# Antonio Cervantes

Antonio Cervantes Reyes (born December 23, 1945) is a Colombian boxing trainer and former professional boxer who competed from 1961 to 1983. He held the WBA and The Ring light welterweight title twice between 1972 and 1980.
In 2002, Cervantes was chosen for the Ring Magazine's list of 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years. Boxrec also ranked him the 50th greatest pound for pound boxer of all time.

## Personal life

Cervantes, who is Afro-Colombian, was born in Palenque, also known as the first site of a slave rebellion in the Americas. Cervantes used to sell contraband cigarettes and shine shoes as a child to survive.

## Professional boxing career

He met boxing trainer Carmelo Prada, who helped shape his style. Cervantes only had three amateur bouts, winning two and losing one. On January 31, 1964, Cervantes entered the boxing ring as a professional for the first time, beating Juan Martínez by decision in six rounds. His first 32 bouts as a professional were in Colombia, and he won 27, lost 4 and drew one of them. Realizing his pupil needed publicity outside Colombia, Prada then moved with Cervantes to Venezuela, where, on November 25, 1968, he knocked out Orlando Ruiz in the first round for his first fight abroad. He followed that win with a ten rounds decision over Nestor Rojas in the very short time of only three days later.
On December 23 of that year, he suffered his first knockout defeat when Cruz Marcano, a fringe contender of the time, beat him in four rounds in Caracas.
He won five and lost two in 1969, splitting his fights between Colombia and Venezuela, and losing a ten-round decision to Antonio Gómez, former world champion.
He won two more in 1970, then he and Prada moved, this time to Los Angeles. In California, he began by beating Jose Rodriguez by a knockout in the first round in San Jose, and on December 17, he beat Rodolfo Gato González, a very famous Mexican boxer of the time, by knockout in round eight. After this and a 1971 win over Argentine Enrique Jana, Cervantes was ranked as a light welterweight by the WBA. On December 11 of that year, he had his first world title try, against Nicolino Locche, in Buenos Aires. Cervantes lost a 15-round decision that time, however.

### Winning the light welterweight title

After winning three fights in 1972, Cervantes, who had by then returned to Colombia, had another world title try: Alfonso Frazer, who had dethroned Locche of the world title, gave Cervantes a chance on October 28 at Panama City. Cervantes knocked Frazer out in round ten and became the world light welterweight champion for the first time.
Cervantes immediately became a national hero in Colombia, and many enterprises made him their spokesman in the coffee producing country, most notably Sanyo, whose name the popular champion advertised on his clothing and fight trunks.
Cervantes made nine defenses, including a TKO in round ten against Locche in their rematch after his corner stopped the fight due to a cut over his left eye, a knockout in five of Frazer, also in a rematch, a 15-round split decision win over Josue Marquez in Puerto Rico (in the first world title bout ever held at Roberto Clemente Coliseum; most of the nine thousand in attendance scored the fight for Cervantes) and a 15-round decision against future world Lightweight champion Esteban De Jesús. But on March 6, 1976, at San Juan, he lost a 15-round decision and the world title to 17-year-old Puerto Rican Wilfred Benítez, who with that became boxing's youngest champion ever.
Cervantes won five more fights in a row, including a win over Saoul Mamby, before fighting for the world title again. After Benitez had left the light welterweight belt vacant, Cervantes regained it on June 25, 1977, with a five-round knockout over Carlos Maria Gimenez, again in Venezuela. His second reign as world champion took him to such places as Thailand, Botswana and South Korea, among others. He retained the title six times, beating the likes of Adrian Marrero and Miguel Montilla (twice). By this time, there was much talk about a superfight with world Lightweight champion Roberto Durán, who was coming up in weight. Duran decided to challenge Sugar Ray Leonard instead, however, and Cervantes vs. Duran never materialized.
On August 2, 1980, Cervantes dropped his next title challenger, Aaron Pryor, to the canvas in the first round. Pryor recovered, however, and beat Cervantes by a knockout in round four. This turned out to be Cervantes' last world title fight. He fought two times more for the FECARBOX WBC title, winning both fights shortly before retiring in 1980.
However, Cervantes came out of retirement due to financial problems and went on boxing until 1983, winning four fights and dropping his last one, a ten-round decision loss to Danny Sanchez on December 9, 1983, at Miami.

## Retirement

In retirement, his life was almost as public as it was during his boxing career: In 1985, for example, he and a female passenger in one of the boats Cervantes owned, suffered a water accident, and the passenger almost drowned, but Cervantes was able to save her life. A movie has been made about a fictional boxer called Milton Ollivera (who comes from Colombia) who goes through a majority of the things Cervantes went through throughout his life.
Cervantes was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998, and in 2000, he was declared by the Colombian Boxing Federation and National Association of Professional Boxing as Colombia's Fighter of the Century. For that award, the WBA issued him a special, commemorative belt.
Cervantes' nickname, Kid Pambelé, became almost as famous as Cervantes himself: as a matter of a fact, many fans called him only Pambelé or Pambe (the name of a song by Carlos Vives about him).

## Professional boxing record

| 80 fights | 67 wins | 12 losses |
| By knockout | 37 | 2 |
| By decision | 30 | 10 |
| Draws | 1 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 80 | Loss | 67–12–1 | Danny Sanchez | UD | 10 | 9 Dec 1983 | Casino Miami, Miami, Florida, U.S. | |
| 79 | Win | 67–11–1 | Sergio Alvarez | TKO | 11 (12) | 30 Jul 1983 | Plaza de toros de Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia | Retained WBC FECARBOX title |
| 78 | Win | 66–11–1 | Amancio Castro | PTS | 12 | 26 Mar 1983 | Plaza de toros de Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia | Won WBC FECARBOX title |
| 77 | Win | 65–11–1 | Jerome Artis | PTS | 10 | 2 Apr 1982 | Cartagena, Colombia | |
| 76 | Win | 64–11–1 | Lennox Blackmoore | KO | 9 (10) | 4 Dec 1981 | Bogota, Colombia | |
| 75 | Loss | 63–11–1 | Aaron Pryor | KO | 4 (15) | 2 Aug 1980 | Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | Lost WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 74 | Win | 63–10–1 | Miguel Montilla | TKO | 7 (15) | 29 Mar 1980 | Plaza de toros de Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 73 | Win | 62–10–1 | Kwang Min Kim | SD | 15 | 25 Aug 1979 | Jangchung Gymnasium, Seoul, South Korea | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 72 | Win | 61–10–1 | Miguel Montilla | UD | 15 | 18 Jan 1979 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. | Retained WBA light welterweight title; Won vacant The Ring light welterweight title |
| 71 | Win | 60–10–1 | Norman Sekgapane | TKO | 9 (15) | 26 Aug 1978 | Mmabatho Stadium, Mmabatho, South Africa | Retained WBA light welterweight title |
| 70 | Win | 59–10–1 | Tongta Kiatvayupakdi | KO | 6 (15) | 28 Apr 1978 | Provincial Stadium, Udon Thani, Thailand | Retained WBA light welterweight title |
| 69 | Win | 58–10–1 | Johnny Copeland | KO | 3 (10) | 18 Mar 1978 | Plaza de toros de Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia | |
| 68 | Win | 57–10–1 | Adriano Marrero | UD | 15 | 5 Nov 1977 | Maestranza César Girón Bullring, Maracay, Venezuela | Retained WBA light welterweight title |
| 67 | Win | 56–10–1 | Carlos Maria Gimenez | RTD | 5 (15) | 25 Jun 1977 | Plaza de toros Monumental de Maracaibo, Maracaibo, Venezuela | Won vacant WBA light welterweight title |
| 66 | Win | 55–10–1 | Adriano Marrero | UD | 10 | 19 Mar 1977 | Maestranza César Girón Bullring, Maracay, Venezuela | |
| 65 | Win | 54–10–1 | Saoul Mamby | UD | 10 | 13 Nov 1976 | Maestranza César Girón Bullring, Maracay, Venezuela | |
| 64 | Win | 53–10–1 | Ariel Maciel | KO | 2 (10) | 16 Oct 1976 | Maestranza César Girón Bullring, Maracay, Venezuela | |
| 63 | Win | 52–10–1 | Beau Jaynes | KO | 1 (10) | 17 Jul 1976 | Maestranza César Girón Bullring, Maracay, Venezuela | |
| 62 | Win | 51–10–1 | Javier Ayala | KO | 1 (10) | 23 May 1976 | Maestranza César Girón Bullring, Maracay, Venezuela | |
| 61 | Loss | 50–10–1 | Wilfred Benítez | SD | 15 | 6 Mar 1976 | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico | Lost WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 60 | Win | 50–9–1 | Hector Thompson | RTD | 7 (15) | 15 Nov 1975 | Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 59 | Win | 49–9–1 | Battlehawk Kazama | TKO | 6 (10) | 20 Sep 1975 | Poliedro de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 58 | Win | 48–9–1 | Esteban De Jesus | UD | 15 | 17 May 1975 | Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 57 | Win | 47–9–1 | Ray Chavez Guerrero | KO | 2 (10) | 15 Mar 1975 | Poliedro de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 56 | Win | 46–9–1 | Shinichi Kadota | KO | 8 (15) | 26 Oct 1974 | Nihon University Auditorium, Tokyo, Japan | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 55 | Win | 45–9–1 | Victor Ortiz | KO | 2 (15) | 27 Jul 1974 | Plaza de toros de Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 54 | Win | 44–9–1 | Pedro Adigue | KO | 4 (10) | 8 Jun 1974 | Maestranza César Girón Bullring, Maracay, Venezuela | |
| 53 | Win | 43–9–1 | Chang-Kil Lee | KO | 6 (15) | 2 Mar 1974 | Plaza de toros de Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 52 | Win | 42–9–1 | Lion Furuyama | UD | 15 | 5 Dec 1973 | Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 51 | Win | 41–9–1 | Carlos Maria Gimenez | TKO | 5 (15) | 8 Sep 1973 | El Campín Coliseum, Bogota, Colombia | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 50 | Win | 40–9–1 | Reinaldo Mercado | TKO | 5 (10) | 20 Jul 1973 | Coliseo Humberto Perea, Barranquilla, Colombia | |
| 49 | Win | 39–9–1 | Alfonso Frazer | TKO | 5 (15) | 19 May 1973 | Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 48 | Win | 38–9–1 | Benny Huertas | KO | 1 (10) | 28 Apr 1973 | Coliseo El Pueblo, Cali, Colombia | |
| 47 | Win | 37–9–1 | Nicolino Locche | RTD | 10 (15) | 17 Mar 1973 | Maestranza César Girón Bullring, Maracay, Venezuela | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 46 | Win | 36–9–1 | Josue Marquez | SD | 15 | 15 Feb 1973 | Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan, Puerto Rico | Retained WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 45 | Win | 35–9–1 | Alfonso Frazer | KO | 10 (15) | 28 Oct 1972 | Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama | Won WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 44 | Win | 34–9–1 | Lupe Ramirez | PTS | 10 | 19 Aug 1972 | Maestranza César Girón Bullring, Maracay, Venezuela | |
| 43 | Win | 33–9–1 | Frank Medina | KO | 8 (10) | 26 Apr 1972 | Coliseo Humberto Perea, Barranquilla, Colombia | |
| 42 | Win | 32–9–1 | Jose Escudero | KO | 1 (10) | 10 Mar 1972 | Barranquilla, Colombia | |
| 41 | Loss | 31–9–1 | Nicolino Locche | UD | 15 | 11 Dec 1971 | Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires, Argentina | For WBA and The Ring light welterweight titles |
| 40 | Win | 31–8–1 | Julio Vera | UD | 10 | 18 Oct 1971 | Nuevo Circo de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 39 | Win | 30–8–1 | Gerardo Ferrat | UD | 10 | 10 Jul 1971 | Valencia, Venezuela | |
| 38 | Win | 29–8–1 | Lupe Ramirez | UD | 10 | 28 May 1971 | Nuevo Circo de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 37 | Win | 28–8–1 | Enrique Jana | TKO | 8 (10) | 18 Feb 1971 | Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 36 | Win | 27–8–1 | Rodolfo Gonzalez | TKO | 8 (10) | 17 Dec 1970 | Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 35 | Win | 26–8–1 | Jorge Rodriguez | KO | 8 (10) | 6 Nov 1970 | San Jose Civic, San Jose, California, U.S. | |
| 34 | Win | 25–8–1 | Diego Tovar | KO | 1 (10) | 23 Mar 1970 | Palacio de Deportes, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 33 | Win | 24–8–1 | Pedro Chirinos | PTS | 10 | 20 Feb 1970 | Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 32 | Loss | 23–8–1 | Antonio Gómez | PTS | 10 | 10 Nov 1969 | Nuevo Circo de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 31 | Win | 23–7–1 | Orlando Rivas | KO | 2 (10) | 15 Aug 1969 | Nuevo Circo de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 30 | Loss | 22–7–1 | Francisco Bolivar | PTS | 10 | 21 Jul 1969 | Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 29 | Win | 22–6–1 | Milton Mendez | PTS | 10 | 4 Jun 1969 | Teatro Circo, Cartagena, Colombia | |
| 28 | Win | 21–6–1 | Frank Leroy | KO | 2 (10) | 15 Apr 1969 | Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 27 | Win | 20–6–1 | Jesus Gonzalez | TKO | 2 (10) | 9 Feb 1969 | Estadio Once de Noviembre, Cartagena, Colombia | |
| 26 | Loss | 19–6–1 | Cruz Marcano | KO | 4 (10) | 20 Dec 1968 | Nuevo Circo de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 25 | Win | 19–5–1 | Orlando Ruiz | KO | 1(10) | 25 Nov 1968 | Nuevo Circo de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 24 | Win | 18–5–1 | Jose Godoy | PTS | 8 | 31 Aug 1968 | Canal 7 TV Studio, Bogota, Colombia | |
| 23 | Win | 17–5–1 | Heliodoro Pitalua | PTS | 10 | 21 Jan 1968 | Estadio Once de Noviembre, Cartagena, Colombia | |
| 22 | Win | 16–5–1 | Rafa Rojas | KO | 5 (10) | 5 Aug 1967 | Coliseo Humberto Perea, Barranquilla, Colombia | |
| 21 | Loss | 15–5–1 | Nestor Rojas | PTS | 8 | 19 Jun 1967 | Nuevo Circo de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 20 | Win | 15–4–1 | Reynaldo Lopez | PTS | 10 | 3 Jun 1967 | San Andres, Colombia | |
| 19 | Win | 14–4–1 | Heliodoro Pitalua | PTS | 10 | 20 May 1967 | San Andres, Colombia | |
| 18 | Loss | 13–4–1 | Heliodoro Pitalua | PTS | 8 | 2 Apr 1967 | Estadio Once de Noviembre, Cartagena, Colombia | |
| 17 | Loss | 13–3–1 | Victor Cano | PTS | 8 | 3 Feb 1967 | Plaza de Toros de Santamaría, Bogotá, Colombia | |
| 16 | Loss | 13–2–1 | Cipriano Zuluaga | PTS | 10 | 6 Nov 1966 | Dieciocho de Junio stadium, Monteria, Colombia | |
| 15 | Loss | 13–1–1 | Cipriano Zuluaga | PTS | 10 | 23 Sep 1966 | Dieciocho de Junio stadium, Monteria, Colombia | |
| 14 | Draw | 13–0–1 | Reynaldo Lopez | PTS | 8 | 29 Jul 1966 | Estadio Once de Noviembre, Cartagena, Colombia | |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Jose Zuniga | PTS | 6 | 24 Jun 1966 | Estadio Once de Noviembre, Cartagena, Colombia | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Jose Godoy | PTS | 6 | 24 May 1966 | Calamar, Colombia | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Jesus Cardenas | KO | 7 (8) | 10 May 1966 | Turbaco, Colombia | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Jose Godoy | PTS | 6 | 29 Apr 1966 | Estadio Once de Noviembre, Cartagena, Colombia | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Antonio Yi | PTS | 6 | 19 Mar 1966 | Estadio Once de Noviembre, Cartagena, Colombia | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Rafael Donodo | KO | 2 (6) | 19 Jan 1966 | Estadio Once de Noviembre, Cartagena, Colombia | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Antonio Yi | PTS | 6 | 2 Oct 1965 | Humberto Perea Coliseum, Barranquilla, Colombia | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Felix Salgado | PTS | 4 | 20 Jun 1964 | Barranquilla, Colombia | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Oscar Gonzalez | PTS | 8 | 5 May 1964 | Medellin, Colombia | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Rodolfo Marquez | KO | 3 (6) | 21 Apr 1964 | Maria La Baja, Colombia | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Rodolfo Marquez | PTS | 6 | 20 Mar 1964 | Valledupar, Colombia | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Rodolfo Marquez | PTS | 4 | 28 Feb 1964 | Valledupar, Colombia | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Juan Martinez | PTS | 6 | 31 Jan 1964 | Cerete, Colombia | |