José Legrá (born 19 April 1943) is a retired professional

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, t ...

boxer. He is a former two time WBC World Featherweight Champion.

Professional career

In June 1960, Legrá turned professional in Cuba winning his first fight against Pedro Pinera which he won with a points decision over four rounds. Legrá drew his next fight and lost two after that and fought a total of 34 fights 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 ...

and Cuba before departing for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in 1963 with a record of 27–5–2.

Move to Spain

His first fight in Spain was in October 1963 against Moroccan Lazaro ben Layachi, which he won by KO in the sixth of eight rounds. Legrá then went on a run of over sixty wins between 1963 and 1967 with just one defeat on points against Welshman Howard Winstone at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

European title

Legrá won his first title belt, the vacant European Featherweight title, in December 1967 with a third-round knockout win over

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

's Yves Desmarets. Legrá subsequently relinquished the title without a defence.

WBC World title

Legrá first opportunity to fight for a recognised world title belt came in July 1968 when he challenged Howard Winstone again, this time for his WBC Featherweight title. Legrá floored Winstone twice in the first round of the fight. The bout was subsequently halted because Winstone had a badly swollen left eye. Legra lost his WBC featherweight title on 21 January 1969 after being defeated by French-Australian

Johnny Famechon Jean-Pierre Famechon (28 March 1945 – 4 August 2022) was an Australian featherweight boxer. Famechon was the 2003 Inductee for the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame Moderns category and was the third to be elevated to Legend status ...

on points at the

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After Famechon

Legrá won two matches before losing by UD to

Vicente Saldivar Vicente Samuel Saldívar García (May 3, 1943 – July 18, 1985) was a Mexican professional boxer who competed between 1971 and 1973. He was a two-time featherweight champion, having held the WBA, WBC, and ''The Ring'' titles from 1964 until ...

. Seven matches later Legrá would regain the EBU Featherweight title after beating Tommaso Galli on points. Legra would defend it five times before vacating it in 1972.

Regaining the WBC title and retirement

On 16 December 1972. Legrá fought Clemente Sanchez for the vacant Featherweight title, Sanchez was stripped of the title before the fight but the title was still on the line for Legrá. Legrá would TKO Sanchez in the tenth round to win. Legrá lost the title in his very next fight to Brazilian Éder Jofre by Majority Decision. He would fight 3 matches after that, beating Jimmy Bell by points, losing to

Alexis Arguello Alexis may refer to: People Mononym * Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet * Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC * Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer * Alexis (comics) (1946–1977 ...

by KO and beating Daniel Valdez by points. On April 25, 2020, it was announced that Legra, aged 77, was battling the coronavirus.

Professional boxing record

References

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Legra, Jose 1943 births Living people Cuban male boxers Cuban emigrants to Spain European Boxing Union champions World Boxing Council champions Spanish male boxers Featherweight boxers People from Baracoa