Ralph Dupas

Ralph Dupas
Statistics
Nickname(s) The Cajun Ghost
Rated at Light middleweight
Nationality American
Born October 14, 1935
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Died January 25, 2008 (aged 72)
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 135
Wins 106
Wins by KO 19
Losses 23
Draws 6
No contests 0

Ralph Dupas (October 14, 1935 – January 25, 2008) was an American boxer from New Orleans who won the world light middleweight championship.

Early boxing career

Dupas was the second of eleven children of a New Orleans fisherman, Peter Dupas. He became a professional boxer in 1950 at the age of 14.[1] Trainer Angelo Dundee saw Dupas fight and took him to Miami to train him.

Dupas became a ranked contender in the lightweight division when he defeated Armand Savoi in 1953. By 1955, after beating a variety of top fighters such as Paddy DeMarco and Kenny Lane, Dupas was the top-ranked lightweight in the world. In May 1957 Dupas challenged Joe Brown for the lightweight title, but lost by an eighth-round knockout.

Dupas moved up to the welterweight division. He defeated future middleweight champion Joey Giardello in 1961, but lost a 1962 welterweight title shot to Emile Griffith. In 1963, Sugar Ray Robinson beat him by a controversial decision.[2]

Championship

Another championship fight for Dupas materialized in the light middleweight division. Champion Denny Moyer came to New Orleans on April 29, 1963, and Dupas won the title with a fifteen-round unanimous decision. He lost the title in September of that year to Italian Sandro Mazzinghi by a thirteen-round knockout. After that match, Emile Griffith once again knocked him out in a non-title bout.

Post-championship career

Dupas briefly retired in 1964 and worked as a card dealer in Las Vegas. He returned to the ring in 1966 and had little success. He retired for good after five fights that year.

After boxing

After he retired, Dupas began to exhibit signs of dementia pugilistica. His brother Tony, also a former fighter, moved Ralph from Las Vegas back to New Orleans and put him in a nursing home.[1]

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Ehrmann, Peter (January 2000), "Remembering Junior Middle Champ Ralph Dupas", The Ring, 79, no. 1: 45
  2. Ehrmann, Peter (January 2000), "Remembering Junior Middle Champ Ralph Dupas", The Ring, 79, no. 1: 48
Preceded by
Denny Moyer
World Light Middleweight Champion
April 29, 1963 – September 7, 1963
Succeeded by
Sandro Mazzinghi