# Leo Randolph

Leo Randolph (born February 27, 1958) is an American former boxer, who won the Flyweight Gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics.

## Amateur career

Randolph had an outstanding amateur career. Randolph was a product of the Tacoma Boys Club amateur program, along with fellow Olympic Gold Medalist Sugar Ray Seales, and future world champions Rocky Lockridge and Johnny Bumphus. Randolph was trained as an amateur and professional by Joe Clough, the head trainer at the Tacoma Boys Club. In 1975 he was the National Golden Gloves Flyweight champion. He was a National AAU flyweight champion, and was the 1976 Olympic Flyweight Gold Medalist.
Leo Randolph's 1976 Montreal Olympic boxing results were as follows:
* 1st round bye
* Defeated Massoudi Samatou (Togo) walkover
* Defeated Constantin Gruiescu (Romania) 4-1
* Defeated Davy Larmour (Ireland) 4-1
* Defeated Leszek Błażyński (Poland) 4-1
* Defeated Ramón Duvalón (Cuba) 3-2

## Professional career

Randolph turned pro in 1978. In 1980, with a record of 16-1, he challenged Ricardo Cardona for the WBA Super Bantamweight Title in a bout held in Seattle. Randolph won via TKO in the 15th round. In his next fight, he lost his title to Sergio Victor Palma via TKO in the 5th. Randolph retired after the bout. He currently holds the record for the earliest retirement ever by a former professional world boxing champion, and at two years and fifty days, Randolph also holds the record for the shortest career for any world boxing champion.

## Randolph-Palma fight

After winning the World Boxing Association super bantamweight championship from Ricardo Cardona on May 4, 1980, Randolph made his first title defense versus Argentina's Sergio Palma three months later in Spokane, WA on August 9, 1980. The bout was nationally televised. Palma was not generally known to have an aggressive style or be a hard puncher, but he immediately went on the offensive from the opening bell. Palma staggered Randolph early in the first round, staggered him again, and then floored the champion twice before the round ended. Pressing his advantage, Palma dominated round two, clearly overwhelming the young champion. Randolph rallied in both rounds three and four by boxing defensively, but Palma reasserted himself in round five. Randolph was knocked down for the third time in the contest and rose on shaky legs. Referee Stanley Christodoulou counted beyond the mandatory eight count as Randolph stood groggily with his right hand draped over the top rope. He stopped the fight at 1:12 of the round, ruling that Randolph was in no condition to continue. According to an article written by Jim Benagh in the November 1980 edition of The Ring magazine, Randolph, a deeply religious man, said he did not have the necessary killer instinct to continue as a professional boxer and voluntarily chose to retire from the ring at age 22.

## Personal

Leo now resides in his hometown of Tacoma. After boxing, he started working for the Pierce Transit public bus company in 1988 where, he worked as a transit operator and supervisor until his retirement in late 2023.

## Professional boxing record

| 19 fights | 17 wins | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 9 | 1 |
| By decision | 8 | 1 |
| Draws | 0 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 19 | Loss | 17–2 | Sergio Victor Palma | TKO | 5 (15), 1:12 | 9 Aug 1980 | Spokane Coliseum, Spokane, Washington, U.S. | Lost WBA super-bantamweight title |
| 18 | Win | 17–1 | Ricardo Cardona | TKO | 15 (15), 1:31 | 4 May 1980 | Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Washington, U.S. | Won WBA super-bantamweight title |
| 17 | Win | 16–1 | Tony Rocha | KO | 2 (10) | 28 Mar 1980 | U. of Puget Sound Fieldhouse, Tacoma, Washington, U.S. | |
| 16 | Win | 15–1 | Baby Kid Chocolate | UD | 10 | 26 Jan 1980 | Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 15 | Win | 14–1 | Joe Kid Zaldivar | TKO | 2 (10) | 12 Jan 1980 | Hyatt House Lake Tahoe, Stateline, U.S. | |
| 14 | Win | 13–1 | Tony Cisneros | KO | 3 (10) | 27 Nov 1979 | Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 13 | Win | 12–1 | Oscar Muniz | SD | 10 | 27 Oct 1979 | Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 12 | Win | 11–1 | Jose Luis Bautista | UD | 10 | 22 Sep 1979 | Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 11 | Win | 10–1 | Darryl Jones | PTS | 10 | 25 Mar 1979 | Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California, U.S. | |
| 10 | Win | 9–1 | Alfonso Cirillo | TKO | 5 (10) | 25 May 1979 | Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 9 | Loss | 8–1 | David Capo | SD | 8 | 20 Apr 1979 | Felt Forum, New York City, New York, U.S. | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Tony Hernandez | RTD | 4 (8) | 15 Dec 1978 | Westchester County Center, White Plains, New York, U.S. | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Ralph Roman | KO | 2 (8) | 1 Dec 1978 | Community Center, Cohoes, New York, U.S. | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Fernando Martinez | UD | 8 | 14 Nov 1978 | Ice World, Totowa, New Jersey, U.S. | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Carlos Zayas | TKO | 1 (8), 2:20 | 1 Nov 1978 | Kiel Auditorium, Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S. | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Eddie Logan | UD | 8 | 5 Oct 1978 | Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Washington, U.S. | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Marcial Santiago | UD | 6 | 17 Aug 1978 | Ice World, Totowa, New Jersey, U.S. | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Tony Reed | UD | 8 | 12 Jul 1978 | Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Alfonso del Gadillo | KO | 2 (6) | 20 Jun 1978 | Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Washington, U.S. | |

## Honors

* 2005 Inductee into the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame