Edwin Rosario
Encyclopedia
Edwin "El Chapo" Rosario (March 15, 1963 – December 1, 1997) was a Puerto Rican
boxer
. He was the WBC world lightweight champion from 1983–84 and the WBA world champion in 1986–87 and again in 1989–90. After moving up to the junior welterweight class, he became a WBA world champion once more, holding the title from 1991 to 1992.
, an extremely poor barrio
. Rosario's brother, Papo Rosario, was a professional boxer in the beginning of a promising career. His boxing manager and coach (trainer) was Manny Siaca Sr. that notice Rosario's talent since he was 8 years old. Rosario was inspired by his brother, and had a stellar amateur boxing career.
Papo died unexpectedly, supposedly due to drugs, two years after his brother's move to professional boxing. Rosario persevered, wanting to honor his brother's memory by winning a world championship. He scored big knockout wins over Young Ezzard Charles and Edwin Viruet
, the former in 3 rounds on the Holmes
-Cooney
undercard. He eventually gained a record of 21-0 with 20 knockout
s. This led to talks of a title fight against world lightweight champion Alexis Argüello
, to be held in Miami, but Argüello abandoned the division to challenge Aaron Pryor
.
on May 1, 1983. Rosario dominated the first 7 rounds, but tired down the stretch to make for a very close fight. The judges, as well as most of the public present, felt Rosario had done enough to win, and Rosario had become world lightweight champion by the unanimous score of 115-113 on all 3 judging cards. Rosario injured his hand during the fight and needed surgery, for which the World Boxing Council
gave him a dispensation.
Rosario returned to the ring in 1984. In his first defense of the title, he faced Roberto Elizondo, who had lasted 7 rounds with Argüello in a previous world title challenge and was expected to give Rosario a tough challenge. However, Rosario knocked out Elizondo in a single round. Howard Davis Jr proved more of a challenge—he led Rosario on all scorecards with ten seconds remaining in the bout, but was dropped by Rosario and lost a split decision.
A rematch with Ramírez was scheduled, again in San Juan, Puerto Rico
, on November 3, 1984. Rosario dropped Ramírez once in round one and again in the second, but Ramírez was well trained and got off the canvas to take Rosario's title away with a four round TKO
. This was Rosario's first defeat, and he seemed to never fully recover.
Rosario won a comeback fight against future world champion Frankie Randall
in London and then had to wait one more year before an opportunity to recover the title. On June 13, 1986, he met world champion Hector 'Macho' Camacho at Madison Square Garden
in New York. The fight was televised by HBO
, and although Rosario shook Camacho badly in the fifth round and rallied down the stretch, Camacho swept the middle rounds and the judges thought that had been enough for him to retain the title by a split decision.
Because of the closeness of that bout, the WBA
gave him a chance to challenge the other world lightweight champion, Livingstone Bramble
. Rosario went to Miami and defeated Bramble by a knockout in the second round to become world lightweight champion for the second time. His pose, raising his arms after the fight, became The Ring
magazine's cover for the next month—the only time Rosario was featured on the cover of that magazine's English version. He defended the title against fellow Puerto Rican Juan Nazario
with a knockout
in eight in Chicago
, but in his next defense he was brutally beaten by Julio César Chávez
in Las Vegas
. By the eleventh round, Rosario's eye was almost completely shut and he was spitting blood from his mouth; the fight was stopped by his corner, and Rosario lost.
Rosario took off for 7 months, went 7-0 with 6 KO's, and after Chavez vacated the title in 1989, Rosario came back and won it again, beating tough Kronk
prospect Anthony Jones
for the championship. Rosario joined the short group of men who had become world champions 3 times in the same division. This time, however, he didn't last long; he gave Nazario a rematch, and Nazario stopped him on cuts in 1990 at Madison Square Garden in the 8th round.
Rosario moved up a weight class to the junior welterweight division, and then defeated defending world champion Loreto Garza
in three rounds in Sacramento
's Arco Arena
to become a world champion for the 4th time. However, personal problems started to take their toll. In his first defense, against Japanese Akinobu Hiranaka
in Mexico City
on April 10, 1992, he lost by TKO in the 1st round.
in Bayamón, Puerto Rico
, in a twelve-round decision. Rosario, once an HBO staple, was now fighting on small cards without any TV showings. He was, however, ranked #10 among Oscar De La Hoya
's challengers at the welterweight division after his win over Flores, making him an official world title challenger once again.
However, after defeating Sanford Ricks at Madison Square Garden and celebrating his final fight on September 25, 1997 by knocking out Harold Bennett in 2 rounds at Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Rosario died before any more fights could take place. He died of an aneurysm
on December 1, 1997. Many celebrities and dignitaries attended his funeral, and a group of Puerto Rican world boxing champions were among the pallbearers. More than five thousand people came to the funeral or watched from their homes as the coffin was driven from the funeral home to the cemetery. On January 12, 2006, Rosario was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame
, thus becoming the sixth Puerto Rican inducted into the hall.
According to Ring Magazine, Edwin Rosario ranks #36 on the list of "100 Greatest Punchers of All Time."
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. He was the WBC world lightweight champion from 1983–84 and the WBA world champion in 1986–87 and again in 1989–90. After moving up to the junior welterweight class, he became a WBA world champion once more, holding the title from 1991 to 1992.
Early life and career
Chapo, as he was known in the world of boxing, was born in Barrio Candelaria, Toa BajaToa Baja, Puerto Rico
Toa Baja is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the northern coast, north of Toa Alta and Bayamón; east of Dorado; and west of Cataño. Toa Baja is spread over 5 wards and Toa Baja Pueblo . It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.Toa Baja considered to be a...
, an extremely poor barrio
Barrio
Barrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
. Rosario's brother, Papo Rosario, was a professional boxer in the beginning of a promising career. His boxing manager and coach (trainer) was Manny Siaca Sr. that notice Rosario's talent since he was 8 years old. Rosario was inspired by his brother, and had a stellar amateur boxing career.
Papo died unexpectedly, supposedly due to drugs, two years after his brother's move to professional boxing. Rosario persevered, wanting to honor his brother's memory by winning a world championship. He scored big knockout wins over Young Ezzard Charles and Edwin Viruet
Edwin Viruet
Edwin Viruet is a retired boxer from Puerto Rico. His brother Adolfo was also a professional boxer.Viruet made his professional debut in 1969...
, the former in 3 rounds on the Holmes
Larry Holmes
Larry Holmes is a former professional boxer. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which gave birth to his boxing nickname, The Easton Assassin....
-Cooney
Gerry Cooney
Gerry Cooney is a retired Irish-American professional boxer from Huntington, New York best known for his loss to Larry Holmes and defeat of aging ex-champion/contender Ken Norton.-Life before boxing:...
undercard. He eventually gained a record of 21-0 with 20 knockout
Knockout
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
s. This led to talks of a title fight against world lightweight champion Alexis Argüello
Alexis Argüello
Alexis Argüello , also known by the stage name El Flaco Explosivo , was a Nicaraguan professional boxer and politician...
, to be held in Miami, but Argüello abandoned the division to challenge Aaron Pryor
Aaron Pryor
Aaron Pryor is a former boxer from Cincinnati, Ohio, and member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He is the former world Junior Welterweight champion, and regarded as one of the greatest fighters in the history of the weight class.-Amateur career:Pryor, nicknamed The Hawk, had a record of...
.
Boxing champion
Rosario was then matched with Mexico's José Luis RamírezJosé Luis Ramírez
José Luis Ramírez is a retired Mexican boxer. He was a two-time World Lightweight Champion.-Career:A native of Huatabampo, Sonora and a resident of Culiacán, Ramírez made his professional debut on March 25, 1973 at the age of 15. He climbed slowly but steadily on boxing's rankings...
on May 1, 1983. Rosario dominated the first 7 rounds, but tired down the stretch to make for a very close fight. The judges, as well as most of the public present, felt Rosario had done enough to win, and Rosario had become world lightweight champion by the unanimous score of 115-113 on all 3 judging cards. Rosario injured his hand during the fight and needed surgery, for which the World Boxing Council
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
gave him a dispensation.
Rosario returned to the ring in 1984. In his first defense of the title, he faced Roberto Elizondo, who had lasted 7 rounds with Argüello in a previous world title challenge and was expected to give Rosario a tough challenge. However, Rosario knocked out Elizondo in a single round. Howard Davis Jr proved more of a challenge—he led Rosario on all scorecards with ten seconds remaining in the bout, but was dropped by Rosario and lost a split decision.
A rematch with Ramírez was scheduled, again in San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, on November 3, 1984. Rosario dropped Ramírez once in round one and again in the second, but Ramírez was well trained and got off the canvas to take Rosario's title away with a four round TKO
Knockout
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
. This was Rosario's first defeat, and he seemed to never fully recover.
Rosario won a comeback fight against future world champion Frankie Randall
Frankie Randall
-External links:...
in London and then had to wait one more year before an opportunity to recover the title. On June 13, 1986, he met world champion Hector 'Macho' Camacho at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
in New York. The fight was televised by HBO
Home Box Office
HBO, short for Home Box Office, is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner. , HBO's programming reaches 28.2 million subscribers in the United States, making it the second largest premium network in America . In addition to its U.S...
, and although Rosario shook Camacho badly in the fifth round and rallied down the stretch, Camacho swept the middle rounds and the judges thought that had been enough for him to retain the title by a split decision.
Because of the closeness of that bout, the WBA
World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...
gave him a chance to challenge the other world lightweight champion, Livingstone Bramble
Livingstone Bramble
Ras-I Alujah Bramble is a boxer. However, Bramble was raised on Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. He became the first world champion from Saint Kitts and Nevis. As of 2005, Bramble is still active in professional boxing...
. Rosario went to Miami and defeated Bramble by a knockout in the second round to become world lightweight champion for the second time. His pose, raising his arms after the fight, became The Ring
The Ring (magazine)
The Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing oriented publication...
magazine's cover for the next month—the only time Rosario was featured on the cover of that magazine's English version. He defended the title against fellow Puerto Rican Juan Nazario
Juan Nazario
Juan Nazario is a former professional boxer. During his career, which lasted from 1982 to 1993, Nazario won the WBA world lightweight title. His first world title challenge came in 1987 when he fought fellow Puerto Rican Edwin Rosario for the WBA belt, Roasario won the fight by an eighth round...
with a knockout
Knockout
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
in eight in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, but in his next defense he was brutally beaten by Julio César Chávez
Julio César Chávez
Julio César Chávez is a retired Mexican professional boxer.He is a six-time world champion in three weight divisions, and for several years he was considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world...
in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
. By the eleventh round, Rosario's eye was almost completely shut and he was spitting blood from his mouth; the fight was stopped by his corner, and Rosario lost.
Rosario took off for 7 months, went 7-0 with 6 KO's, and after Chavez vacated the title in 1989, Rosario came back and won it again, beating tough Kronk
Kronk Gym
Kronk Gym was a boxing gym located in Detroit and led by the famous trainer Emanuel Steward. The gym was run out of the basement of the oldest recreation center of the City of Detroit...
prospect Anthony Jones
Anthony Jones
Anthony Jones may refer to:*Anthony Jones , British photographer*Anthony Jones , Australian footballer*Anthony Jones , American football player...
for the championship. Rosario joined the short group of men who had become world champions 3 times in the same division. This time, however, he didn't last long; he gave Nazario a rematch, and Nazario stopped him on cuts in 1990 at Madison Square Garden in the 8th round.
Rosario moved up a weight class to the junior welterweight division, and then defeated defending world champion Loreto Garza
Loreto Garza
Loreto Garza is a former American boxer.Garza started boxing amateur at 18 years old and did it for three years. He won the Golden Gloves all three years and was also on the US boxing team....
in three rounds in Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
's Arco Arena
ARCO Arena
Power Balance Pavilion is an indoor arena, located in the Natomas area of Sacramento, California. It is the home of the NBA's Sacramento Kings.-Background:...
to become a world champion for the 4th time. However, personal problems started to take their toll. In his first defense, against Japanese Akinobu Hiranaka
Akinobu Hiranaka
Akinobu Hiranaka is a former boxer in the Light welterweight division...
in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
on April 10, 1992, he lost by TKO in the 1st round.
Later career and death
Rosario disappeared from the boxing scene, but years later received media attention after being arrested for stealing beer from a supermarket. He vowed to stay clean and went into a program to achieve this. In 1997, he won two comeback fights, then won the Caribbean welterweight title by beating Roger Benito Flores of NicaraguaNicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
in Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Bayamón is a municipality of Puerto Rico located on the northern coastal valley, north of Aguas Buenas and Comerío; south of Toa Baja and Cataño; west of Guaynabo; and east of Toa Alta and Naranjito. Bayamón is spread over 11 wards and Bayamón Pueblo...
, in a twelve-round decision. Rosario, once an HBO staple, was now fighting on small cards without any TV showings. He was, however, ranked #10 among Oscar De La Hoya
Oscar de la Hoya
Oscar De La Hoya is a retired American boxer of Mexican descent. Nicknamed "The Golden Boy", De La Hoya won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympic Games shortly after graduating from Garfield High School. De La Hoya comes from a boxing family. His grandfather Vicente, father Joel Sr., and brother...
's challengers at the welterweight division after his win over Flores, making him an official world title challenger once again.
However, after defeating Sanford Ricks at Madison Square Garden and celebrating his final fight on September 25, 1997 by knocking out Harold Bennett in 2 rounds at Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Rosario died before any more fights could take place. He died of an aneurysm
Aneurysm
An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...
on December 1, 1997. Many celebrities and dignitaries attended his funeral, and a group of Puerto Rican world boxing champions were among the pallbearers. More than five thousand people came to the funeral or watched from their homes as the coffin was driven from the funeral home to the cemetery. On January 12, 2006, Rosario was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame
International Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame is located in Canastota, New York, United States, within driving distance from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown and the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta...
, thus becoming the sixth Puerto Rican inducted into the hall.
According to Ring Magazine, Edwin Rosario ranks #36 on the list of "100 Greatest Punchers of All Time."
See also
- List of famous Puerto Ricans
- List of lightweight boxing champions
- List of WBC world champions
- Hector Camacho versus Edwin RosarioHector Camacho versus Edwin RosarioThe Héctor Camacho versus Edwin Rosario fight took place on June 13, 1986, at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.- Background :Televised in the United States by HBO Boxing and in Puerto Rico by WAPA-TV , the fight garnered wide media attention, specially in Puerto Rico: It was the fourth...
- List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions