Juan Evangelista Venegas
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| Olympic medalist | |||
 Juan Evangelista Venegas |
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| Medal record | |||
| Men's Boxing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 1948 London | Bantamweight | |
Juan Evangelista Venegas born c.1928 died 1980s, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was the first Puerto Rican to win an Olympic medal.
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[edit] Early years
Venegas grew up in the poor section of San Juan where fighting was a common way of life. Many of the youth saw the sport of boxing as a way to a better life. Among them was Venegas, who admired Puerto Rico's first international boxing champion, Sixto Escobar.
Venegas boxing abilities called the attention of the islands young Olympic Committee and they included him in the delegation which would represent the island in 1948.
[edit] 1948 Olympics
The 1948 Olympics celebrated in London, was a historical one for Puerto Rico because it was the first time that the island would participate as a nation in an international sporting event. The island's delegation consisted of only three members. In their first participation, the Puerto Ricans had carried the U.S. flag into the games. The United States protested, claiming that two nations could not use the same flag at the same time. The decree of Commonwealth on July 25, 1952 would give the Puerto Rican delegation a flag of their own.
In the 1948 Olympics, known as the XIV Olympics, Juan Evangelista Venegas made Puerto Rican sports history by winning Puerto Rico's first Olympic medal ever. He won the bronze medal in boxing in the Bantamweight division.
[edit] Later years
After returning back to a hero's welcome to Puerto Rico, Venegas turned professional. In 1949, Venegas made his professional boxing debut but his boxing career was a brief and short one. Venegas, a southpaw, fought in the flyweight division for a total of 8 fights, 6 of which he won and 2 that he lost. None of his wins were by way of K.O.'s (Knockouts).
The Puerto Rican Boxing Commission sponsors the Juan Evangelista Venegas boxing tournament, which serves as a tune-up to future Olympic boxing propects.
