Carlos De León

Template:Short description Template:More footnotes needed Template:Infobox boxer Carlos De León, also known as "Sugar" De Leon, (May 3, 1959 – January 1, 2020) was a Puerto Rican boxer who made history by becoming the first cruiserweight to win the world title twice. Subsequently, he kept breaking his own record for the most times as cruiserweight champion by regaining the title on two further occasions.

Career

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} De León, a native of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, first won a world title when he faced the WBC world champion Marvin Camel on November 25, 1980, replacing David Pearce the Great Britain boxer on the undercard of Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Durán's second fight in New Orleans. De León outpointed Camel over fifteen rounds. In a rematch later, De León knocked out Camel in eight rounds. When his countryman Ossie Ocasio won the WBA world title, De León and Ocasio became the second pair of Puerto Ricans to share world titles in the same division at the same time; Alfredo Escalera and Samuel Serrano had achieved the feat in the 1970s in the junior lightweight division.

Taking loss

De León lost his title in a shocking upset to former Gerry Cooney victim S. T. Gordon by a knockout in round two in Cleveland in 1982, and won a comeback fight versus former world heavyweight champion Leon Spinks by a knockout in round six in 1983. After that, he and Gordon boxed a rematch in Las Vegas, and De León dropped Gordon once in the first round and once in the twelfth, en route to a unanimous decision win in a history-making bout: De León had now become the first boxer to win the world cruiserweight title twice.

Champion again

He defended his title against Yaqui López by a knockout in four at San Jose, California, and with decisions over Anthony Davis and Bashiru Ali. The Davis bout took place in Las Vegas and the fight with Ali was in Oakland, California. De León next lost his title in Las Vegas to Alfonzo Ratliff in a decision. Ratliff was in turn beaten by Bernard Benton, who defended against De León on March 22, 1986, once again in Las Vegas. De León joined the likes of Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali in becoming one of the few boxers ever to win one division's world championship at least three times, defeating Benton by decision.

Once more

He made a couple of defenses in Italy and then in 1988, he defended the title against Uruguayan José María Flores Burlón in Atlantic City, New Jersey, winning by twelve rounds in a unanimous decision but then he lost his titles in a unification bout with WBA and IBF world champion Evander Holyfield, by technical knockout in the eighth round, also in Las Vegas. But Holyfield soon left the division to pursue the world heavyweight championship, and De León was left with an open door to break his own record and win the title for a record fourth time. He went to London, where he beat the WBC's number two ranked contender, Sammy Reeson, by a knockout in the ninth round, breaking his own record and was crowned world cruiserweight champion once again.

Holding on

Carlos held on to the title for two years until finally losing it to Massimiliano Duran in Italy in an eleventh-round disqualification. He gained the title by his aforementioned win over Sammy Reeson. He made a defense by drawing with Johnny Nelson before the loss to Massimilano Duran mentioned earlier.

After boxing

During the 1990s, De León ran afoul of the law a number of times, once while he was carrying a rifle. He worked on helping the professional boxing career of his son, prospect Carlos de León Jr.

He died on January 1, 2020, due to a cardiac arrest.<ref name="dies">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was 60.

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
62	Template:No2Loss	53–8–1	Brian Nielsen	TKO	3 (8)	Nov 24, 1995	Template:Small
61	Template:No2Loss	53–7–1	Corrie Sanders	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	Aug 13, 1994	Template:Small
60	Template:Yes2Win	53–6–1	Bobby Arthurs	MD	10	Feb 17, 1994	Template:Small
59	Template:Yes2Win	52–6–1	Brian Morgan	PTS	8	Jan 14, 1994	Template:Small
58	Template:Yes2Win	51–6–1	Jordan Keepers	TKO	5 (?)	Nov 5, 1993	Template:Small
57	Template:Yes2Win	50–6–1	Andre Crowder	KO	1 (8)	Jun 19, 1993	Template:Small
56	Template:Yes2Win	49–6–1	Joey Christjohn	PTS	6	May 15, 1993	Template:Small
55	Template:Yes2Win	48–6–1	James Wilder	UD	10	Mar 13, 1993	Template:Small
54	Template:Yes2Win	47–6–1	Rocky Bentley	UD	10	Jan 22, 1993	Template:Small
53	Template:Yes2Win	46–6–1	Bruce Johnson	TKO	4 (10)	Jun 27, 1992	Template:Small
52	Template:No2Loss	45–6–1	Massimiliano Duran	DQ	11 (12)	Jul 27, 1990	Template:Small	Template:Small
51	Template:DrawDraw	45–5–1	Johnny Nelson	SD	12	Jan 27, 1990	Template:Small	Template:Small
50	Template:Yes2Win	45–5	Sammy Reeson	TKO	9 (12), Template:Small	May 17, 1989	Template:Small	Template:Small
49	Template:No2Loss	44–5	Evander Holyfield	TKO	8 (12), Template:Small	Apr 9, 1988	Template:Small	Template:Small
48	Template:Yes2Win	44–4	Jose Maria Flores Burlon	UD	12	Jan 22, 1988	Template:Small	Template:Small
47	Template:Yes2Win	43–4	Larry Phelps	KO	1 (10), Template:Small	Aug 1, 1987	Template:Small
46	Template:Yes2Win	42–4	Angelo Rottoli	TKO	5 (12)	Feb 21, 1987	Template:Small	Template:Small
45	Template:Yes2Win	41–4	Michael Greer	TKO	8 (12), Template:Small	Aug 10, 1986	Template:Small	Template:Small
44	Template:Yes2Win	40–4	Bernard Benton	MD	12	Mar 22, 1986	Template:Small	Template:Small
43	Template:No2Loss	39–4	Alfonzo Ratliff	SD	12	Jun 6, 1985	Template:Small	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	39–3	Dorcey Gaymon	TKO	9 (10)	Jan 12, 1985	Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	38–3	Bash Ali	UD	12	Jun 2, 1984	Template:Small	Template:Small
40	Template:Yes2Win	37–3	Anthony Davis	UD	12	Mar 9, 1984	Template:Small	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	36–3	Yaqui Lopez	TKO	4 (12), Template:Small	Sep 21, 1983	Template:Small	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	35–3	S.T. Gordon	UD	12	Jul 17, 1983	Template:Small	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	34–3	Leon Spinks	RTD	6 (10), Template:Small	Mar 6, 1983	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	33–3	Ivy Brown	PTS	10	Nov 26, 1982	Template:Small
35	Template:No2Loss	32–3	S.T. Gordon	TKO	2 (15), Template:Small	Jun 27, 1982	Template:Small	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	32–2	Marvin Camel	TKO	8 (15)	Feb 24, 1982	Template:Small	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	31–2	Greg Payne	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	Dec 12, 1981	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	30–2	Marvin Camel	MD	15	Nov 25, 1980	Template:Small	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	29–2	Mario Rosa	PTS	8	Jun 28, 1980	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	28–2	Waldemar Paulino	KO	1 (12), Template:Small	Apr 25, 1980	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	27–2	Christy Elliott	TKO	4 (12), Template:Small	Sep 25, 1979	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	26–2	Willie McIntyre	TKO	1 (10)	Aug 25, 1979	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	25–2	Manny Freitas	TKO	1 (?), Template:Small	Apr 8, 1979	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	24–2	Bonifacio Avila	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	Jan 27, 1979	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	23–2	Wendell Joseph	PTS	10	Nov 18, 1978	Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	22–2	Rennie Pinder	TKO	3 (10)	Sep 26, 1978	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	21–2	Roy Harry	KO	1 (10), Template:Small	Sep 8, 1978	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	20–2	Tyrone Freeman	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	Apr 8, 1978	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	19–2	Jesse Lara	TKO	2 (?), Template:Small	Mar 25, 1978	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	18–2	Ray Bryant	TKO	5 (10)	Jan 28, 1978	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	17–2	Eddie Davis	TKO	5 (10)	Nov 8, 1977	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	16–2	Battling Douglas	TKO	5 (10), Template:Small	Oct 14, 1977	Template:Small
17	Template:No2Loss	15–2	Ray Hammond	PTS	8	Sep 10, 1977	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	15–1	Mustapha Ali	UD	10	Jul 29, 1977	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	14–1	Eddie Davis	TKO	3 (?)	Jun 25, 1977	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	13–1	Antonio Colon	TKO	6 (?)	Feb 12, 1977	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	12–1	Carlos Soto	PTS	8	Oct 11, 1976	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	11–1	Astor Agosto	PTS	8	Aug 16, 1976	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	10–1	Dario de Jesus	PTS	8	Jul 19, 1976	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	9–1	Carlos Soto	PTS	8	Apr 5, 1976	Template:Small
9	Template:No2Loss	8–1	Roberto Colon	PTS	4	Feb 15, 1976	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Larry Adkins	PTS	8	Sep 15, 1975	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	James Jackson	TKO	3 (?)	Nov 11, 1975	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Cubby Jackson	TKO	4 (?)	May 17, 1975	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Kid Gavilan	TKO	6 (?)	Apr 5, 1975	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Tripodi Guadalupe	TKO	5 (?)	Mar 17, 1975	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Vernon Laws	TKO	3 (?)	Nov 2, 1974	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Jesse Torres	TKO	2 (?)	Oct 19, 1974	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Roy Harris	TKO	4 (?)	Aug 3, 1974	Template:Small

See also

• List of cruiserweight boxing champions
• List of WBC world champions
• List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions
• List of Puerto Ricans

External links

• Template:Boxrec
• Carlos De León - CBZ Profile