Rigoberto Riasco (11 January 1953 – 29 August 2022) also known as "Little Poison", was a Panamanian
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 ...
who competed from 1968 to 1982. He was the Lineal and
WBC Super bantamweight champion in 1976. Riasco defeated such men as
Dong Kyun Yum, Leonel Hernández, Rafael Ortega, Waruinge Nakayama, Luis Ávila, Santos Luis Rivera, Seiji "Flipper" Uehara, and Sanjo Takemori.
Professional boxing career
Riasco made his professional debut on 25 August 1968 with a four-round draw with Carlos Mendoza and after winning the featherweight national championship, he fought
Alexis Argüello
Alexis Argüello (April 19, 1952 – July 1, 2009) was a Nicaraguan professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 1995, and later became a politician. He was a three-weight world champion, having held the WBA featherweight title from 1974 to 19 ...
, who defeated him with a second round technical knockout.
After his defeat, he defeated previously unbeaten Luis Ávila and Puerto Rican Santos Luis Rivera, who had knocked him out in the first round 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 ...
. Those victories earned him the chance to fight for the newly created WBC championship belt.
On 3 April 1976, Riasco defeated Kenyan Waruinge Nakayama for the
WBC and Lineal Super bantamweight titles. He made two successful defenses against Livio Nolasco and
Dong Kyun Yum before losing his belt in his third defense against Japanese
Royal Kobayashi
, better known as Royal Kobayashi, is a retired Japanese boxer who competed at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in the featherweight division, and won the Lineal and WBC junior featherweight titles in 1976. He is an alumnus of the Takushoku Univ ...
in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
on October 9, 1976.
He announced his retirement in 1981, but returned later. After three consecutive defeats, Riasco officially announced his retirement in 1982. He left with a record of 29 wins with 13 KOs, 9 losses, and 4 draws.
Professional boxing record
See also
*
Lineal championship
In combat sports where champions are decided by a challenge, the lineal championship of a weight class is a world championship title held initially by an undisputed champion and subsequently by a fighter who defeats the reigning champion in a mat ...
*
List of super bantamweight boxing champions
This is a list of world super-bantamweight boxing champions, as recognized by the four major sanctioning organizations in boxing:
* The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA). The WBA often rec ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Riasco, Rigoberto
1953 births
2022 deaths
Super-bantamweight boxers
Panamanian male boxers
Sportspeople from Panama City