# Mando Ramos

Armando Ramos (November 15, 1948 – July 6, 2008) was an American professional boxer and the former Undisputed Lightweight Champion. He was born in Long Beach, California. Armando "Mando" Ramos was one of the most popular fighters in Southern California during the 1960s. Ramos was an outstanding amateur.

## Professional career

Mando Ramos turned pro at age 17 using a forged birth certificate. Mando went on to fight the main event at the Olympic Auditorium by his 8th pro fight. At the age of 18 Mando defeated the reigning Jr. Lightweight Champ, Japan's Hiroshi Kobayashi, in a non-title bout. When offered a re-match for the title, Ramos refused to fight for a 'Junior' title.

### World Lightweight Champion

He demanded to fight dangerous Lightweight Champ Carlos Ortiz—Ortiz, who had dominated the division for over a decade. Negotiations were in place, but Ortiz was upset by 'Teo' Cruz and so Ramos took the fight to the new champ, narrowly losing in a decision. Ramos won the re-match via KO to become the youngest Lightweight Champion in history. Cruz would only live 11 more months. He died in a plane crash in January 1970 alongside the Puerto Rican national women's volleyball team at the Dominicana DC-9 air disaster.
When a Mando Ramos fight was held in Los Angeles, movie stars such as John Wayne, Bill Cosby, Kirk Douglas, Liz Taylor and Connie Stevens attended. Women caught Mandomania, and Hollywood loved 'The Wonder Boy'.
Trained by Hall of Fame trainer Jackie McCoy, Ramos fought ten World title fights, was a two-time champion and earned millions of dollars. Whilst Mickey Mantle and Joe Namath earned 100k per season, Ramos was earning 100k per fight. He was the world's highest paid teenager and his purses were larger than anyone but Muhammad Ali's. McCoy stated Mando was the most naturally talented fighter he had ever seen in his life.

## Retirement

Tough fights, drugs, and alcohol put the brakes on his career. By age 24 Ramos was out of boxing. With the aid of his wife, Sylvia Van Hecke, Ramos became clean and sober over his last three decades. He founded a non-profit youth organization---B.A.A.D.--boxing against alcohol and drugs— and coached, mentored, and trained inner-city at-risk youths.
Mando Ramos died suddenly at his home in San Pedro, California on July 6, 2008.

## Professional boxing record

| 49 fights | 37 wins | 11 losses |
| By knockout | 23 | 6 |
| By decision | 14 | 4 |
| By disqualification | 0 | 1 |
| Draws | 1 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Age | Location | Notes |
| 49 | Loss | 37–11–1 | Wayne Beale | TKO | 2 (10) | Oct 29, 1975 | 26 years, 348 days | Silver Slipper, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | |
| 48 | Win | 37–10–1 | Antonio Leyva | TKO | 7 (10) | Oct 15, 1975 | 26 years, 334 days | Silver Slipper, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | |
| 47 | Win | 36–10–1 | Tony Martinez | UD | 10 | Sep 2, 1975 | 26 years, 291 days | Red Carpet Inn, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. | |
| 46 | Loss | 35–10–1 | Tony Martinez | SD | 10 | Jul 30, 1975 | 26 years, 257 days | Silver Slipper, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | |
| 45 | Loss | 35–9–1 | Wolfgang Gans | TKO | 5 (?) | Jul 12, 1974 | 25 years, 239 days | Palma de Mallorca, Islas Baleares, Spain | |
| 44 | Loss | 35–8–1 | Wolfgang Gans | KO | 2 (?) | Jun 3, 1974 | 25 years, 200 days | Luebeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany | |
| 43 | Win | 35–7–1 | Arpad Magyar | KO | 4 (?) | May 16, 1974 | 25 years, 182 days | Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg, Germany | |
| 42 | Win | 34–7–1 | Mi Whan Kim | TKO | 2 (8) | May 10, 1974 | 25 years, 176 days | Luebeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany | |
| 41 | Draw | 33–7–1 | Jaroslav Travnik | PTS | 8 | May 4, 1974 | 25 years, 170 days | Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria | |
| 40 | Loss | 33–7 | Arturo Pineda | TKO | 5 (10) | Aug 9, 1973 | 24 years, 267 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 39 | Loss | 33–6 | Chango Carmona | TKO | 8 (15) | Sep 15, 1972 | 23 years, 305 days | Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Lost WBC lightweight title |
| 38 | Win | 33–5 | Pedro Carrasco | SD | 15 | Jun 28, 1972 | 23 years, 226 days | Palacio de los Deportes, Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain | Retained WBC lightweight title |
| 37 | Win | 32–5 | Pedro Carrasco | SD | 15 | Feb 18, 1972 | 23 years, 95 days | Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Won WBC lightweight title |
| 36 | Loss | 31–5 | Pedro Carrasco | DQ | 12 (15) | Nov 5, 1971 | 22 years, 355 days | Palacio de los Deportes, Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain | For vacant WBC lightweight title |
| 35 | Win | 31–4 | Ruben Navarro | UD | 10 | Sep 30, 1971 | 22 years, 319 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 34 | Win | 30–4 | Raul Rojas | TKO | 6 (10) | Dec 10, 1970 | 22 years, 25 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 33 | Win | 29–4 | Sugar Ramos | SD | 10 | Aug 6, 1970 | 21 years, 264 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 32 | Loss | 28–4 | Ismael Laguna | TKO | 9 (15) | Mar 3, 1970 | 21 years, 108 days | Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Lost WBA, WBC, and The Ring lightweight titles |
| 31 | Win | 28–3 | Raton Palacios | UD | 10 | Jan 13, 1970 | 21 years, 59 days | Municipal Auditorium, San Antonio, Texas, U.S. | |
| 30 | Win | 27–3 | Yoshiaki Numata | KO | 6 (15) | Oct 4, 1969 | 20 years, 323 days | Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Retained WBA, WBC, and The Ring lightweight titles |
| 29 | Win | 26–3 | Jerry Graci | TKO | 7 (10) | May 20, 1969 | 20 years, 186 days | Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. | |
| 28 | Win | 25–3 | Carlos Teo Cruz | TKO | 11 (15) | Feb 18, 1969 | 20 years, 95 days | Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Won WBA, WBC, and The Ring lightweight titles |
| 27 | Win | 24–3 | Beau Jaynes | TKO | 2 (10) | Dec 12, 1968 | 20 years, 27 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 26 | Win | 23–3 | Billy Coleman | TKO | 3 (10) | Oct 29, 1968 | 19 years, 349 days | Convention Center Arena, San Antonio, Texas, U.S. | |
| 25 | Loss | 22–3 | Carlos Teo Cruz | UD | 15 | Sep 27, 1968 | 19 years, 317 days | Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | For WBA, WBC, The Ring lightweight titles |
| 24 | Win | 22–2 | Hiroshi Kobayashi | UD | 10 | Jun 20, 1968 | 19 years, 218 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 23 | Win | 21–2 | Phil Garcia | KO | 9 (10) | May 2, 1968 | 19 years, 169 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 22 | Win | 20–2 | Frankie Crawford | UD | 10 | Feb 1, 1968 | 19 years, 78 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 21 | Loss | 19–2 | Frankie Crawford | MD | 10 | Oct 5, 1967 | 18 years, 324 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 20 | Win | 19–1 | Eliseo Estrada | TKO | 5 (10) | Sep 14, 1967 | 18 years, 303 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 19 | Win | 18–1 | Alex Luna | TKO | 2 (10) | Aug 15, 1967 | 18 years, 273 days | Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, California, U.S. | |
| 18 | Loss | 17–1 | Kang Il Suh | UD | 10 | Jul 6, 1967 | 18 years, 233 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Len Kesey | TKO | 5 (10) | Jun 22, 1967 | 18 years, 219 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Pete Gonzalez | UD | 10 | Mar 30, 1967 | 18 years, 135 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Ray Echevarria | UD | 10 | Jan 12, 1967 | 18 years, 58 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Al Franklin | KO | 4 (10) | Nov 28, 1966 | 18 years, 13 days | Oakland Arena, Oakland, California, U.S. | |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Al Franklin | UD | 10 | Nov 17, 1966 | 18 years, 2 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Allen Syers | TKO | 5 (10) | Oct 13, 1966 | 17 years, 332 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Jorge Baby Salazar | UD | 10 | Sep 8, 1966 | 17 years, 297 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Manny Linson | KO | 2 (10) | Aug 11, 1966 | 17 years, 269 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Ray Coleman | TKO | 6 (10) | Jul 21, 1966 | 17 years, 248 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Joey Aguilar | KO | 8 (10) | Jul 7, 1966 | 17 years, 234 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Jerry Stevens | KO | 1 (6) | Jun 23, 1966 | 17 years, 220 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Bosco Basilio | UD | 6 | May 12, 1966 | 17 years, 178 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Jose Barrera | KO | 2 (6) | Mar 17, 1966 | 17 years, 122 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Fidel Cruz | KO | 3 (5) | Mar 3, 1966 | 17 years, 108 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Berlin Roberts | KO | 1 (5) | Jan 27, 1966 | 17 years, 73 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Chuey Loera | KO | 4 (4) | Dec 2, 1965 | 17 years, 17 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Berlin Roberts | PTS | 5 | Nov 18, 1965 | 17 years, 3 days | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |

## Titles in boxing
### Major world titles

* WBA lightweight champion (135 lbs)
* WBC lightweight champion (135 lbs) (2×)

### The Ring magazine titles

* The Ring lightweight champion (135 lbs)

### Undisputed titles

* Undisputed lightweight champion