Edwin Viruet (born 20 August 1950 in
New York
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* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
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) is a retired professional
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
*Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
*Boxer (dog), a breed of dog
Boxer or boxers may also refer to:
Animal kingdom
*Boxer crab
* Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans
* Boxer snipe eel, ...
from
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
. His brother
Adolfo was also a professional boxer.
Viruet made his professional debut in 1969. Among his early opponents were
Saoul Mamby
Saoul Paul Mamby (June 4, 1947 – December 19, 2019) was an American professional boxer who fought between 1969 and 2008. He held the WBC super lightweight title from 1980 to 1982.
Personal
Born in South Bronx, New York, Mamby, the child of ...
, a future world
light-welterweight
Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional boxing
In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...
champion, against whom he earned a draw; and
Alfredo Escalera
Alfredo "El Salsero" Escalera (born March 21, 1952) is a Puerto Rican who was a world champion boxer. A native of Carolina, his nickname was "Salsero" because he was a fan of Salsa music.
Early boxing career
Escalera had his first professiona ...
, a future world
super featherweight
Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and .
The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the Ne ...
champion, against whom he won a decision.
In 1975, Viruet was matched with
Roberto Durán
Roberto Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, as wel ...
, the reigning world
lightweight
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing.
Boxing
Professional boxing
The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing.
Notable lightweight b ...
champion, in a non-title fight. Viruet lost by a unanimous decision. Two years later he fought Durán again, this time with Durán's world title on the line, and again lost a unanimous decision.
Viruet continued to fight top contenders, losing to
Esteban De Jesús Esteban () is a Spanish male given name, derived from Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos) and related to the English names Steven and Stephen. Although in its original pronunciation the accent is on the penultimate syllable, English-speakers tend ...
and
Edwin Rosario
Edwin "Chapo" Rosario Rivera (; March 15, 1963 – December 1, 1997) was a Puerto Rican professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 1997. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC lightweight title from 1983 to 1984, ...
but defeating
Josue Marquez
Josue Marquez Acevedo (November 30, 1946, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico – May 10, 2018) was a Puerto Rican who was once a world title challenging boxer. Not known for his punching power, (Marquez only won 7 of his 46 professional boxing fights by knockou ...
by tenth round knockout. He finally retired in 1983.
External links
*
References
1950 births
Living people
Lightweight boxers
Puerto Rican male boxers
{{PuertoRico-boxing-bio-stub