Gerald Hayes (1952-died before November, 2016) was an American professional journeyman boxer in the Bantamweight, Featherweight and Junior Lightweight divisions. Having fought 50 fights, he faced eight world champions and 4
International Boxing Hall of Fame
The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...
member boxers during his career. These were
Lupe Pintor
José Guadalupe Pintor Guzmán (born April 13, 1955), better known as Lupe Pintor, is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1995. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC bantamweight title fro ...
,
Bobby Chacon
Bobby Chacon (November 28, 1951 – September 7, 2016) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1972 to 1988. He held titles in two weight classes, including the World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight title from 1974 to 1975 and the ...
,
Rocky Lockridge
''Rocky'' is a 1976 American independent sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weath ...
,
Alexis Arguello
Alexis may refer to:
People Mononym
* Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet
* Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC
* Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer
* Alexis (comics) (1946– ...
,
,
Marcos Villasana,
Juan Laporte
Juan Laporte, also known as Juan La Porte (born November 24, 1959) is a former boxer who was born in Guayama, Puerto Rico. In 1982, La Porte won the vacant WBC featherweight title, forcing undefeated Colombian Mario "Martillo" Miranda to quit ...
,
and
Eusebio Pedroza
Eusebio Pedroza (March 2, 1956 – March 1, 2019) was a Panamanian boxer who held the World Boxing Association, WBA and lineal featherweight championship from 1978 to 1985, having defended the title against 18 different contenders, more than any ...
.
Pintor, Chacon, Arguello and Pedroza are all members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Hayes beat Pendleton and Laporte, who was, at the time, the
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...
world Featherweight champion, by ten-rounds decisions in non-title fights, and dropped Pedroza, the
World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level.
Founded ...
world featherweight champion at the time of their contest too, in round three before being stopped in the tenth by the Panamanian at the
Centro de Convenciones Atlapa on
Panama City, Panama
Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province ...
, on June 23, 1984, in another non-title match.
Hayes also fought several contenders and boxers who fought unsuccessfully for world titles, including
Derrik Holmes,
Bashew Sibaca in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
,
,
James Martinez,
twice,
,
Carmelo Negron
and Richard Savage.
He held wins over Sibaca and Negron.
Barry McGuigan
Prior to Irishman
Barry McGuigan
Finbar Patrick "Barry" McGuigan MBE (born 28 February 1961) is an Irish boxing promoter and former professional boxer. Born in Clones, County Monaghan, McGuigan was nicknamed ''The Clones Cyclone'' and held the WBA and lineal featherweight ...
's successful challenge of Pedroza for the WBA's world featherweight title in 1985, Hayes traveled to McGuigan's training center to help him prepare for that contest.
Barney Eastwood, McGuigan's promoter, said that Hayes was "a smart cookie" who "showed (McGuigan) (Pedroza's) tricks and said a right hand could beat (Pedroza)".
Professional boxing record
In 50 fights, Hayes had 24 wins, 22 losses and 4 draws (ties), with 11 wins and 2 of those losses being by knockout.
Hall of Fame
On November 3, 2016, Hayes was posthumously inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame.
Personal life
Hayes was married to Yvette Hayes, the pair had two children.
See also
*
Angel Robinson Garcia
Angel Robinson Garcia (May 9, 1937 – June 1, 2000) was a Cuban professional boxer, who was the Latin American Super-Featherweight champion. He also fought for the Cuban national Lightweight title, but lost.
Robinson Garcia was known for his ...
- another journeyman boxer who fought several Hall of Fame members
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Gerald
1952 births
Year of death missing
People from Newark, New Jersey
American male boxers
Bantamweight boxers
Featherweight boxers
Super-featherweight boxers
American boxers