Miguel Canto | |
---|---|
Born | Miguel Angel Canto Solis January 30, 1948 Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico |
Nationality | Mexican |
Other names | El Maestro |
Statistics | |
Weight(s) | Flyweight |
Height | 5 ft 0+1⁄2 in (154 cm) |
Reach | 63 in (160 cm) |
Stance | Orthodox |
Boxing record | |
Total fights | 74 |
Wins | 61 |
Wins by KO | 15 |
Losses | 9 |
Draws | 4 |
Miguel Angel Canto Solis (born January 30, 1948) is a Mexican former world boxing champion who held the WBC and Lineal flyweight titles.
Unlike many Mexican boxers, Canto was not a "slam-bang" type of boxer ("Slam-Bang" boxers are boxers whose fights are usually action-packed; Mexican boxers are usually stereotyped as "slam-bangers"). He used boxing techniques and knowledge instead of trying to score knockouts in most of his fights. Proof of this is that he only won fifteen fights by knockout, out of more than seventy professional bouts. He was a defensive expert, somewhat in the style of Willie Pep.
Canto began his professional boxing career on February 5, 1969. He became one of those rare cases in boxing, like Alexis Argüello, Henry Armstrong, Bernard Hopkins, Victor Luvi Callejas and Wilfredo Vazquez, where a boxer loses his first fight and goes on to become a world champion. He lost that day to Raul Hernandez, in Canto's hometown of Mérida, by a knockout in round three.
His first win came against Pedro Martinez, on May 5, 1969, by a four round decision, also at Mérida. Canto lost his next fight, but a streak of seven undefeated fights (he went 5-0-2, with 2 knockouts during that streak), led him to fight Vicente Pool on May 27, 1970, for the Yucatán state Flyweight title. Canto won his first professional belt when he outpointed Pool over twelve rounds. In his first defense, he retained the crown, with a twelve round decision over Jose Luis Cetina. After losing his next bout, a ten round, non title bout against Tarcisio Gomez, on a decision, he went on to win 21 bouts in a row, including his first bout outside Mérida (a two round knockout of Pedro Martinez in Cansahcab, Mexico), and a win over Constantino Garcia on January 22, 1972, by twelve round decision, to claim the Mexican Flyweight title. On January 31, 1973, he fought to a ten round draw (tie) against perennial contender Ignacio Espinal.
After winning his next four fights, including a rematch victory over Tarcisio Gomez, he was given his first world title try, when he fought Betulio González in Maracaibo, Venezuela, for the WBA world Flyweight title. In what was also his first fight abroad, he was outpointed by the equally legendary Gonzalez, considered by many to be Venezuela's greatest fighter of all time, on August 4, 1973.
Canto won six more fights, including two Mexican title defenses, and on January 8, 1975, he faced WBC world Flyweight champion Shoji Oguma in Sendai. Canto defeated Oguma by a fifteen round decision to claim the WBC and vacant lineal flyweight titles. His dream of becoming a world champion finally realized, Canto was a busy champion, mixing several non-title bouts with his title defenses. In his next fight, he beat Espinal in a rematch by a ten round decision. In his first title defense, he avenged his loss to Betulio Gonzalez by a fifteen round decision. On August 23 of that year, he defeated OPBF champion Jiro Takada by 11th round TKO. Following that win, Canto faced Espinal for a third time and retained his title once again by a fifteen round decision. On May 15, 1976, he scored a win over former champion Susumu Hanagata. Canto eventually became a traveling world champion.
For his fifth title defense, he returned to Venezuela and defeated Gonzalez for the second time in their trilogy by a fifteen round decision. One month later, he retained the crown against Orlando Javierto, once again by fifteen round decision, in Los Angeles, California.
On April 24, 1977, he returned to Venezuela for a third time, retaining the title against Reyes Arnal by a fifteen round decision in Caracas. Two months later, he beat Kimio Furesawa by a fifteen round decision in Tokyo. [1] Then, he and Martin Vargas fought the first of their two bouts: on September 17, 1977, Canto outpointed Vargas in his hometown of Mérida.
It was Canto's turn to travel to Vargas' hometown of Santiago, Chile, for their rematch, held on November 30 of the same year. Canto once again retained the titles with a fifteen round decision.
In 1978, Canto retained his title three times, including two rematches with Shoji Oguma, both of them held in Japan, and another fifteen round points win over Facomrom Vibonchai, in a fight held at Houston, Texas.
By this time, Canto's name had become a household name all over Latin America, thanks in part to Ring En Español , which gave Canto's fights much coverage.
On February 10, 1979, he retained his titles for a division record fourteenth time against a future world champion, Antonio Avelar, by a fifteen round decision.
On March 18, his reign came to an end, when he lost a fifteen round decision to Chan Hee Park in South Korea. On September 9 of that same year, he tried to recover his titles from Park in a rematch, but, after fifteen rounds, the fight ended in a draw.
Canto's career took a downward spiral after that fight. He won his following three fights, including wins against Olympic Bronze medalist Orlando Maldonado of Puerto Rico and former champion Sung-Jun Kim. In his 70th career fight, he lost to future world champion Gabriel Bernal. Canto avenged his loss to Bernal in his next fight, but lost the remaining three fights of his career by knockout.
After his final loss to Rodolfo Ortega on July 24, 1982, Canto retired from boxing for good. He had a record of 61 wins, 9 losses and 4 draws (ties), with 15 knockout wins.
74 fights | 61 wins | 9 losses |
---|---|---|
By knockout | 15 | 5 |
By decision | 45 | 4 |
By disqualification | 1 | 0 |
Draws | 4 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
74 | Loss | 61–9–4 | Rodolfo Ortega | TKO | 9 (10) | 1982-07-24 | Carte Clara Baseball Park, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
73 | Loss | 61–8–4 | Alfredo Hernandez | TKO | 7 (10) | 1981-10-31 | Auditorio Municipal, Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico | |
72 | Loss | 61–7–4 | Candido Tellez | KO | 4 (10) | 1981-08-29 | Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico | |
71 | Win | 61–6–4 | Gabriel Bernal | UD | 10 | 1981-06-06 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
70 | Loss | 60–6–4 | Gabriel Bernal | UD | 10 | 1981-03-29 | Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico | |
69 | Win | 60–5–4 | Kim Sung-jun | UD | 10 | 1981-02-22 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
68 | Win | 59–5–4 | Orlando Maldonado | DQ | 6 (10) | 1980-10-18 | Plaza Nuevo Progreso, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico | |
67 | Win | 58–5–4 | Alfredo Hernandez | UD | 10 | 1980-08-16 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
66 | Draw | 57–5–4 | Park Chan-hee | MD | 15 | 1979-09-09 | Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul, South Korea | For WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
65 | Loss | 57–5–3 | Park Chan-hee | UD | 15 | 1979-03-18 | Gudeok Gymnasium, Busan, South Korea | Lost WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
64 | Win | 57–4–3 | Antonio Avelar | UD | 15 | 1979-02-10 | Parque Carta Clara, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | Retained WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
63 | Win | 56–4–3 | Facomron Vibonchai | SD | 15 | 1978-11-20 | Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, U.S. | Retained WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
62 | Win | 55–4–3 | Shoji Oguma | UD | 15 | 1978-04-18 | Kokugikan, Tokyo, Japan | Retained WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
61 | Win | 54–4–3 | Shoji Oguma | SD | 15 | 1978-01-04 | City Sogo Gym, Koriyama, Japan | Retained WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
60 | Win | 53–4–3 | Martín Vargas | UD | 15 | 1977-11-30 | Estadio Nacional, Santiago de Chile, Chile | Retained WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
59 | Win | 52–4–3 | Martín Vargas | UD | 15 | 1977-09-17 | Parque Carta Clara, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | Retained WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
58 | Win | 51–4–3 | Kimio Furesawa | UD | 15 | 1977-06-15 | Shinagawa Sports Land, Tokyo, Japan | Retained WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
57 | Win | 50–4–3 | Luis Reyes Arnal | SD | 15 | 1977-04-24 | Nuevo Circo, Caracas, Venezuela | Retained WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
56 | Win | 49–4–3 | Orlando Javierto | UD | 15 | 1976-11-19 | Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Retained WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
55 | Win | 48–4–3 | Betulio González | SD | 15 | 1976-10-03 | Nuevo Circo, Caracas, Venezuela | Retained WBC, and The Ring flyweight titles |
54 | Win | 47–4–3 | Susumu Hanagata | UD | 15 | 1976-05-15 | Parque Carta Clara, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | Retained WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
53 | Win | 46–4–3 | Francisco Marquez | UD | 10 | 1976-03-13 | Arena México, Mexico City, Mexico | |
52 | Win | 45–4–3 | Ignacio Espinal | UD | 15 | 1975-12-13 | Parque Carta Clara, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | Retained WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
51 | Win | 44–4–3 | Jiro Takada | TKO | 11 (15) | 1975-08-23 | Parque Carta Clara, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | Retained WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
50 | Win | 43–4–3 | Lupe Madera | TKO | 9 (10) | 1975-07-18 | Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico | |
49 | Win | 42–4–3 | Betulio González | SD | 15 | 1975-05-24 | Plaza de Toros Monumental, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico | Retained WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
48 | Win | 41–4–3 | Ignacio Espinal | SD | 10 | 1975-03-08 | Parque Carta Clara, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
47 | Win | 40–4–3 | Shoji Oguma | MD | 15 | 1975-01-08 | Miyagi Sports Center, Sendai, Japan | Won WBC and vacant The Ring flyweight titles |
46 | Win | 39–4–3 | Ricardo Delgado | UD | 10 | 1974-10-25 | Valladolid, Yucatán, Mexico | |
45 | Win | 38–4–3 | Alberto Morales | UD | 10 | 1974-08-17 | Arena México, Mexico City, Mexico | |
44 | Win | 37–4–3 | Pablito Jimenez | SD | 10 | 1974-06-08 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
43 | Win | 36–4–3 | Manuel Montiel | UD | 12 | 1974-04-27 | Plaza de Toros, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | Retained Mexico flyweight title |
42 | Win | 35–4–3 | Tony Moreno | TKO | 5 (10) | 1974-02-13 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
41 | Win | 34–4–3 | Lupe Hernandez | UD | 12 | 1973-11-17 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | Retained Mexico flyweight title |
40 | Loss | 33–4–3 | Betulio González | MD | 15 | 1973-08-04 | Estadio Luis Aparicio, Maracaibo, Venezuela | For vacant WBC flyweight title |
39 | Win | 33–3–3 | Chamaco Rodriguez | KO | 5 (10) | 1973-06-29 | Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico | |
38 | Win | 32–3–3 | Luis Enrique Garcia | TKO | 7 (10) | 1973-05-10 | Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico | |
37 | Win | 31–3–3 | Rudy Billones | UD | 10 | 1973-05-02 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
36 | Win | 30–3–3 | Tarcisio Gomez | KO | 2 (12) | 1973-03-24 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | Retained Mexico flyweight title |
35 | Draw | 29–3–3 | Ignacio Espinal | MD | 10 | 1973-01-31 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
34 | Win | 29–3–2 | Alberto Morales | UD | 12 | 1972-11-18 | Plaza de Toros, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | Retained Mexico flyweight title |
33 | Win | 28–3–2 | Jose Antonio Corral | TKO | 3 (10) | 1972-09-27 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
32 | Win | 27–3–2 | Jose Luis Valencia | UD | 10 | 1972-07-26 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
31 | Win | 26–3–2 | Ricardo Delgado | UD | 12 | 1972-05-20 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | Retained Mexico flyweight title |
30 | Win | 25–3–2 | Armando Villa | TKO | 4 (10) | 1972-04-05 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
29 | Win | 24–3–2 | Jose Vargas | UD | 10 | 1972-03-15 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
28 | Win | 23–3–2 | Rocky Garcia | UD | 12 | 1972-01-22 | Plaza de Toros, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | Won Mexico flyweight title |
27 | Win | 22–3–2 | Luis Carlos Urrunaga | UD | 10 | 1971-12-01 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
26 | Win | 21–3–2 | Alberto Morales | UD | 10 | 1971-10-20 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
25 | Win | 20–3–2 | Roberto Alvarez | UD | 10 | 1971-09-01 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
24 | Win | 19–3–2 | Domingo Ledezma | UD | 10 | 1971-07-28 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
23 | Win | 18–3–2 | Pedro Lopez | KO | 3 (8) | 1971-07-14 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
22 | Win | 17–3–2 | Mario Garcia | KO | 10 (10) | 1971-06-02 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
21 | Win | 16–3–2 | Gavilan Martinez | UD | 10 | 1971-05-14 | Tekax, Yucatán, Mexico | |
20 | Win | 15–3–2 | Jose Luis Cetina | UD | 10 | 1971-04-29 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
19 | Win | 14–3–2 | Tigre Bracamonte | UD | 8 | 1971-04-04 | Tizimin, Yucatán, Mexico | |
18 | Win | 13–3–2 | Marcus Gomez | TKO | 6 (6) | 1971-03-17 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
17 | Win | 12–3–2 | Francisco Montalvo | KO | 6 (8) | 1971-02-14 | Cansahcab, Yucatán, Mexico | |
16 | Win | 11–3–2 | Pedro Martinez | KO | 2 (10) | 1971-01-21 | Cansahcab, Yucatán, Mexico | |
15 | Win | 10–3–2 | Jose Medrano | UD | 10 | 1970-12-09 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
14 | Win | 9–3–2 | Arturo Velazquez | UD | 10 | 1970-11-11 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
13 | Loss | 8–3–2 | Tarcisio Gomez | MD | 10 | 1970-10-14 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
12 | Win | 8–2–2 | Jose Luis Cetina | UD | 12 | 1970-06-24 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
11 | Win | 7–2–2 | Vicente Pool | UD | 12 | 1970-05-27 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
10 | Draw | 6–2–2 | Juan Torres | MD | 10 | 1970-04-29 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
9 | Win | 6–2–1 | Alex Basilio | KO | 8 (10) | 1970-04-08 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
8 | Win | 5–2–1 | Baby Albornoz | TKO | 9 (10) | 1970-03-21 | Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico | |
7 | Win | 4–2–1 | Vicente Pool | UD | 10 | 1970-03-04 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
6 | Draw | 3–2–1 | Joe Calvario | MD | 10 | 1970-02-04 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
5 | Win | 3–2 | Rudy Granados | UD | 10 | 1970-01-21 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
4 | Win | 2–2 | Vicente Pool | UD | 8 | 1969-12-06 | Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico | |
3 | Loss | 1–2 | Pedro Carillo | TKO | 4 (6) | 1969-08-13 | Arena Coliseo, Mexico City, Mexico | |
2 | Win | 1–1 | Pedro Martinez | UD | 4 | 1969-05-05 | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | |
1 | Loss | 0–1 | Raul Hernandez | TKO | 3 (4) | 1969-02-05 | Mérida, Yucatán |
Santos Benigno Laciar, known familiarly as Santos Laciar and nicknamed Falucho, is an Argentine who was boxing's world flyweight and super flyweight champion.
Jiro Watanabe is a Japanese former boxer. Watanabe, who fought only in Japan and South Korea, was one of the first World super flyweight champions, as the division was relatively new when he was crowned.
Marco Antonio Barrera Tapia is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2011. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes between 1995 and 2007, from super bantamweight to super featherweight.
Jesús Castillo Aguilera was a Mexican professional boxer. Better known as Chucho Castillo, he was the Lineal, WBA and WBC bantamweight world champion in 1970.
Jorge Armando Arce Armenta, best known as Jorge Arce, is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2014. He is a multiple-time world champion, and the second boxer from Mexico to win world titles in four weight divisions. In a storied career, Arce held the WBO light flyweight title from 1998 to 1999; the WBC and lineal light flyweight titles from 2002 to 2004; the WBO super flyweight title in 2010; the WBO junior featherweight title in 2011; and the WBO bantamweight title from 2011 to 2012. Additionally he held the WBC interim flyweight title from 2005 to 2006, the WBA interim super flyweight title from 2008 to 2009, and challenged once for the WBC featherweight title in his final fight in 2014.
Humberto González is a Mexican former professional boxing champion. He held the WBC three times, IBF and Lineal Jr. Flyweight titles. He was nicknamed Chiquita.
Martín Vargas Fuentes is a Chilean former professional boxer who challenged for a world title four times. As an amateur, he represented his native country at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany.
Boxing in the 1980s was filled with important fights, events and personalities that shaped the sport. Boxing in the 1980s was shaped by many different situations, such as the continuous corporate battles between the different world sanctioning organizations, the void left by Muhammad Ali as the sport's ambassador and consequent search for a new boxing hero, the continuous presence of Don King as the sport's most famous promoter, the surge of rival promoters as Bob Arum, Butch Lewis and Murad Muhammad, and major rule changes. In 1986, Mike Tyson emerged as a fresh new face in the heavyweight division, which had seen a decline in champion quality level after Ali's retirement and, later on, after longtime WBC ruler Larry Holmes' prime. In addition, the IBF and WBO began operating.
Curtis Cokes was a boxer from Dallas, Texas, United States. Cokes was the simultaneous WBA, WBC and The Ring World Welterweight Champion, and he was famous for his training regimen, which he also imposed on other boxers training with him.
Betulio Segundo González is a former boxer from Venezuela, who is considered a national hero in Venezuela. He is considered by many to be Venezuela's greatest world champion in boxing history. A combatant of 91 bouts, he fought until eleven months before he turned forty, the mandatory age for professional fighters to retire in Venezuela.
Masahiko Harada, better known as Fighting Harada, is a Japanese former professional boxer. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the NYSAC, WBA, and The Ring undisputed flyweight titles from 1962 to 1963 and the WBA, WBC, and The Ring undisputed bantamweight titles from 1965 and 1968. He is currently the president of the Japanese boxing association.
Francisco Javier Castillejo Rodríguez, commonly known as Javier Castillejo, is a Spanish former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2009. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC and lineal light-middleweight titles from 1999 to 2001, the WBC light-middleweight title again in 2005, and the WBA middleweight title from 2006 to 2007. At regional level he held the European light-middleweight title twice between 1994 and 1998, and the European Union middleweight title in 2002.
Ricardo López Nava is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2001. He was a two-weight world champion, having held the WBC mini flyweight title from 1990 to 1998, defending it against a record-breaking 21 opponents; the WBA and WBO mini flyweight titles between 1997 and 1998; and the IBF junior flyweight title from 1999 until his retirement in 2001. He is one of just fifteen world boxing champions to retire without a loss. He is the father of undefeated former boxer Alonso López.
Prudencio Cardona was a Colombian professional boxer who was world flyweight champion. He represented his native country at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. He was the older brother of former super bantamweight world champion, Ricardo Cardona.
Ruben Castillo is an American boxer who fought in the Featherweight division. Castillo went on to fight four world championship fights against Hall of Famers Salvador Sánchez, Alexis Argüello and Julio César Chávez, as well as with Juan Laporte.
Pongsaklek Wonjongkam is a former Thai professional boxer and current boxing trainer. He is a two-time former lineal flyweight champion. During his first reign as world flyweight champion, which lasted between 2001 and 2007, Wonjongkam defended his title 17 times against 16 fighters, with both numbers being a flyweight record.
Shoji Oguma is a Japanese former professional boxer who held the WBC and Lineal titles in the Flyweight division.
Katsushige Kawashima is a Japanese retired professional boxer who fought in the super flyweight division. He is a former WBC and lineal super flyweight champion.
Jorge Luján is a Panamanian who was a professional boxer and fought many top-flight boxers and several champions during the 1970s and 1980s. Luján is the former Lineal and WBA Bantamweight world champion. He was managed by Aurelio Cortez.
Rolando Pascua is a Filipino former professional boxer. He held the WBC light-flyweight title from 1990 to 1991 and challenged for the IBF super-flyweight title in 1993.