Name: Ramon La Cruz
Born: 28 August 1939 Resistencia, Argentina
Died: 21 December 2023 Aged 84
Record: 137 fights, 104 wins (62 by KO/TKO), 14 losses (1 by KO/TKO), 19 draws.
Career : 1959 to 1975
Division: Welterweight
Stance: Orthodox
Titles: Argentinian and South American welterweight
Major Contests
Scored wins over: Ruben Arocha(twice), Juan Carlos Juncos (twice), Juan Carlos Velardez, Manuel Alvarez(twice), Juarez de Lima (twice), Humberto Trottman, Jose Stable*, Tito Marshall, Jorge Rosales, L C Morgan (twice), Abel Cachazu (5 times), Jorge Peralta, Domenico Tiberia*, Esteban Osuna (twice), Walter Kelly, Horacio Saldana*, Mario Guillotti,
Lost against: Oscar Miranda, Jorge Peralta, Juan Jose Unzuga, Manuel Alvarez, Juarez de Lima, Esteban Osuna, Abel Cachazu( twice), Curtis Cokes **, Horacio Saldana*, Miguel Angel Castellini**,
Drew with: Ruben Arocha, Juan Carlos Velardez (four times), Manuel Alvarez, Juarez de Lima, Tito Marshall, Esteban Osuna, Horacio Saldana*, Miguel Angel Castellini**, Pedro Votta,
**Past/ future holder of a version of a world title
* Unsuccessful challenger for a version of a world title
Ramon La Cruz’s Story
“The Matador” La Cruz was one of the most popular and successful boxers in Argentina in the 1960’s and 70’s. There is nothing available on his time as an amateur before he had his first professional fight on 11 March 1959 in Buenos Aires knocking out Roque Castro in three rounds. His early career does not appear outstanding as he went 4-0-3 in his first 7 fights. This was due to a scoring system that was in place in Argentina where a fighter had to have a lead of at least 4 points on two of the judge’s cards to win the fight which led to many draws on the early records of fighters such as Carlos Monzon (9) and Nicolino Locche (14).
La Cruz quickly established himself as a favourite with the fans at the legendary Luna Park and was fighting ten rounds by his ninth fight. His services were always in demand and by the end of 1961 his record stood at 30-0-5. He suffered his first loss in April 1962 being outpointed by useful Oscar Miranda snapping his unbeaten run at 40 bouts.
There were plenty of experienced and promising welterweights in Argentina during that period but La Cruz did not lose again until May 1963 by when he had a record of 43-1-7, just one loss in 51 fights. That second career loss came against Uruguayan Jorge Peralta in Montevideo. La Cruz’s first fight outside Argentina.
La Cruz continued to compete in mainly domestic action before fighting for his first title, the South American, against unbeaten Brazilian Juarez, de Lima in a fight that ended in a draw. He would go 2-1-1 in four fights with de Lima. He beat de Lima for the South American title in February 1965 to win his first title.
From late 1966 his manager Tito Lectoure began to import opponents to try to get La Cruz into the Ring Magazine ratings and La Cruz beat Jose Stable, Tito Marshgall, Jorge Rosales, L C Morgan, Domenico Tiberia and some domestic and South American rivals. After 105 fights with just 5 losses La Cruz got his title fight against champion Curtis Coles in New Orleans on 21 October 1968 for the WBA and WBC crowns. Whatever chance he had of winning disappeared when he suffered a torn bicep in his left arm in the middle of the fight. He fought on but lost the unanimous decision with the scores (in rounds-even rounds not counted) 11-3 from the three judges.
After that La Cruz stuck to domestic/South American fights. He had won both the South American title (by beating de Lima) and Argentinian title (by beating Abel Cachazu. He and Cachazu would fight each other 7 times with the score being 5-2 for La Cruz) and defended the South American belt by outpointing Brazilian Edmund Leite but lost the national title on points against Esteban Osuna. June 1970 saw him face unbeaten 42-0-5 Horacio Saldana before a sold out crowd at Luna Park. The fight ended in a draw and was the first of a three-bout series that saw La Cruz win the second and Saldano the third. Such a strong bond was forged with Saldano that La Cruz trained Saldano’s two daughters when they began to box.
He fought Pedro Votta twice in Montevideo losing the first fight when he was disqualified in the fifth round for insulting the referee!. The second was a draw. Under the 20-point scoring system the scores were 200-198, 199-97 and 198-197 all for La Cruz but under the local rules a card was considered even unless a fighter had an advantage of at least three points on it. As his career was coming to a close he drew and then lost on points with future WBA super welterweight champion Miguel Angel Castellini. He was inactive for ten months after losing to Castellini in December 1973 and then ended his career with a run of three draws.
A dream fight would have been with Luis Federico Thompson (149-14-15) but Thompson’s career was ended by eye problems before it could happen.
He topped the bill more than 40 times in the Luna Park before crowds ranging from 6,000 as high as 15,000 and his three-bout series against Saldano is one of the all-time classics with tickets for their fights being sold at as much as twenty times their face value. His success in the ring and demeanour outside made him one of the most popular boxers in Argentinian boxing history.
After retirement he trained boxers for a while then went to work in local government in Buenos Aires before dying of natural causes at the age of 84.