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Richie Sandoval

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Richie Sandoval
Born
Richard Sandoval

(1960-10-18)October 18, 1960
Pomona, California, U.S.
DiedJuly 21, 2024(2024-07-21) (aged 63)
NationalityAmerican
Statistics
Weight(s)Bantamweight
Height5 ft 5+1⁄2 in (166 cm)
Reach66+1⁄2 in (169 cm)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights30
Wins29
Wins by KO17
Losses1
Medal record
Men's Boxing
Representing  United States
World Amateur Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1978 Belgrade Light Flyweight
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place 1979 San Juan Light Flyweight

Richard Sandoval (October 18, 1960 – July 21, 2024) was an American professional boxer and Lineal and WBA Bantamweight Champion. Sandoval was a silver medalist at the 1979 Pan American Games in Puerto Rico and was a U.S. Olympian during his amateur career.[1] He was also the younger brother of title contender Alberto Sandoval.[2]

Early life

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Sandoval who was of Mexican descent was born in Pomona, California, a city famous in pugilistic circles as a hotbed for young boxing prospects, including Shane Mosley.[3]

Sandoval's brother Alberto Sandoval was a popular bantamweight of the 1970s, who unsuccessfully challenged Carlos Zarate and Lupe Pintor for the world title.[4]

The young Sandoval met another future world champion, Alberto Davila, at Pomona boxing gyms. Eventually, they became friends, and they shared the burden of boxing's dangers later on in life.[5]

Amateur career

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Sandoval was a two-time National Golden Gloves Champion and from 1979 to 1980,[6] Sandoval went on to win the National AAU Championship at Light Flyweight and then in the Flyweight division.[7] Sandoval qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but was unable to compete due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. In 2007, he received one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes.[8]

Professional career

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Richie Sandoval made his professional boxing debut on 5 November 1980, beating Gerardo Pedroza in Las Vegas, Nevada by a knockout in two rounds. He won his first ten fights by knockout, including two over fringe contender Javier Barajas. For his eleventh fight, Sandoval met Harold Petty, a boxer who was still fighting professionally at the age of 42 and who challenged twice for world titles. On 28 January 1982, he outpointed the undefeated Petty over ten rounds, going on to seven more wins that year, including another ten-round points victory over Petty.[9]

Sandoval had five wins in 1983, the year in which his friend Davila won the WBC Bantamweight title by knocking out Kiko Bejines, who died days later. This introduced Sandoval to the darker side of boxing as he saw how hard it was for Davila to recover.[10]

WBA Bantamweight Championship

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Sandoval's next fight was held on 7 April 1984. Despite his record of 22 victories without any losses, including fifteen knockouts, he was a virtual unknown to most boxing fans when he met the Lineal and WBA Bantamweight champion Jeff Chandler in Atlantic City.[11] After dropping the champion in round eleven, Sandoval won by TKO in round fifteen to become a world champion in a major upset.[12][13] He followed this up with his first trip abroad as a professional boxer, to Monte Carlo on September 22. He outpointed the top ranked and well known Edgar Román over fifteen rounds on the undercard of Donald Curry's sixth-round knockout win over Nino LaRocca. He fought again on 15 December against Cardenio Ulloa, who was attempting to become the first Chilean world boxing champion in history. According to the report made by Ring En Español, Ulloa caused Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to jump off his chair with excitement when he dropped Sandoval in the third round, but Sandoval recovered and retained the title with an eighth-round knockout.[14]

By then, however, Sandoval was facing weight problems and he could barely make the weight even for fights in the Featherweight division, two divisions above Bantamweight, and he was forced to fight all his fights in 1985 as a Featherweight instead. He scored three ten-round decisions that year and one in 1986, including wins over Frankie Duarte and Diego Avila.[15]

Last bout and title defence

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After not defending his title for a year and a half, he was forced by the WBA to defend his title or be stripped of it. He chose to defend it, despite his problems making the weight.[16] On 3 March 1986, Sandoval defended his title against Gaby Canizales, as part of a super-undercard organized by promoter Bob Arum, which included the Hearns versus Shuler and Hagler versus Mugabi encounters.[17] Sandoval reportedly had to lose around twelve pounds in three days in order to be able to fight that night, staying off any solid foods and surviving only on water. Weakened and feeling the side-effects of such a sudden drop-off in weight, Sandoval suffered four knockdowns, but he fought on until the fifth knockdown, which happened in round seven, after which the referee stopped the fight. He fell unconscious a few minutes after the fight, stopping breathing for an estimated three minutes. He was rushed to hospital by local on-site paramedics, but he remained in critical condition for the next few nights. He had life-saving brain surgery, but the inevitable consequence was that Sandoval was obliged to retire. His final record was 29 wins and one loss, 17 wins by knockout.[18]

Professional boxing record

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30 fights 29 wins 1 loss
By knockout 17 1
By decision 12 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
30 Loss 29–1 Gaby Canizales TKO 7 (15) 1986-03-10 Caesars Palace Outdoor Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. Lost WBA & The Ring bantamweight titles
29 Win 29–0 Hector Cortez UD 10 (10) 1986-02-07 Cal Poly Pomona Gym, Pomona, California, U.S.
28 Win 28–0 Diego Avila UD 10 (10) 1985-11-10 Cal Poly Pomona Gym, Pomona, California, U.S.
27 Win 27–0 Jose Gallegos UD 10 (10) 1985-08-24 Pride Pavilion, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
26 Win 26–0 Frankie Duarte SD 10 (10) 1985-04-09 Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, California, U.S.
25 Win 25–0 Cardenio Ulloa TKO 8 (15) 1984-12-15 Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. Retained WBA & The Ring bantamweight titles
24 Win 24–0 Edgar Roman UD 15 (15) 1984-09-22 Chapiteau de l'Espace Fontvieille, Fontvieille, Monaco Retained WBA & The Ring bantamweight titles
23 Win 23–0 Jeff Chandler TKO 15 (15) 1984-04-07 Sands Casino Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. Won WBA & The Ring bantamweight titles
22 Win 22–0 Ramon Rico UD 10 (10) 1983-08-25 Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
21 Win 21–0 George Garcia SD 10 (10) 1983-05-19 Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
20 Win 20–0 David Bejines TKO 6 (10) 1983-03-24 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
19 Win 19–0 Jose Coronado TKO 6 (?) 1983-03-03 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
18 Win 18–0 Alonzo Gonzalez UD 10 (10) 1982-11-27 Bally's Park Place, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
17 Win 17–0 Jose Luis Garcia TKO 2 (10) 1982-09-09 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
16 Win 16–0 Julio Rodriguez UD 10 (10) 1982-08-19 Showboat Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
15 Win 15–0 Ian Clyde SD 10 (10) 1982-07-01 Showboat Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
14 Win 14–0 Miguel Flores KO 2 (10) 1982-05-06 Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
13 Win 13–0 Harold Petty MD 10 (10) 1982-04-03 Aladdin, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
12 Win 12–0 Ron Cisneros TKO 4 (10) 1982-02-25 Showboat Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
11 Win 11–0 Harold Petty SD 10 (10) 1982-01-28 Showboat Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
10 Win 10–0 Jose Torres TKO 1 (10) 1981-11-26 Hacienda Hotel, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
9 Win 9–0 Javier Barajas TKO 3 (10) 1981-10-22 Hacienda Hotel, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
8 Win 8–0 Marcello Camacho KO 1 (8) 1981-07-23 Hacienda Hotel, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
7 Win 7–0 Javier Barajas KO 4 (?) 1981-06-26 Hacienda Hotel, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
6 Win 6–0 Lorenzo Ramirez TKO 3 (8) 1981-05-28 Hacienda Hotel, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
5 Win 5–0 Frankie Granados TKO 2 (6) 1981-03-26 Hacienda Hotel, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
4 Win 4–0 Luis Ruiz TKO 2 (6) 1981-02-26 Hacienda Hotel, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
3 Win 3–0 Jose Castro KO 1 (?) 1981-01-29 Caesars Palace Sports Pavilion, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
2 Win 2–0 Miguel Juarez KO 1 (6) 1980-12-26 Caesars Palace Sports Pavilion, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
1 Win 1–0 Gerardo Pedroza KO 2 (4) 1980-11-05 Silver Slipper, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.

Retirement and death

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Sandoval later went touring across the United States with Davila, as each had been through both sides of a tragic boxing bout. They went on television talk-shows and public appearances to explain to the general public how a boxer feels (in Davila's case) after an opponent has died, and how a boxer can be so close to death in an instant after a fight (in Sandoval's case), and then having to deal with the fact that he or she will never be able to box again. Sandoval and Davila remained friends.[19]

Sandoval died on July 21, 2024, at the age of 63.[20]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Richie Sandoval boxer". www.fightsrec.com. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  2. ^ "Alberto Sandoval - BoxRec". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  3. ^ "Shane Mosley - BoxRec". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  4. ^ "Alberto Sandoval boxer". www.fightsrec.com. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  5. ^ "Alberto Davila - BoxRec". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  6. ^ "Official Golden Gloves of America Website". www.goldengloves.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  7. ^ "Richie Sandoval - BoxRec". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  8. ^ Caroccioli, Tom; Caroccioli, Jerry (2008). Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Highland Park, IL: New Chapter Press. pp. 243–253. ISBN 978-0942257403.
  9. ^ "Richard Sandoval – Former champion, current trainer, a survivor of the sport". SecondsOut Boxing News. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  10. ^ HOFFER, RICHARD (1986-02-01). "Boxing / Richard Hoffer : Jaime Garza Went From Invincible to Invisible". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  11. ^ "Richard Sandoval -- Lineal Bantamweight Champion". www.cyberboxingzone.com. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  12. ^ "Jeff Chandler vs. Richie Sandoval - BoxRec".
  13. ^ @BoxingHistory (7 April 2018). "#OnThisDay in 1984, Richie Sandoval won the WBA bantamweight title with a 15th round TKO of Jeff Chandler. In the 1…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ "Jeff Chandler vs. Richie Sandoval - BoxRec". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  15. ^ GUSTKEY, EARL (1986-03-08). "Sandoval's Title Is Taken Lightly : Life Isn't So Marvelous for Bantamweight Champion". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  16. ^ Gustkey, Earl (1988-08-27). "Boxing : Ambulances Should Be Required at All Shows". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  17. ^ "Richard Sandoval will defend the WBA..." tribunedigital-orlandosentinel. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  18. ^ "Richie Sandoval Moved Out of Intensive Care". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. 1986-03-13. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  19. ^ "SportsScope : Bantam Champ Richard Sandoval to Fight for Charity at Cal Poly Pomona". Los Angeles Times. 1986-02-06. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  20. ^ R.I.P Richie Sandoval – The Former WBA Bantamweight Champ Passes At Age 63
[edit]
Sporting positions
Amateur boxing titles
Previous:
Not contested 		Golden Gloves
light flyweight champion
1978–1979 		Next:
Steve McCrory
Previous:
James Cullins 		U.S. light flyweight champion
1979 		Next:
Robert Shannon
Previous:
Harold Petty 		U.S. flyweight champion
1980 		Next:
Fred Perkins
World boxing titles
Preceded by WBA bantamweight champion
April 7, 1984 – March 10, 1986 		Succeeded by
The Ring bantamweight champion
April 7, 1984 – March 10, 1986
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