Carlos de León

Carlos de León, also known as "Sugar" de Leon, (born May 3, 1959) is a Puerto Rican former boxer who made history by becoming the first Cruiserweight to win the world title twice. Subsequently, he kept breaking his own record for the most times as Cruiserweight champion by regaining it twice more.

Career

De León, a native of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, first won a world title when faced with WBC world champion Marvin Camel on November 25, 1980, at the undercard of Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Durán's second fight in New Orleans. De León outpointed Camel over 15 rounds. After he knocked out Camel in 8 in a rematch, countryman Ossie Ocasio won the WBA world title, becoming the second pair of Puerto Ricans to share world titles in the same division at the same time, after Alfredo Escalera and Samuel Serrano had achieved the feat in the 1970s at Jr. Lightweight. De León lost his title in a shocking upset to former Gerry Cooney victim S. T. Gordon by a knockout in round 2 at Cleveland in 1982, and won a comeback fight versus former world Heavyweight champion Leon Spinks by a knockout in round six in 1983. After that, he and Gordon boxed a rematch in Las Vegas, and De León dropped Gordon once in the first round and once in the twelfth, en route to a unanimous decision win in a history-making bout: De León had now become the first boxer to win the world Cruiserweight title twice.

He defended his title against Yaqui López by a knockout in four at San Jose, California, and with decisions over Anthony Davis, José María Flores Burlón, and Bashiru Ali. The Davis and Burlon bouts took place in Las Vegas and the fight with Ali was in Oakland, California. De León next lost his title in Las Vegas to Alfonzo Ratliff by a decision. Ratliff was in turn beaten by Bernard Benton, who defended against De León on March 22, 1986, once again in Las Vegas. De León joined the likes of Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali in becoming one of the few boxers ever to win one division's world championship at least three times, defeating Benton by decision. He made a couple of defenses in Italy and then in 1988, lost his titles in a unification bout with WBA world champion Evander Holyfield, by TKO in the eighth round, also in Las Vegas. But Holyfield soon left the division to pursue the world Heavyweight championship, and De León was left with an open door to break his own record and win the title for a record fourth time. He went to London, where he beat the WBC's number 2 challenger, Sammy Reeson, by a knockout in the Ninth round, breaking his own record and crowning himself world Cruiserweight champion once again. This time, he held on to the title for two years, until losing it to Massimiliano Duran in Italy by an 11 round disqualification.

During the 1990s, De León ran afoul of the law a number of times, once while he was carrying a rifle. Today, he concentrates on helping the career of his son Carlos de León Jr.

Professional boxing record

53 Wins (33 knockouts, 20 decisions), 8 Losses (4 knockouts, 4 decisions), 1 Draw
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	22-0	"Super" Brian Nielsen	TKO	3	24/11/1995	Randers, Denmark
Loss	23-1	Corrie "Sniper" Sanders	TKO	1	13/08/1994	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	13-3-3	Bobby Arthurs	MD	10	17/02/1994	Joliet, Illinois, United States
Win	3-14-1	Brian "J.P." Morgan	PTS	8	14/01/1994	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win	1-35-2	Jordan Keepers	TKO	5	05/11/1993	Gary, Indiana, United States
Win	6-24-2	Andre Crowder	KO	1	19/06/1993	Davenport, Iowa, United States
Win	12-15-3	Joey Christjohn	PTS	6	15/05/1993	Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Win	3-34-1	James "Ahmad Gihad" Wilder	UD	10	13/03/1993	Aurora, Illinois, United States
Win	10-47	Rocky Bentley	UD	10	22/01/1993	Countryside, Illinois, United States
Win	7-17-1	Bruce "The Truce" Johnson	TKO	4	27/06/1992	Miami, Florida, United States
Loss	13-2	Massimiliano Duran	DQ	11	27/07/1990	Capo d'Orlando, Sicilia, Italy	WBC World Cruiserweight Title. De Leon DQ'ed for hitting after the bell.
Draw	15-5	Johnny "Entertainer" Nelson	PTS	12	27/01/1990	Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom	WBC World Cruiserweight Title. 116-115, 115-115, 111-117.
Win	24-1	Sammy Reeson	TKO	9	17/05/1989	Millwall, London, United Kingdom	WBC World Cruiserweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 2:04 of the ninth round.
Loss	17-0	Evander Holyfield	TKO	8	09/04/1988	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	WBC/WBA/IBF World Cruiserweight Titles. Referee stopped the bout at 1:08 of the eighth round.
Win	84-9-7	Jose Maria Flores Burlon	UD	12	22/01/1988	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	WBC World Cruiserweight Title. 119-110, 118-111, 118-110.
Win	9-8	Larry Phelps	KO	1	01/08/1987	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Phelps knocked out at 1:33 of the first round.
Win	23-0-2	Angelo Rottoli	TKO	5	21/02/1987	Bergamo, Lombardia, Italy	WBC World Cruiserweight Title.
Win	28-5-3	Michael Greer	TKO	8	10/08/1986	Giardini Naxos, Sicilia, Italy	WBC World Cruiserweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 1:43 of the eighth round.
Win	18-3-1	Bernard Benton	MD	12	22/03/1986	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	WBC World Cruiserweight Title. 117-114, 114-114, 115-113.
Loss	19-2	Alfonzo Ratliff	SD	12	06/06/1985	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	WBC World Cruiserweight Title. 113-116, 117-114, 114-117.
Win	9-3-1	Dorcey Gaymon	TKO	9	12/01/1985	Oranjestad, Aruba
Win	23-8	Bash Ali	UD	12	02/06/1984	Oakland, California, United States	WBC World Cruiserweight Title. 118-112, 118-112, 117-111.
Win	15-1	"Marc" Anthony Davis	UD	12	09/03/1984	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	WBC World Cruiserweight Title. 115-112, 118-112, 118-113.
Win	61-13	Yaqui Lopez	TKO	4	21/09/1983	San Jose, California, United States	WBC World Cruiserweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 2:51 of the fourth round.
Win	24-5	ST Gordon	UD	12	17/07/1983	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	WBC World Cruiserweight Title. 119-109, 119-109, 118-112.
Win	12-3-2	Leon Spinks	TKO	6	06/03/1983	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	28-13	Ivy Brown	PTS	10	26/11/1982	Houston, Texas, United States
Loss	21-5	ST Gordon	TKO	2	27/06/1982	Highland Heights, Ohio, United States	WBC World Cruiserweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 2:51 of the second round.
Win	40-3-2	Marvin Camel	TKO	8	24/02/1982	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	WBC World Cruiserweight Title.
Win	2-6-2	Greg Payne	TKO	3	12/12/1981	Houston, Texas, United States
Win	36-2-2	Marvin Camel	MD	15	25/11/1980	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States	WBC World Cruiserweight Title. 145-142, 145-145, 145-141.
Win	24-10-1	Mario Rosa	PTS	8	28/06/1980	San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States
Win	8-2-1	Waldemar Paulino	KO	1	25/04/1980	Anaheim, California, United States	WBC World Cruiserweight Title Eliminator. Paulino knocked out at 0:28 of the first round.
Win	25-5-2	Christy Elliott	TKO	4	25/09/1979	Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Win	13-15-5	Willie McIntyre	TKO	1	25/08/1979	San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States
Win	19-25-2	Manny Freitas	TKO	1	08/04/1979	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	17-6-3	Bonifacio Avila	TKO	2	27/01/1979	San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States
Win	12-11-2	Wendell Joseph	PTS	10	18/11/1978	Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, United States
Win	8-10	Rennie Pinder	TKO	3	26/09/1978	Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Win	4-5-1	Roy Harry	KO	1	08/09/1978	Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, United States	Harry knocked out at 2:14 of the first round.
Win	4-10-4	Tyrone Freeman	TKO	3	08/04/1978	Bayamon, Puerto Rico, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 2:28 of the third round.
Win	12-25-5	Jesse "Chuey" Lara	TKO	2	25/03/1978	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	1-7	"Sugar" Ray Bryant	TKO	5	28/01/1978	San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States
Win	15-42-6	"Fast" Eddie Davis	TKO	5	08/11/1977	Orlando, Florida, United States
Win	0-1	Battling Douglas	TKO	5	14/10/1977	Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 2:12 of the fifth round.
Loss	11-2	"Sugar" Ray Hammond	PTS	8	10/09/1977	San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States
Win	5-2-1	Mustapha Ali	UD	10	29/07/1977	Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, United States	97-95, 99-93, 99-94.
Win	12-38-6	"Fast" Eddie Davis	TKO	3	25/06/1977	Bayamon, Puerto Rico, United States
Win	0-1	Antonio Colon	TKO	6	12/02/1977	Bayamon, Puerto Rico, United States
Win	0-1	Carlos Soto	PTS	8	11/10/1976	San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States
Win	--	Astor Agosto	PTS	8	16/08/1976	San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States
Win	0-1	Dario de Jesus	PTS	8	19/07/1976	San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States
Win	--	Carlos Soto	PTS	8	05/04/1976	San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States
Loss	--	Roberto Colon	PTS	4	15/02/1976	Ponce, Puerto Rico, United States
Win	21-15-2	Larry Adkins	PTS	8	15/09/1975	Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Win	--	"King" James Jackson	TKO	3	11/07/1975	Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Win	13-7-2	Cubby "Topcat" Jackson	TKO	4	17/05/1975	Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
Win	0-1	Kid Gavilan	TKO	6	05/04/1975	Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
Win	--	Tripodi Guadalupe	TKO	5	17/03/1975	Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
Win	--	Vernon Laws	TKO	3	02/11/1974	Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, United States
Win	0-2	Jesse Torres	TKO	2	19/10/1974	Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, United States
Win	--	Roy "Composer" Harris	TKO	4	03/08/1974	Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, United States

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans
• List of cruiserweight boxing champions
• List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions

External links

• Professional boxing record for Carlos de León from BoxRec