Carlos Cruz (boxer)
For the basketball player with a similar name, see Teófilo Cruz
| Carlos Teo Cruz | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Carlos Teófilo Rosario Cruz |
| Weight(s) | Lightweight |
| Nationality | Dominican |
| Born | November 24, 1937 Dominican Republic |
| Died | February 15, 1970 (aged 32) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 58 |
| Wins | 43 |
| Wins by KO | 14 |
| Losses | 13 |
| Draws | 2 |
Carlos Teo Rosario Cruz (November 4, 1937 – February 15, 1970) was a boxer from the Dominican Republic. Cruz was world lightweight champion from 1968 to 1969.
Amateur career
Cruz claimed he didn't put on his first pair of boxing gloves until his 20th birthday. He fought as an amateur from 1957–1959, posting a 14–3 record.
Personal
Cruz's father, Francisco Rosario Almonte was an army officer in the Dominican military. Cruz met his wife, Mildred Ortiz in the town of Río Piedras in Puerto Rico. They were married in 1961 when Ortiz was 24 years old. Cruz had two children.
Cruz's younger brother, Leo Cruz, went on to become a world champion.
Pro career
He started his career as a professional boxer with a loss, being defeated by decision in eight rounds by Juan José Jiménez, October 23 of 1959 in Santo Domingo. His first win came on December 3 of that year, also in Santo Domingo, with a ten round decision win over Rafael Acevedo.
After one more win in Santo Domingo, he moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico. There, he posted a record of 7 wins and 2 losses before returning to Santo Domingo in 1962. Out of the 7 wins in Puerto Rico during that era, 5 were by knockout. In his return to Santo Domingo, he posted a decision win over Acevedo in a rematch. Towards the end of 1962, he started campaigning in the United States, particularly in New York. There, he boxed 5 times before returning to San Juan for another bout. He won 4 and drew 1 of those fights, all wins by decision.
He spent the first half of 1964 touring Australia, where he won 2 fights and lost one. He lost on points to Graham Dicker in Brisbane, stopped Guizani Rezgui in Sydney and outpointed Gilberto Biondi in Melbourne. Then he returned to Latin America, his first fight after arriving in Australia being a major step up in quality of opposition for him: In Caracas, he met fellow world champion boxer Carlos Morocho Hernández. He was knocked out in four rounds by Hernandez. On to Panama City, where he lost a ten round decision to Julio Ruiz. He finished his year by beating Marcos Morales the best boxer of Puerto Rico in this time in Santo Domingo .
In 1965, he was undefeated. He fought in St. Croix, in Mayagüez, in Caguas and in London among other places. He won all ten of his bouts that year.
He won 8 bouts, lost 1 and drew 1 in 1966. He drew with Jaime Valladares in Quito, and lost to Frankie Narvaez in San Juan. But he also beat former world title challenger Bunny Grant. In 1967, he avenged his loss to Narvaez, and went undefeated the rest of the year, securing his position as the world's number one challenger among Lightweights.
He won three more fights to begin 1968, and then, on June 29 in Santo Domingo, he was given his first chance to challenge for a world title. He became world Lightweight champion when he defeated Carlos Ortiz by a decision in fifteen rounds.
He defended the world title with a fifteen round decision over Mando Ramos in Los Angeles, and then, he closed the year by winning a non-title bout in Tokyo, also by decision, in ten.
There was a rematch between Cruz and Ramos, also held in Los Angeles. The second time around, Ramos became world Lightweight champion by beating Cruz with an eleventh round knockout. Cruz went on to win his next three bouts of 1969.
On January 17 of 1970, Cruz won what would turn out to be, tragically, his last fight. He beat Benito Juarez in San Juan by a decision in ten, and then returned to Santo Domingo.
Professional boxing record
| 57 fights | 42 wins | 13 losses |
| By knockout | 14 | 2 |
| By decision | 28 | 10 |
| By disqualification | 0 | 1 |
| Draws | 2 | |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | Win | 42–13–2 |  Benito Juarez |
UD | 10 | Jan 17, 1970 |  La Cancha Country Club, San Juan |
|
| 56 | Win | 41–13–2 | Victor Melendez |
UD | 10 | Oct 20, 1969 | Madison Square Garden, New York |
|
| 55 | Win | 40–13–2 | Len Kesey |
TKO | 4 (10) | Oct 03, 1969 | Country Club Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 54 | Win | 39–13–2 | Grady Ponder |
PTS | 10 | Aug 09, 1969 | San Juan |
|
| 53 | Loss | 38–13–2 | Mando Ramos |
TKO | 11 (15) | Feb 18, 1969 | Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles |
Lost WBA, WBC, The Ring, and lineal lightweight titles |
| 52 | Win | 38–12–2 |  Hidemori Tsujimoto |
UD | 10 | Dec 19, 1968 | Korakuen Hall |
|
| 51 | Win | 37–12–2 | Mando Ramos |
UD | 15 | Sep 27, 1968 | Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles |
Retained WBA, WBC, The Ring, and lineal lightweight titles |
| 50 | Win | 36–12–2 | Carlos Ortiz |
SD | 15 | Jun 29, 1968 |  Estadio Quisqueya, Santo Domingo |
Won WBA, WBC, The Ring, and lineal lightweight titles |
| 49 | Win | 35–12–2 |  Julio Viera |
UD | 10 | Apr 15, 1968 | Country Club Arena, San Juan |
|
| 48 | Win | 34–12–2 | Johnny Bean |
TKO | 2 (10) | Mar 03, 1968 | Santo Domingo |
|
| 47 | Win | 33–12–2 | Chris Fernandez |
KO | 9 (10) | Jan 01, 1968 |  Kingston |
|
| 46 | Win | 32–12–2 |  Kennedy Clark |
UD | 10 | Dec 11, 1967 | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 45 | Win | 31–12–2 | Grady Ponder |
PTS | 10 | Jun 23, 1967 | Santo Domingo |
|
| 44 | Win | 30–12–2 | Frankie Narvaez |
PTS | 10 | May 05, 1967 | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 43 | Loss | 29–12–2 | Frankie Narvaez |
SD | 10 | Dec 12, 1966 | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 42 | Win | 29–11–2 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Fernand Simard |
RTD | 10 | Oct 01, 1966 | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 41 | Win | 28–11–2 |  Vicente Milan Derado |
SD | 10 | Aug 20, 1966 | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 40 | Win | 27–11–2 | Bunny Grant |
UD | 10 | May 07, 1966 | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 39 | Draw | 26–11–2 |  Jaime Valladares |
PTS | 10 | Apr 02, 1966 | Plaza de Toros, Quito |
|
| 38 | Win | 26–11–1 | Vicente Milan Derado |
PTS | 10 | Sep 04, 1965 | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 37 | Win | 25–11–1 |  Jose Chico Veliz |
PTS | 10 | Aug 14, 1965 |  Mayaguez |
|
| 36 | Win | 24–11–1 | Frankie Taylor |
PTS | 10 | Jul 06, 1965 | Town Hall, Shoreditch |
|
| 35 | Win | 23–11–1 | Daniel Berrios |
KO | 1 (10) | Jun 18, 1965 | Caguas |
|
| 34 | Win | 22–11–1 |  Alejandro Parra |
TKO | 4 (10) | Apr 03, 1965 | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 33 | Win | 21–11–1 | Criscencio Fernandez |
KO | 3 (10) | Feb 19, 1965 |  D.C. Canegata Stadium, Altona |
|
| 32 | Win | 20–11–1 | Marcos Morales |
TKO | 2 (10) | Dec 12, 1964 | Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 31 | Loss | 19–11–1 |  Julio Ruiz |
MD | 10 | Sep 20, 1964 | Estadio Olimpico, Panama City |
|
| 30 | Loss | 19–10–1 | Carlos Morocho Hernández |
TKO | 2 (10) | Jun 01, 1964 | Caracas |
|
| 29 | Win | 19–9–1 |  Gilberto Biondi |
PTS | 12 | Mar 06, 1964 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Festival Hall, Melbourne |
|
| 28 | Win | 18–9–1 |  Guizani Rezgui |
TKO | 11 (12) | Mar 02, 1964 | Sydney Stadium, Sydney |
|
| 27 | Loss | 17–9–1 | Graham Dicker |
PTS | 12 | Feb 14, 1964 | Festival Hall, Brisbane |
|
| 26 | Loss | 17–8–1 | Vicente Milan Derado |
PTS | 10 | Nov 01, 1963 | Madison Square Garden, New York |
|
| 25 | Win | 17–7–1 | Johnny Bean |
PTS | 10 | Jul 06, 1963 | San Juan |
|
| 24 | Win | 16–7–1 | George Foster |
PTS | 8 | Mar 02, 1963 | Madison Square Garden, New York |
|
| 23 | Win | 15–7–1 | Roland Kellem |
UD | 8 | Feb 05, 1963 | Sunnyside Garden, Sunnyside, Queens |
|
| 22 | Win | 14–7–1 | Calvin Woodland |
PTS | 6 | Jan 12, 1963 | Sunnyside Garden, Sunnyside, Queens |
|
| 21 | Win | 13–7–1 | Candy Parilla |
PTS | 6 | Dec 18, 1962 | Sunnyside Garden, Sunnyside, Queens |
|
| 20 | Draw | 12–7–1 | Freddie Jackson |
PTS | 6 | Feb 24, 1962 | Gladiators' Arena, Totowa |
|
| 19 | Win | 12–7 | Sammy Burgess |
PTS | 10 | Sep 14, 1962 | Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 18 | Win | 11–7 | Alejandro Gonzalez |
PTS | 6 | Jun 01, 1962 | Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 17 | Win | 10–7 | Rafael Acevedo |
UD | 12 | Feb 17, 1962 | Santo Domingo |
|
| 16 | Win | 9–7 | Jose Aneiro |
TKO | 8 (8) | Jan 15, 1962 | Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 15 | Win | 8–7 | Lionel Rivera |
TKO | 8 (10) | Oct 17, 1961 | Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 14 | Loss | 7–7 | Daniel Berrios |
PTS | 4 | Aug 29, 1961 | Channel 11 Studio, San Juan |
|
| 13 | Win | 7–6 | Gerardo Clemente |
PTS | 8 | Aug 26, 1961 | Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 12 | Loss | 6–6 | Vernon Lynch |
PTS | 10 | May 26, 1961 | Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 11 | Loss | 6–5 | Daniel Berrios |
DQ | 2 (10) | Feb 24, 1961 | Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 10 | Win | 6–4 | Gerardo Clemente |
TKO | 10 (10) | Nov 25, 1960 | Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 9 | Loss | 5–4 | Daniel Berrios |
PTS | 10 | Sep 16, 1960 | Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 8 | Win | 5–3 | Lionel Rivera |
PTS | 10 | Sep 02, 1960 | Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 7 | Loss | 4–3 | Marcos Morales |
SD | 10 | Jul 05, 1960 | Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 6 | Win | 4–2 | Bob Ashford |
KO | 3 (6) | Jun 11, 1960 | Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 5 | Win | 3–2 | Estaquio Gonzalez |
TKO | 5 (6) | May 29, 1960 | Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 4 | Loss | 2–2 | Daniel Berrios |
PTS | 10 | May 06, 1960 | Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan |
|
| 3 | Win | 2–1 | Jesus M Serrano |
PTS | 6 | Mar 26, 1960 | Coliseo San Rafael, Santo Domingo |
|
| 2 | Win | 1–1 | Rafael Acevedo |
PTS | 10 | Dec 03, 1959 | Santo Domingo |
|
| 1 | Loss | 0–1 | Juan Jimenez |
PTS | 8 | Oct 23, 1959 | Santo Domingo |
|
| Preceded by Carlos Ortiz |
WBA Lightweight Champion 29 Jun 1968 – 18 Feb 1969 |
Succeeded by Mando Ramos |
| Preceded by Carlos Ortiz |
WBC Lightweight Champion 29 Jun 1968 – 18 Feb 1969 |
Succeeded by Mando Ramos |
Death
On February 15, he was flying back to San Juan alongside his family for a fight against Roger Zami,[1] when their Dominicana de Aviación DC-9 plane crashed into the waters of the Caribbean shortly after take-off, killing Cruz, his wife and two children, and the rest of the passengers, among which also were a large part of Puerto Rico's national women's volleyball team .
References
- The Ring, November 1967, pages 24–25–64: CRUZ AIMS AT TITLE; ORTIZ MAY EASE WAY, by Mario Rivera Martino