Mando Ramos | |
Realname: | Armando Ramos |
Weight: | Lightweight |
Height: | 5 ft 9 in |
Reach: | 71+1/2 in |
Birth Date: | 15 November 1948 |
Birth Place: | Long Beach, California, United States |
Death Place: | San Pedro, California, United States |
Style: | Orthodox |
Total: | 49 |
Wins: | 37 |
Ko: | 23 |
Losses: | 11 |
Draws: | 1 |
Armando Ramos (November 15, 1948 - July 6, 2008) was an American professional boxer[1] and the former two-time WBC and WBA Lightweight Champion.[2] He was born in Long Beach, California.[3] Armando "Mando" Ramos was one of the most popular fighters in Southern California during the 1960s.[4] Ramos was an outstanding amateur.[5]
Mando Ramos turned pro at age 17 using a forged birth certificate. Mando went on to fight the main event at the Olympic Auditorium by his 8th pro fight.[6] At the age of 18 Mando defeated the reigning Jr. Lightweight Champ, Japan's Hiroshi Kobayashi, in a non-title bout. When offered a re-match for the title, Ramos refused to fight for a 'Junior' title.[7]
He demanded to fight dangerous Lightweight Champ Carlos Ortiz—Ortiz, who had dominated the division for over a decade.[8] Negotiations were in place, but Ortiz was upset by 'Teo' Cruz and so Ramos took the fight to the new champ, narrowly losing in a decision. Ramos won the re-match via KO to become the youngest Lightweight Champion in history.[9] Cruz would only live 11 more months. He died in a plane crash on January 1970 alongside the Puerto Rican national women's volleyball team at the Dominicana DC-9 air disaster.
When a Mando Ramos fight was held in Los Angeles, movie stars such as John Wayne, Bill Cosby, Kirk Douglas, Liz Taylor and Connie Stevens attended . Women caught Mandomania, and Hollywood loved 'The Wonder Boy'.[10] [11]
Trained by Hall of Fame trainer Jackie McCoy,[12] Ramos fought ten World title fights, was a two-time champion and earned millions of dollars. Whilst Mickey Mantle and Joe Namath earned 100k per season, Ramos was earning 100k per fight. He was the world's highest paid teenager and his purses were larger than anyone but Muhammad Ali's. McCoy stated Mando was the most naturally talented fighter he had ever seen in his life.[13]
Tough fights, drugs, and alcohol put the brakes on his career. By age 24 Ramos was out of boxing.[14] With the aid of his wife, Sylvia Van Hecke, Ramos became clean and sober over his last three decades.[15] He founded a non-profit youth organization---B.A.A.D.--boxing against alcohol and drugs— and coached, mentored, and trained inner-city at-risk youths.[16] [17]
Mando Ramos died suddenly at his home in San Pedro, California on July 6, 2008.[18] [19]
Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Age | Location | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
49 | Loss | 37–11–1 | Wayne Beale | TKO | 2 (10) | Oct 29, 1975 | ||||
48 | Win | 37–10–1 | Antonio Leyva | TKO | 7 (10) | Oct 15, 1975 | ||||
47 | Win | 36–10–1 | Tony Martinez | UD | 10 | Sep 2, 1975 | ||||
46 | Loss | 35–10–1 | Tony Martinez | SD | 10 | Jul 30, 1975 | ||||
45 | Loss | 35–9–1 | Wolfgang Gans | TKO | 5 (?) | Jul 12, 1974 | ||||
44 | Loss | 35–8–1 | Wolfgang Gans | KO | 2 (?) | Jun 3, 1974 | ||||
43 | Win | 35–7–1 | Arpad Magyar | KO | 4 (?) | May 16, 1974 | ||||
42 | Win | 34–7–1 | Mi Whan Kim | TKO | 2 (8) | May 10, 1974 | ||||
41 | Draw | 33–7–1 | Jaroslav Travnik | PTS | 8 | May 4, 1974 | ||||
40 | Loss | 33–7 | Arturo Pineda | TKO | 5 (10) | Aug 9, 1973 | ||||
39 | Loss | 33–6 | Chango Carmona | TKO | 8 (15) | Sep 15, 1972 | ||||
38 | Win | 33–5 | Pedro Carrasco | SD | 15 | Jun 28, 1972 | ||||
37 | Win | 32–5 | Pedro Carrasco | SD | 15 | Feb 18, 1972 | ||||
36 | Loss | 31–5 | Pedro Carrasco | DQ | 12 (15) | Nov 5, 1971 | ||||
35 | Win | 31–4 | Ruben Navarro | UD | 10 | Sep 30, 1971 | ||||
34 | Win | 30–4 | Raul Rojas | TKO | 6 (10) | Dec 10, 1970 | ||||
33 | Win | 29–4 | Sugar Ramos | SD | 10 | Aug 6, 1970 | ||||
32 | Loss | 28–4 | Ismael Laguna | TKO | 9 (15) | Mar 3, 1970 | ||||
31 | Win | 28–3 | Raton Palacios | UD | 10 | Jan 13, 1970 | ||||
30 | Win | 27–3 | Yoshiaki Numata | KO | 6 (15) | Oct 4, 1969 | ||||
29 | Win | 26–3 | Jerry Graci | TKO | 7 (10) | May 20, 1969 | ||||
28 | Win | 25–3 | Carlos Teo Cruz | TKO | 11 (15) | Feb 18, 1969 | ||||
27 | Win | 24–3 | Beau Jaynes | TKO | 2 (10) | Dec 12, 1968 | ||||
26 | Win | 23–3 | Billy Coleman | TKO | 3 (10) | Oct 29, 1968 | ||||
25 | Loss | 22–3 | Carlos Teo Cruz | UD | 15 | Sep 27, 1968 | ||||
24 | Win | 22–2 | Hiroshi Kobayashi | UD | 10 | Jun 20, 1968 | ||||
23 | Win | 21–2 | Phil Garcia | KO | 9 (10) | May 2, 1968 | ||||
22 | Win | 20–2 | Frankie Crawford | UD | 10 | Feb 1, 1968 | ||||
21 | Loss | 19–2 | Frankie Crawford | MD | 10 | Oct 5, 1967 | ||||
20 | Win | 19–1 | Eliseo Estrada | TKO | 5 (10) | Sep 14, 1967 | ||||
19 | Win | 18–1 | Alex Luna | TKO | 2 (10) | Aug 15, 1967 | ||||
18 | Loss | 17–1 | Kang Il Suh | UD | 10 | Jul 6, 1967 | ||||
17 | Win | 17–0 | Len Kesey | TKO | 5 (10) | Jun 22, 1967 | ||||
16 | Win | 16–0 | Pete Gonzalez | UD | 10 | Mar 30, 1967 | ||||
15 | Win | 15–0 | Ray Echevarria | UD | 10 | Jan 12, 1967 | ||||
14 | Win | 14–0 | Al Franklin | KO | 4 (10) | Nov 28, 1966 | ||||
13 | Win | 13–0 | Al Franklin | UD | 10 | Nov 17, 1966 | ||||
12 | Win | 12–0 | Allen Syers | TKO | 5 (10) | Oct 13, 1966 | ||||
11 | Win | 11–0 | Jorge Baby Salazar | UD | 10 | Sep 8, 1966 | ||||
10 | Win | 10–0 | Manny Linson | KO | 2 (10) | Aug 11, 1966 | ||||
9 | Win | 9–0 | Ray Coleman | TKO | 6 (10) | Jul 21, 1966 | ||||
8 | Win | 8–0 | Joey Aguilar | KO | 8 (10) | Jul 7, 1966 | ||||
7 | Win | 7–0 | Jerry Stevens | KO | 1 (6) | Jun 23, 1966 | ||||
6 | Win | 6–0 | Bosco Basilio | UD | 6 | May 12, 1966 | ||||
5 | Win | 5–0 | Jose Barrera | KO | 2 (6) | Mar 17, 1966 | ||||
4 | Win | 4–0 | Fidel Cruz | KO | 3 (5) | Mar 3, 1966 | ||||
3 | Win | 3–0 | Berlin Roberts | KO | 1 (5) | Jan 27, 1966 | ||||
2 | Win | 2–0 | Chuey Loera | KO | 4 (4) | Dec 2, 1965 | ||||
1 | Win | 1–0 | Berlin Roberts | PTS | 5 | Nov 18, 1965 |
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