Bobby Chacon

Bobby Chacon (November 28, 1951 – September 7, 2016) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1972 to 1988. He held titles in two weight classes, including the World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight title from 1974 to 1975 and the WBC super featherweight title from 1982 to 1983.

Biography

Early career

Born in Pacoima, in the San Fernando Valley, Chacon, who was of Mexican descent, graduated from San Fernando High School and turned professional in 1972 while a student at California State University, Northridge, leading to the nickname "Schoolboy".<ref name=WaTimes>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=LA>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=NYT>Template:Cite news</ref> He trained under Joe Ponce and won his first 19 fights, including a win against former champion Jesus Castillo. Fourteen months into his professional career, Chacon faced world champion Rubén Olivares but lost the bout when Olivares scored a ninth-round knock out. After suffering his first defeat against Olivares, Chacon won his next four bouts, then faced off against cross-town rival and future champion Danny Lopez. Chacon outboxed Lopez and stopped him in the ninth round in an exciting fight.

WBC Featherweight title

On September 7, 1974, Chacon won the vacant WBC Featherweight title by defeating former WBA Junior Lightweight champion Alfredo Marcano in nine rounds at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. During his first period as a world champion, Chacon got to enjoy the good life, but he loved partying and became an alcoholic.<ref name=LA1999>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=ESPN>Template:Cite news</ref>

Chacon lost his title in his second defense against arch-rival Rubén Olivares. Almost immediately after the loss, he fought the first of his four fight rivalry with another world champion, Rafael "Bazooka" Limón, beginning what some boxing experts and historians called one of the fiercest and most spectacular boxing rivalries in history. Limón beat Chacon in their first bout by a decision. Chacon then scored nine straight wins, leading him to a third match with Olivares. This time, Chacon defeated Olivares in their 10-round bout by a decision. In Chacon's next fight, he lost an upset decision to Arturo Leon. Chacon rebounded by scoring victories over Ignacio Campos, Augie Pantellas, Gerald Hayes and Shig Fukuyama. He then fought to a technical draw in a rematch against Rafael Limón.

In November 1979, Chacon received a shot at the WBC title, versus world champion Alexis Argüello. Arguello defeated him by a devastating knock out after Chacon sustained a bad cut in the seventh round. In 1980, Chacon had only one fight, but it was a significant one. He beat Limón in their third bout, and the WBC once again made him their number one challenger. In 1981, Arguello had left the title vacant and gone up in weight to pursue the world's Lightweight title. Limón then beat Idelfonso Bethelmy by a knockout in 15 in Los Angeles to win the WBC world Jr. Lightweight championship. In his first title defense, he lost it by a decision to Uganda's Cornelius Boza-Edwards, who, in turn, defended his title against Chacon on his first defense. In a televised bout, Edwards retained the world title by a knockout in the thirteenth round.

Chacon won five fights in a row in 1982, including a rematch victory over Arturo Leon, which kept him as the number one challenger, but then a dramatic development outside the ring changed his life forever: Chacon's wife, Valorie Chacon, flew to Hawaii on February of that year, hoping to convince him to leave boxing and move there if she found them good jobs. She was able to find a job, but unable to convince him to join her in Hawaii, so she flew back. She pleaded for him to leave the sport but was unsuccessful, and the night before he boxed Salvador Ugalde, she shot and killed herself with a rifle. Chacon went through with the fight and KO'ed Ugalde in the third round. He dedicated his win to his deceased wife.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

WBC Super featherweight title

Two more victories followed before his fourth and final bout with Limón. Limón had regained the world's Jr. Lightweight title by beating Rolando Navarrete by a knockout in 12 rounds. Navarrete, for his part, had won the title by beating Edwards by a knockout in five rounds. Chacon-Limón IV became one of the fights of the year and the decade, according to such magazines as The Ring, KO Magazine, and Ring En Español, and after 15 rounds Chacon secured a close decision and his second world title in Sacramento.<ref name=ESPN/>

About one and a half years after his wife's suicide, Chacon remarried and bought a large farm with a mansion and, according to what he said at an interview, about 40 horses. He also acquired a collection of Rolls-Royce cars and some other vehicles. In between, he and Boza Edwards met for a second time, with his world title on the line, in what The Ring called 1983's fight of the year. Chacon rose from a knockdown in round three and recovered from a dangerous cut. The announcers, including Ferdie Pacheco, were explicit in saying the fight should be stopped because of the pounding Chacon endured. But Chacon came back to drop Boza Edwards in round twelve and avenge his earlier defeat to the Ugandan former champion. In 1983, Chacon was signed to defend his WBC title in that rematch against Boza Edwards, who was the WBC's mandatory challenger. Even though WBC rules stated the mandatory challenger should receive a shot at the title, the WBC insisted Chacon fight Héctor Camacho in Puerto Rico instead, then stripped him of his title when he refused.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Chacon started 1984 with a move up in weight, to the Lightweight division, where he tried to join the exclusive club of boxing's three division world champions, but was knocked out in three during his challenge against world champion Ray Mancini in Reno. Chacon then beat Carlton Sparrow by a TKO in five rounds and announced his retirement. Chacon came back in 1985 and he won five fights, including one against former world champion Arturo Frias by a knockout in seven, and a knockout in five over Rafael Solis, who had challenged Camacho for the world Jr. Lightweight title that had once belonged to Chacon.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1987 and 1989 he won one fight each year. He retired in 1989 winning 14 out of his last 15 fights.

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
67	Template:Yes2Win	59–7–1	Bobby Jones	UD	10	Jun 2, 1988	Template:Small
66	Template:Yes2Win	58–7–1	Martin Guevera	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	Jun 23, 1987	Template:Small
65	Template:Yes2Win	57–7–1	Rafael Solis	TKO	5 (10)	Oct 4, 1985	Template:Small
64	Template:Yes2Win	56–7–1	Arturo Frias	TKO	7 (10), Template:Small	Aug 15, 1985	Template:Small
63	Template:Yes2Win	55–7–1	Davey Montana	KO	8 (10), Template:Small	May 20, 1985	Template:Small
62	Template:Yes2Win	54–7–1	Freddie Roach	MD	10	Mar 5, 1985	Template:Small
61	Template:Yes2Win	53–7–1	Carlton Sparrow	TKO	5 (10), Template:Small	Jun 12, 1984	Template:Small
60	Template:No2Loss	52–7–1	Ray Mancini	TKO	3 (15), Template:Small	Jan 14, 1984	Template:Small	Template:Small
59	Template:Yes2Win	52–6–1	Cornelius Boza Edwards	UD	12	May 15, 1983	Template:Small
58	Template:Yes2Win	51–6–1	Rafael Limón	UD	15	Dec 11, 1982	Template:Small	Template:Small
57	Template:Yes2Win	50–6–1	Arturo Leon	UD	10	Jun 15, 1982	Template:Small
56	Template:Yes2Win	49–6–1	Rosendo Ramirez	TKO	8 (10)	May 4, 1982	Template:Small
55	Template:Yes2Win	48–6–1	Salvador Ugalde	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	Mar 16, 1982	Template:Small
54	Template:Yes2Win	47–6–1	Renan Marota	TKO	8 (10)	Feb 23, 1982	Template:Small
53	Template:Yes2Win	46–6–1	Augustin Rivera	RTD	6 (10), Template:Small	Nov 7, 1981	Template:Small
52	Template:No2Loss	45–6–1	Cornelius Boza Edwards	RTD	13 (15)	May 30, 1981	Template:Small	Template:Small
51	Template:Yes2Win	45–5–1	Leon Smith	TKO	3 (10)	Mar 12, 1981	Template:Small
50	Template:Yes2Win	44–5–1	Roberto Garcia	TKO	10 (10), Template:Small	Feb 5, 1981	Template:Small
49	Template:Yes2Win	43–5–1	Rafael Limón	SD	10	Mar 21, 1980	Template:Small
48	Template:No2Loss	42–5–1	Alexis Argüello	RTD	7 (15), Template:Small	Nov 16, 1979	Template:Small	Template:Small
47	Template:Yes2Win	42–4–1	Jose Torres	UD	10	Jun 18, 1979	Template:Small
46	Template:DrawDraw	41–4–1	Rafael Limón	TD	7 (12), Template:Small	Apr 9, 1979	Template:Small	Template:Small
45	Template:Yes2Win	41–4	Shig Fukuyama	TKO	5 (10), Template:Small	Feb 26, 1979	Template:Small
44	Template:Yes2Win	40–4	Gerald Hayes	UD	10	Dec 6, 1978	Template:Small
43	Template:Yes2Win	39–4	Augie Pantellas	TKO	7 (10), Template:Small	Sep 27, 1978	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	38–4	Ignacio Campos	TKO	7 (10), Template:Small	May 19, 1978	Template:Small
41	Template:No2Loss	37–4	Arturo Leon	SD	10	Nov 15, 1977	Template:Small
40	Template:Yes2Win	37–3	Rubén Olivares	UD	10	Aug 20, 1977	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	36–3	Alejandro Lopez	RTD	7 (10)	Jul 15, 1977	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	35–3	Miguel Estrada	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	Jun 9, 1977	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	34–3	Ramon Contreras	TKO	8 (10), Template:Small	May 19, 1977	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	33–3	Julio Leal	TKO	7 (10), Template:Small	Jan 13, 1977	Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	32–3	Miguel Meza	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	Dec 16, 1976	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	31–3	Bonnie Necessario	TKO	2 (10)	Nov 10, 1976	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	30–3	David Sotelo	UD	10	Feb 25, 1976	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	29–3	Modesto Concepcion	TKO	10 (10), Template:Small	Feb 17, 1976	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	28–3	Gene Prado	KO	5 (10), Template:Small	Jan 27, 1976	Template:Small
30	Template:No2Loss	27–3	Rafael Limón	UD	10	Dec 7, 1975	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	27–2	Fel Clemente	TKO	5 (10), Template:Small	Nov 18, 1975	Template:Small
28	Template:No2Loss	26–2	Rubén Olivares	TKO	2 (15), Template:Small	Jun 20, 1975	Template:Small	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	26–1	Jesus Estrada	KO	2 (15), Template:Small	Mar 1, 1975	Template:Small	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	25–1	Alfredo Marcano	TKO	9 (15), Template:Small	Sep 7, 1974	Template:Small	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	24–1	Danny Lopez	TKO	9 (12), Template:Small	May 24, 1974	Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	23–1	Genzo Kurosawa	TKO	5 (10), Template:Small	Mar 4, 1974	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	22–1	Jorge Ramos	TKO	5 (10), Template:Small	Feb 1, 1974	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	21–1	Jose Luis Martin del Campo	TKO	9 (10), Template:Small	Oct 13, 1973	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	20–1	Jorge Ramos	TKO	10 (10), Template:Small	Sep 28, 1973	Template:Small
20	Template:No2Loss	19–1	Rubén Olivares	RTD	9 (12)	Jun 23, 1973	Template:Small	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	19–0	Chucho Castillo	TKO	10 (10), Template:Small	Apr 28, 1973	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	18–0	Frankie Crawford	UD	10	Mar 30, 1973	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	17–0	Jose Luis Martin del Campo	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	Feb 28, 1973	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	16–0	Arturo Pineda	KO	5 (10), Template:Small	Feb 15, 1973	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	15–0	Ray Echevarria	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	Nov 6, 1972	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	14–0	Alberto Reyes	TKO	9 (10), Template:Small	Oct 16, 1972	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	13–0	Valente Vera	TKO	5 (10), Template:Small	Sep 11, 1972	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	12–0	Juan Montayo	TKO	8 (8), Template:Small	Aug 21, 1972	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	11–0	Modesto Boy Dayaganon	TKO	2 (?)	Aug 11, 1972	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	10–0	Alfredo De La Rosa	KO	4 (5)	Jul 31, 1972	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	9–0	Alberto Perez	KO	5 (6), Template:Small	Jul 17, 1972	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Jesus Robles	KO	2 (6), Template:Small	Jun 30, 1972	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	Alfredo De La Rosa	UD	5	Jun 19, 1972	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Ray Llamas	KO	1 (6), Template:Small	Jun 5, 1972	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Luis Robles	KO	1 (6), Template:Small	May 22, 1972	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Henry Felix	KO	1 (5), Template:Small	May 15, 1972	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Ruben Coria	KO	2 (5)	May 8, 1972	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Limon Salas	KO	1 (6), Template:Small	Apr 22, 1972	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Jose Antonio Rosa	KO	5 (6), Template:Small	Apr 7, 1972	Template:Small

Later life and death

Chacon was placed on probation in 1984 for beating his second of three wives.<ref name=LA1999/> His life was again marred by tragedy in 1991, when his son Bobby Jr. was killed in a gang slaying.<ref name=LA1999/> In 1996, he was spotted at a public appearance in Phoenix, Arizona, to see the fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Julio César Chávez. By 2000 he had lost most of his savings and was being cared for by a nurse as he was impacted by dementia pugilistica (boxer's syndrome).<ref name=LA1999/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He died after falling while in hospice care for dementia on September 7, 2016.<ref name=WaTimes/><ref name=LA/><ref name=NYT/> He was 64.

Honors and references

In 1982, he was named comeback fighter of the year by The Ring. His wins over Limon in 1982 and Edwards in 1983, were both named Ring Magazine fights of the year. In 2003, Chacon was included on The RingTemplate:'s list of "The 100 Greatest Punchers of All-Time".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Unreliable source? Chacon was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in January 2005;<ref name=WaTimes/> he was to be inducted into the West Boxing Hall of Fame later in September 2016.<ref name=LA/><ref name=NYT/>

The chorus of Warren Zevon's song "Boom Boom Mancini", from his 1987 album Sentimental Hygiene, makes reference to Chacon's fight with Mancini three years earlier.<ref name=NYT/> Chacon died thirteen years to the day after Zevon.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• List of Mexican boxing world champions
• List of world featherweight boxing champions
• List of world super-featherweight boxing champions

External links

• Template:Boxrec
• Bobby Chacon profile at International Boxing Hall of Fame

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