Alberto Mercado Monserrate (born January 2, 1961) is a former Jr. Featherweight boxer who was on the verge of fighting for a world title at least twice in his career.

Amateur boxing career

Mercado started boxing as an amateur at the age of 12, immediately winning a nationwide competition known as the "Olimpiadas Jíbaras de la Vivienda" ("Housing Complex Hillbillies' Olympics"). This motivated him to keep boxing as an amateur and hoping to win a world title in the future. In 1978, Mercado represented Puerto Rico at the

1978 Central American and Caribbean Games The 13th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Medellín, Colombia from July 7 to July 28, 1978, and included 2,605 athletes from nineteen nations, competing in 21 sports. Sports * * References Meta* Central American and Ca ...

held at Colombia. He won gold at these games and participated in a world cup tournament. Hoping to become the first Puerto Rican ever to win a gold medal at an Olympic Games, Mercado moved to

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 ...

periodically; there he trained hard towards that goal. Around that era, Mercado befriended and worked alongside one of Jose Celso Barbosa's children; he criticized the Puerto Rican government which was led by Carlos Romero Barcelo of the Statehood supporting New Progressive Party and was fired from his job and taken by Puerto Rico Olympic Committee President German Rieckehoff Sampayo to live in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

for a while. Mercado was one of only three American citizens to participate in the 1980 Olympics celebrated in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, bearing the flag of and competing in boxing for

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 ...

after having won the gold medal at the

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Panamericanos de 1979''), officially the VIII Pan American Games were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to July 15 ...

. The other two were also representants from Puerto Rico and boxers: Luis Pizarro and José Angel Molina.

1980 Olympic results

Below is the record of Alberto Mercado, a Puerto Rican boxer who competed in the flyweight division at the 1980 Moscow Olympics: * Round of 32: bye * Round of 16: lost to Gilberto Roman (Mexico) referee stopped contest

Professional career

In the professional ranks Mercado had a winning record, but also had some bad luck. He lost to Refugio Rojas in a USBA Featherweight title try on points by split decision, and on a fight to decide the IBF's #1 challenger, he lost by a knockout in 7 rounds to eventual world champion

Antonio Rivera José Antonio Rivera (December 5, 1963 in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico– April 4, 2005) was a Puerto Rican boxer. He was much better known as El Gallo Rivera or Tonito Rivera, and was a prominent boxer during the decade of the 1980s. Professional ...

, after leading the fight on all scorecards at the end of round 6. Mercado trained at the famous Bairoa gym at Caguas and he was friends with gym-mate Juan Carazo.

Later life

He had a professional record of 31 wins, 14 losses and 1 draw (tie), with 27 wins by knockout. Mercado currently works at the gym of the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. There were plans to build a small museum in Cayey dedicated to him; that museum, named "Casa Museo Alberto Mercado", was opened in 2018. Alberto has three kids, who are Wilnelia Mercado, Gloribel Mercado and Luis Mercado.http://elvocero.com/el-indomable-atleta-boricua-que-conquisto-una-nacion/ (in Spanish)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercado, Alberto 1961 births Living people Olympic boxers of Puerto Rico Boxers at the 1980 Summer Olympics People from Cayey, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican male boxers Boxers at the 1979 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Puerto Rico Puerto Rican expatriates in Cuba Puerto Rican expatriates in Mexico Pan American Games medalists in boxing Flyweight boxers Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games

Amateur boxing career

1980 Olympic results

Professional career

Later life

See also

References