José Cuevas (boxer)

José Isidro "Pipino" Cuevas González (born December 27, 1957 in Santo Tomás de los Plátanos, Mexico) was a Mexican former world champion boxer at the welterweight division.

Pipino Cuevas
Statistics
Real name	José Isidro Cuevas González
Nickname(s)	Pipino
Weight(s)	Welterweight
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Nationality	Mexican
Born	(1957-12-27) December 27, 1957 Santo Tomás de los Plátanos, Mexico
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	50
Wins	35
Wins by KO	31
Losses	15
Draws	0
No contests	0

Cuevas was inducted into both the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Cuevas turned professional at age 14; he won only seven of his first twelve bouts but eventually put together an eight bout winning streak before losing to Andy Price. On July 17, 1976, he received a shot at the WBA welterweight title against champion Ángel Espada. Cuevas pulled off an upset victory by knocking Espada to the canvas three times in the second round. At age 18, he was the youngest welterweight champion in history.[1] In his first defense, he traveled to Japan and defeated hometown fighter Shoji Tsujimoto by knockout.

One of the greatest wins of his career was against Argentinian Miguel Angel Campanino, who boasted an impressive record (84-4-4), including a thirty-two fight winning streak. Once again, Pipino disposed of his challenger before the end of the second round.

On June 8, 1977, he faced veteran Clyde Gray who had only been stopped twice in his entire career which included fifty-eight wins. Yet again, Cuevas pulled off another second round knock out. A few months later, Cuevas returned to the ring for a rematch against Espada. This time Cuevas defeated Espada in the eleventh round after he sustained a broken jaw. On March 4, 1978, he disposed of Harold Weston in the ninth round after Weston also sustained a broken jaw like Cuevas' previous challenger. Cuevas then defeated former champion Billy Backus in one round. On September 9, 1978, he defeated hometown favorite Pete Ranzany (40-2-1) in Sacramento, California via a second-round knockout. He defeated Scott Clark (28-1-0) in another second-round knockout. Cuevas next title defense went the distance in a unanimous decision win against the durable Randy Shields (33-5-1). On December 8, 1979, he faced Espada for a third time, stopping him in the tenth round. Cuevas then defeated South African national champion Harold Volbrecht by fifth-round knockout.

Loss of Title

Cuevas finally lost his title in 1980 to the undefeated and up-and-coming hometown hero Thomas Hearns in Detroit. The much taller and lankier Hearns was able to use his reach to his advantage as he kept Cuevas at a distance and knocked him out in the second round. Cuevas' talent began to decline after that loss; the most notable opponent he faced was Roberto Durán, who stopped him in the fourth round in the spring of 1983. He also lost to former world title challenger Jun Sok-Hwang and future or former world champions Jorge Vaca and Lupe Aquino before finally retiring in 1989.

Pipino Cuevas fought during a period when an unusual number of accomplished welterweights were active: Sugar Ray Leonard, Wilfred Benítez, Carlos Palomino, Thomas Hearns, and Roberto Durán, although his reign had nearly come to an end as Leonard, Benítez, Hearns, and Durán emerged as welterweight champions. Cuevas successfully defended his welterweight title eleven times against ten different boxers over a four-year span. During his reign as champion, Cuevas fought the best opposition available to him. In total, the opponents he faced throughout his career had a combined record of 505-70-29.[2][3] In 2003, The Ring listed Cuevas as number thirty-one on their list of the 100 greatest punchers of all-time. In 2002, Cuevas became a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Retirement

Cuevas is the owner of a restaurant and a security company in Mexico City. At one point of his career, he was also the owner of a famous sports and luxury car collection, and he was one of the first boxers to sport a golden tooth. Most people probably know him for his nickname Pipino, which is far more used to refer to him than Jose by fight commentators and magazine writers.

He ran into trouble with the law in 2001 when he was accused of racketeering in Mexico, in connection with a Mexican mayor. But he was declared innocent in 2002.

His record as a boxer was of 35 wins and 15 losses, with 31 wins by knockout.

Professional boxing record

35 Wins (31 knockouts, 4 decisions), 15 Losses (6 knockouts, 9 decisions)
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	35–15	Lupe Aquino	KO	2 (10)	1989-09-25	Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win	35–14	Martín Martínez	KO	1 (10)	1989-07-31	Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win	34–14	Francisco Carballo	KO	4 (10)	1989-05-29	Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win	33–14	Daniel Valenzuela	KO	6 (10)	1987-07-25	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Loss	32–14	Jorge Vaca	KO	2 (10)	1986-12-19	Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Loss	32–13	Lorenzo Luis García	MD	10	1986-10-04	Salta, Salta, Argentina
Win	32–12	Luis Mateo	TKO	3 (10)	1986-07-25	UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Loss	31–12	Steve Little	MD	10	1986-03-03	Sacramento, California, United States
Win	31–11	Felipe Vaca	UD	4	1986-02-25	Forum, Inglewood, California, United States
Loss	30–11	Herman Montes	KO	3 (10)	1985-03-07	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, United States
Loss	30–10	Jun-Suk Hwang	MD	10	1984-07-12	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, United States
Win	30–9	Mauricio Bravo	TKO	1 (10)	1984-03-01	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, United States
Loss	29–9	Roberto Durán	TKO	4 (12)	1983-01-29	Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, United States
Loss	29–8	Roger Stafford	UD	10	1981-11-07	Hacienda Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	1981 Upset of the Year - The Ring Magazine
Win	29–7	Jørgen Hansen	TKO	1 (10)	1981-06-25	Astrodome, Houston, Texas, United States
Win	28–7	Bernardo Prada	KO	2 (10)	1981-02-07	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, United States
Loss	27–7	Thomas Hearns	TKO	2 (15)	1980-08-02	Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan, United States	Lost WBA World Welterweight title
Win	27–6	Harold Volbrecht	KO	5 (15)	1980-04-06	Astro Arena, Houston, Texas, United States	Retained WBA World Welterweight title
Win	26–6	Ángel Espada	TKO	10 (15)	1979-12-08	Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, United States	Retained WBA World Welterweight title
Win	25–6	Randy Shields	UD	15	1979-07-30	International Amphitheatre, Chicago, Illinois, United States	Retained WBA World Welterweight title
Win	24–6	Scott Clark	TKO	2 (15)	1979-01-29	Forum, Inglewood, California, United States	Retained WBA World Welterweight title
Win	23–6	Pete Ranzany	TKO	2 (15)	1978-09-09	Hughes Arena, Sacramento, California, United States	Retained WBA World Welterweight title
Win	22–6	Billy Backus	TKO	2 (15)	1978-05-20	Forum, Inglewood, California, United States	Retained WBA World Welterweight title
Win	21–6	Harold Weston	TKO	9 (15)	1978-03-04	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, United States	Retained WBA World Welterweight title
Win	20–6	Ángel Espada	TKO	12 (15)	1977-11-19	Coliseo Roberto Clemente, San Juan, Puerto Rico	Retained WBA World Welterweight title
Win	19–6	Clyde Gray	KO	2 (15)	1977-08-06	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, United States	Retained WBA World Welterweight title
Win	18–6	Miguel Ángel Campanino	KO	2 (15)	1977-03-12	Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico	Retained WBA World Welterweight title
Win	17–6	Shoji Tsujimoto	KO	6 (15)	1976-10-27	Jissen Rinri Hall, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan	Retained WBA World Welterweight title
Win	16–6	Ángel Espada	TKO	2 (15)	1976-07-17	Plaza de Toros Calafia, Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico	Won WBA World Welterweight title
Loss	15–6	Andy Price	UD	10	1976-06-02	Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, United States
Win	15–5	Rafael Piamonte	KO	1 (10)	1976-04-03	Plaza de Toros Calafia, Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico
Win	14–5	José Palacios	KO	10 (12)	1975-09-27	Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico	Won Mexico Welterweight title
Win	13–5	Carlos Obregón	UD	10	1975-07-12	Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	12–5	Rubén Vázquez Zamora	UD	10	1975-01-25	Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	11–5	Sammy García	KO	3 (10)	1974-10-26	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	10–5	José Luis Pena	KO	1 (10)	1974-08-21	Arena Coliseo, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	9–5	Sugar Sanders	TKO	1 (10)	1974-06-12	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	8–5	Salvador Ruvalcaba	KO	1 (10)	1974-05-11	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Loss	7–5	Eleazar Delgado	MD	10	1973-11-24	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	7–4	Octavio Amparan	TKO	7 (10)	1973-10-06	Arena Coliseo, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	6–4	José Figueroa	TKO	3 (10)	1973-08-04	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Loss	5–4	Memo Cruz	UD	10	1973-05-13	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	5–3	Sergio Alejo	KO	4 (8)	1973-03-01	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	4–3	Raúl Martínez	KO	1 (8)	1972-12-07	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Loss	3–3	Juan Pablo Oropeza	MD	8	1972-08-19	Campeche, Campeche, Mexico
Win	3–2	Pancho Benítez	TKO	2 (8)	1972-06-22	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	2–2	Rielero Rodríguez	TKO	2 (6)	1972-05-24	Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico
Loss	1–2	Mario Roman	MD	6	1972-03-04	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	1–1	José Arias	TKO	4 (6)	1972-01-01	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Loss	0–1	Alfredo Castro	KO	2 (4)	1971-11-14	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico	Cuevas's professional debut.

See also

• List of WBA world champions
• List of Mexican boxing world champions

External links

• Boxing record for José Cuevas from BoxRec

Sporting positions
Preceded by Ángel Espada	WBA Welterweight Champion July 17, 1976 - August 2, 1980	Succeeded by Thomas Hearns

References

1. https://www.ringtv.com/179731-10-best-left-hookers/9/
2. Remembering the Career of Pipino Cuevas Archived 2008-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
3. HBO: Boxing: Features: Best Of: THE BEST WELTERWEIGHT PUNCHERS EVER