Laurensio Segundo Mercado (born 5 January 1967) is a retired male

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

from

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

. Mercado represented Ecuador at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, losing on points in the boxing competition to Martin Kitel of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. He turned professional after the games and, fighting as a

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

, built up a record of 18-2. On 17 December 1994, Mercado was matched against future

undisputed Undisputed may refer to: Film * ''Undisputed'' (film), a 2002 action-thriller-drama film ** ''Undisputed'' (soundtrack), the soundtrack to the film * Undisputed II: Last Man Standing, a 2006 American martial arts film * Undisputed III: Redempt ...

middleweight champion

Bernard Hopkins Bernard Hopkins Jr. (born January 15, 1965) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2016. He is one of the most successful boxers of the past three decades, having held multiple world championships in two weight class ...

for the vacant

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 ...

middleweight title in

Quito, Ecuador Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley on ...

. Attempting to become his country's first ever world boxing champion, Mercado knocked Hopkins down twice, but the fight was scored a controversial

split draw A split draw is an outcome in several full-contact combat sports, including boxing, mixed martial arts, and other sports involving striking. In a split draw, one of the three judges scores the contest in favor of one fighter, another judge scores i ...

. They met again four months later, and this time Hopkins won via a seventh round

technical knockout 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 striking, a ...

. Mercado moved up to the

super-middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

division after losing to Hopkins, and challenged WBA super-middleweight champion

Frankie Liles Frank ("Frankie") Liles (born February 14, 1965) is an American former professional boxer who held the Lineal and WBA super-middleweight titles. Amateur career Liles won a bronze medal at the 1987 Pan American Games. Liles had a stellar ...

; Mercado was stopped in five rounds. Mercado continued boxing, but failed to win another fight and retired in 2003 with a final record of 19-10-2.

References

External links

sports-reference
* 1967 births Living people Middleweight boxers Super-middleweight boxers Boxers at the 1987 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for Ecuador Boxers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of Ecuador Ecuadorian male boxers 20th-century Ecuadorian people {{Ecuador-boxing-bio-stub