Ángel Luis "Cholo" Espada Mangual (born February 2, 1948) is a Puerto Rican former

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 ...

. He was the WBA's world Welterweight champion in 1975-76. A music lover, Espada also organized, during the late 1970s, a

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: ...

orchestra.

Biography

Early career

Espada began his professional boxing career on March 11, 1967, with a defeat at the hands of future

Antonio Cervantes Antonio Cervantes (born December 23, 1945) is a Colombian boxing trainer and former professional boxer who competed from 1961 to 1983. He held the WBA and ''The Ring'' light welterweight title twice between 1972 and 1980. In 2002, Cervantes ...

world title challenger Josue Marquez, on a six-round decision, at San Juan. His next two fights were declared draws (ties). Both were against Luis Vinales. After another defeat and a draw (both against

Chris Fernandez Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

), Espada got his first win. On April 1, 1968, he

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 ...

Linfer Contreras in the first round in San Juan. After one more win, he fought outside Puerto Rico for the first time, losing on points after six rounds to future

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 w ...

world title challenger Jimmy Robertson, on September 27, 1969, at

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. His next fight would be against Bobby Joe Hughes, April 9, 1969 in San Juan. Hughes was disqualified for using illegal tactics during the fight, and this victory marked the beginning of a fifteen fight winning streak for Espada. On November 7 of 1970, the streak was stopped by Matt Donovan, who beat him on points over ten rounds. Shortly after, Espada would beat former

Emile Griffith Emile Alphonse Griffith (February 3, 1938 – July 23, 2013) was a professional boxer from the U.S. Virgin Islands who won world titles in three weight divisions. He held the world light middleweight, undisputed welterweight, and middleweight ...

world title challenger Manuel Gonzalez and lose to former world champion

Eddie Perkins Eddie Perkins (March 3, 1937 – May 10, 2012) was an American light welterweight boxer. He compiled an amateur boxing record of 26–10. Professional career Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Perkins turned professional in 1956. He was man ...

, both times, on points after ten rounds. Between 1972 and 1975, Espada posted twelve wins in a row, including a victory over perennial world title challenger

Armando Muniz Armando may refer to: * Armando (given name) * Armando (artist) (1929–2018), the name used by Dutch artist Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd * Armando (producer) Armando Gallop (sometimes written as Armando Gallup) (February 12, 1970 – December 17, ...

, and a win in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. He was beaten by Luis Acosta in Caracas by decision in ten rounds to stop that winning streak, but he avenged the defeat against Acosta with a ten-round win over him in a rematch held in San Juan.

Champion

Espada became a world champion in a situation that could be described by some as bizarre: the undisputed world Welterweight champion of the era,

José Nápoles José Ángel Nápoles, nicknamed ''Mantequilla'' ("Butter", referring to his smooth boxing style), (April 13, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was a Cuban-born Mexican professional boxer and a World Welterweight Champion. He is frequently ranked as one ...

, was to fight

Carlos Monzón Carlos Roque Monzón (7 August 1942 – 8 January 1995), nicknamed Escopeta (''Shotgun'' in Spanish), was an Argentine professional boxer who held the undisputed world middleweight championship for 7 years. He successfully defended his title 14 ...

for the world's Middleweight title. The WBC kept recognizing Nápoles as their world Welterweight champion, but the WBA, feeling that Espada deserved a chance at Nápoles' crown, decided to strip Nápoles of the world championship because Nápoles went ahead as planned and fought Monzon. Thus, on June 28, 1975, Espada became the WBA's world Welterweight champion, and Puerto Rico's fourth world boxing champion in history, by outpointing the well known Canadian, Clyde Gray, over fifteen rounds in San Juan. Coincidentally, Espada won his world title the same day that Alfredo Escalera won the WBC world Junior Lightweight championship at a fight that took place in Japan; this was the first time two Puerto Ricans became world champions the same day and as a consequence, Puerto Rico, a country that had only produced two world boxing champions in its history, doubled their number of champions in one day with Espada and Escalera's victories. (In Spanish) He retained the title with a fifteen-round decision over Johnny Gant, and won a non-title fight with an eighth-round knockout over Alfonzo Hayman. On July 17, 1976, Espada fought what would have been the start of a Mexican boxing tour. Espada, looking forward to meeting Miguel Campanino, was instead faced with a boxer who had a record of 16-5 and who was named José Cuevas. Cuevas lifted the WBA world Welterweight title away from Espada with a second-round knockout. "Cuevas Scores KO in 2nd, Wins Welter Crown", ''Los Angeles Times'', July 19, 1976, p. III-4 They would fight again twice, with Cuevas retaining the title by ten and eleven-round knockouts.

Retirement from the Ring

Towards the end of his career, Espada, realizing his best days as a boxer had probably passed him by, announced on the Vea magazine that he was putting together a salsa orchestra. The "Cholo Espada orchestra" had some success in Puerto Rico, appearing on television shows constantly during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Espada lost his last important fight, against

Thomas Hearns Thomas Hearns (born October 18, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 2006. Nicknamed the "Motor City Cobra", and more famously "The Hitman", Hearns's tall, slender build and oversized arms and shoulders allowe ...

, by a knockout in round four at the

Joe Louis Arena Joe Louis Arena was an arena in Downtown Detroit. Completed in 1979 at a cost of US$57 million as a replacement for Olympia Stadium, it sat adjacent to Cobo Center on the bank of the Detroit River and was accessible by the Joe Louis Arena ...

, in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, on March 2 of 1980. He then retired for a short period of time. Espada wanted to retire as a winner, however, and, after one year of inactivity, he made a one fight comeback, knocking out Julio Alfonso in four rounds, on December 10, 1981, in San Juan. After retiring from boxing, Espada became a boxing trainer, and he has remained in that position ever since. Espada had a record of 44 wins, 11 losses and 3 draws, with 27 wins by knockout.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Espada, Ángel 1948 births Living people Puerto Rican male boxers People from Salinas, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican musicians Salsa musicians 20th-century Puerto Rican male singers Welterweight boxers World welterweight boxing champions World Boxing Association champions