Arthur Benjamin Aragon (November 13, 1927 – March 25, 2008 ) was an American boxer in the

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

class from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Early and later life

Aragon was a native of Belen, New Mexico, but grew up in

East Los Angeles East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, East Los Angeles is designated as ...

. His family was of Mexican descent. He was married four times and engaged a fifth time. He had six acknowledged children. After retiring from boxing, Aragon went into the bail bonds business and pursued acting roles. He

converted to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( or ) is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. "Thus, by convertin ...

later in life and is buried in a Jewish cemetery in Los Angeles.

Professional boxing career

Aragon's first professional fight, a points win in May 1944, was against Frenchy Rene at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Aragon won his first eleven fights before dropping a decision to Bert White in October 1944. Aragon faced ever-tougher competition as his career progressed, eventually facing many of the great names from his era, including Tommy Campbell, Jesse Flores, Redtop Davis,

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

and Carmen Basilio. Aragon also held victories over such men as Enrique Bolanos, Johnny Gonsalves, future lightweight champion Lauro Salas, future welterweight champion Don Jordan, Danny Giovanelli and Chico Vejar. In 1951, he defeated lightweight champion

in a non-title bout. Three months later he lost a rematch to Carter for the title in a bout in which he reportedly struggled to make weight. He defeated Carter once again five years later after Carter had been dethroned. Aragon retired in 1960 with a career record of 90 wins (61 by

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

), 20 losses, and 6 draws. Before his career ended, Aragon was dogged by accusations of conspiring to fix fights in his favor, including a conviction in California in February 1957. Similar allegations were made by other fighters afterwards but were never substantiated.

Career in Hollywood

Aragon enjoyed popularity among Hollywood circles. He was romantically linked to

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, ''Playboy'' Playmate, and sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was known for her numerous publicity stunts and open personal life. He ...

and other

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

starlets of the era. Another Hollywood connection was Aragon's friendship with

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

hero turned

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

star

Audie Murphy Audie Leon Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971) was an American soldier, actor, and songwriter. He was widely celebrated as the most decorated American combat soldier of World War II, and has been described as the most highly decorated enli ...

. He had various film and television credits between the 1950s and 1970s, including appearances as himself in the boxing films '' The Ring'' and '' Off Limits'', and he played the role of Private Sanchez in the 1955 war film '' To Hell and Back''. He can be heard as a contestant on the 24th May 1950 radio episode of '' You Bet Your Life''.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aragon, Art 1927 births 2008 deaths American boxers of Mexican descent Boxers from New Mexico People from Belen, New Mexico Boxers from Los Angeles Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery American male boxers Jewish American boxers Converts to Judaism People from East Los Angeles, California Lightweight boxers 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American sportsmen