of Arecibo, Puerto Rico that they would be champions again soon, they were met with skeptics, among Puerto Rican basketball fans and sports writers. After signing Larry Ayuso, Edgar Padilla,
Mario Butler
Mario Alberto Butler Graham (born January 15, 1957) is a Panamanian retired professional basketball player.
Butler spent most of his career playing in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) in Puerto Rico. At , he played center and was known fo ...
, Keenon Jourdan,
Dickey Simpkins
LuBara Dixon "Dickey" Simpkins (born April 6, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player best known for his tenure with the Chicago Bulls in the late 1990s. He is currently a scout for the Washington Wizards.
A 6' 9" forward/ce ...
, and Sharif Fajardo, among others, the Captains became champions for the second time in their team's history, when they defeated the Bayamón Cowboys in four games at the 2005 BSN finals.
Death
Chade died on 25 April 2009 in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
, aged 88. Obituary for Yamil Chade (in Spanish); accessed January 19, 2014.
See also
*
List of Cubans
This is a list of notable Cubans, ordered alphabetically by first name within each category.
Additional lists
For Cuban-Americans please see List of Cuban Americans
Art and entertainment
Actors
*Ana de Armas, actress
* Ana Margarita Martín ...