| Carlos Ortiz | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Carlos Ortiz |
| Rated at | Lightweight |
| Height | 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m) |
| Reach | 70 in (177.8 cm) |
| Nationality | Puerto Rican |
| Born | 9 September 1936 Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 70 |
| Wins | 61 |
| Wins by KO | 30 |
| Losses | 7 |
| Draws | 1 |
| No contests | 1 |
| External audio | |
|---|---|
| You may Carlos Ortiz vs Kenny Lane II here | |
Carlos Ortiz (born September 9, 1936) is a Puerto Rican who was a three time world boxing champion, twice in the lightweight division and once in the Jr. Welterweights.
Ortiz, born in Ponce, started his professional career in 1955 with a first round knockout of Harry Bell in New York. He moved from Puerto Rico to New York before he began boxing as a professional, he would campaign there during the first stages of his career. After 9 bouts there, he fought outside New York for the first time, moving to Massachusetts to knock Al Duarte out in 4 rounds. His next 3 bouts were also outside New York, but he stayed within the confines of New England, as they happened, once again in Massachusetts, and in New Jersey.
He returned to New York again and won 4 more bouts in a row, then made his California debut, beating Mickey Northrup by a decision in 10 rounds. 2 more fights in California and one in New York went by, after which he returned to California to meet Lou Filippo, who was subsequently inducted into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame as a referee. Filippo was also one of the guys who participated in five Rocky films. The first time, it was declared a no-contest after 9 rounds, but in the second, Carlos prevailed, by a knockout in 9. 5 more wins followed, and then he met Johnny Busso, who handled Carlos his first loss, on a 10 round decision. That fight was held in New York, and in an immediate rematch between Ortiz and Busso, Carlos won, also by a 10 round decision, and also in New York.
Next Carlos flew to England to meet Dave Charnley, who was considered one of the top challengers of that time. Ortiz won the fight at Harringay Arena on a 10 round decision, after which promoters thought he was ready for a world title try.
Carlos met Kenny Lane for the vacant world Jr. Welterweight title, in New York on the night of June 12, 1959. Lane had handled Carlos his second loss months before, winning a 10 round decision over Ortiz in Florida. This time, Carlos became the World's Jr Welterweight champion,with a tko of Lane at the end of 2 round.Ortiz had become the first Puerto Rican world boxing champion since Sixto Escobar more than 30 years before, and only the second Puerto Rican world boxing champion ever. Unfortunately for him, not much importance was being given to that division at the time, since that division's title had been vacant for 13 years. But Carlos defended his title twice, knocking out former world lightweight champion Battling Torres in Torres' background of Los Angeles, and beating Duilio Loi in 15 rounds by decision at San Francisco.
His next fight was a rematch with Loi, and it took Ortiz to Milan, Italy to defend his crown. This time, it was Loi's turn to become a world champion, winning by a 15 round decision.
After another win, Ortiz traveled to Milan once again, and met Loi in a rubber match. This time, he lost again, by 15 round decision.
Instead of going up in weight, like most boxers throughout history have done after losing the title in their original division, Ortiz went down in weight, and challenged world champion Joe Brown (also a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame). Ortiz won a 15 round decision over Brown on April 21 of 1962 in Las Vegas, to win his second world title, this time in his second championship division. Ortiz defended with a 5 round knockout of Teruo Kosaka in Tokyo before making his Puerto Rican debut, with a 13 round knockout win over Doug Valiant to retain his title on April 7, 1963 in San Juan.
A knockout win in 14 rounds over another hall of famer, Gabriel Elorde, Flash in the Philippines followed, and then a remach with Lane, this time Ortiz retaining his world Lightweight title with a 15 round decision in San Juan. But in 1965 he went to Panama and fought yet another member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame, Ismael Laguna who defeated him in 15 rounds to claim Ortiz's world Lightweight title. A rematch in San Juan followed, and Ortiz regained the world Lightweight title beating Laguna by a 15 round decision also.
1966 saw Ortiz draw with world Jr Welterweight champion Nicolino Locche in a ten round non-title affair in Argentina, and retain his title vs Johnny Bizarro (KO in 12 in Pittsburgh), Cuban Sugar Ramos (another International Boxing Hall Of Fame Member, ko in 5 rounds in Mexico City) and Filipino Flash Elorde, also by ko in 14 at a New York rematch. The Ramos fight proved controversial, because the WBC's president proclaimed at first that the punch with which Ortiz had beaten Ramos with had been illegal, but he later reconsidered and gave Ortiz the title, and the knockout victory, back, with the condition that a rematch be fought in the future.
And so 1967 came, and Ortiz and Ramos met once again, this time in San Juan. Ortiz retained the title by a knockout in 4 rounds, and this time the bout went without any controversies. Then, he and Laguna fought a third time, and Ortiz retained his title by a 15 round decision in New York.
June 29, 1968, proved to be Ortiz's last day as a world champion, as he lost his world lightweight title to Dominican Carlos Cruz on a 15 round decision in the Dominican Republic. There was going to be a rematch to be held in San Juan, but Cruz died in the Dominicana De Aviación DC-9 crash off the Dominican Republic's Atlantic Ocean coast when he was flying to meet Ortiz in a rematch, in the same plane crash that also killed most members of the Puerto Rican Women's National Volleyball team, as well as the rest of the passengers on the plane (see: Dominicana DC-9 air disaster).
Ortiz kept on fighting, but he never got another chance at a world title. He retired after losing at the Madison Square Garden by a knockout in 6 rounds to Ken Buchanan. It was the only time he was stopped in his career. His final record was of 61 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw, with one bout declared a no-contest and 30 knockout wins.
Ortiz is also a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame and he always enjoys to take photos with his fans and sign autographs for them.
| Preceded by Tippy Larkin Abandoned |
World Light Welterweight Champion 12 Jun 1959–1 Sep 1960 |
Succeeded by Duilio Loi |
| Preceded by Joe Brown |
World Lightweight Champion 21 Apr 1962–10 Apr 1965 |
Succeeded by Ismael Laguna |
| Preceded by Ismael Laguna |
World Lightweight Champion 13 Nov 1965–29 Jun 1968 |
Succeeded by Carlos Teo Cruz |
Puerto Rican Boxers in the International Boxing Hall of Fame |
| Number | Name | Year inducted | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Ortiz | 1991 | WBA Lightweight Champion 1962 Apr 21 – 1965 Apr 10, WBC Lightweight Champion 1963 Apr 7 – 1965 Apr 10, WBC Lightweight Champion 1965 Nov 13 – 1968 Jun 29. |
| 2 | Wilfred Benítez | 1994 | The youngest world champion in boxing history. WBA Light Welterweight Champion 1976 Mar 6 – 1977, WBC Welterweight Champion 1979 Jan 14 – 1979 Nov 30, WBC Light Middleweight Champion. |
| 3 | Wilfredo Gómez | 1995 | WBC Super Bantamweight Champion 1977 May 21 – 1983, WBC Featherweight Champion 1984 Mar 31 – 1984 Dec 8, WBA Super Featherweight Champion 1985 May 19 – 1986 May 24. |
| 4 | José "Chegui" Torres | 1997 | Won a silver medal in the junior middleweight at the 1956 Olympic Games. WBC Light Heavyweight Champion 1965 Mar 30 – 1966 Dec 16 |
| 5 | Sixto Escobar | 2002 | Puerto Rico's first boxing champion. World Bantamweight Champion 15 Nov 1935– 23 Sep 1937, World Bantamweight Champion 20 Feb 1938– Oct 1939 |
| 6 | Edwin Rosario | 2006 | Ranks #36 on the list of "100 Greatest Punchers of All Time." according to Ring Magazine. WBC Lightweight Champion 1983 May 1 – 1984 Nov 3, WBA Lightweight Champion 1986 Sep 26 – 1987 Nov 21, WBA Lightweight Champion 199 Jul 9 – 1990 Apr 4, WBA Light Welterweight Champion 1991 Jun 14 – 1992 Apr 10. |
| 7 | Pedro Montañez | 2007 | 92 wins out of 103 fights. Never held a title. |
| 8 | Herbert "Cocoa Kid" Hardwick | 2012 | Member of boxing's "Black Murderers' Row". Never held a title . |
= Indicates the person is still living