José Adolfo Legrá UtrÃa (born 19 April 1943) is a retired professional
featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Boxing
Professional boxing
History
A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...
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 ee ...
. He is a former two time
WBC World Featherweight Champion.
Professional career
In June 1960, Legrá turned professional in Cuba winning his first fight against Pedro Pinera which he won with a points decision over four rounds. Legrá drew his next fight and lost two after that and fought a total of 34 fights in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
and Cuba before departing for
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
in 1963 with a record of 27–5–2.
Move to Spain
His first fight in Spain was in October 1963 against
Moroccan Lazaro ben Layachi, which he won by KO in the sixth of eight rounds. Legrá then went on a run of over sixty wins between 1963 and 1967 with just one defeat on points against
Welshman Howard Winstone
Howard Winstone, MBE (15 April 1939 – 30 September 2000) was a Welsh world champion boxer, born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. As an amateur, Winstone won the Amateur Boxing Association bantamweight title in 1958, and a Commonwealth Games Gold Me ...
at the
Winter Gardens,
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.
European title
Legrá won his first title belt, the vacant
European Featherweight title, in December 1967 with a third-round knockout win over
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
's
Yves Desmarets. Legrá subsequently relinquished the title without a defence.
WBC World title
Legrá first opportunity to fight for a recognised world title belt came in July 1968 when he challenged
Howard Winstone
Howard Winstone, MBE (15 April 1939 – 30 September 2000) was a Welsh world champion boxer, born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. As an amateur, Winstone won the Amateur Boxing Association bantamweight title in 1958, and a Commonwealth Games Gold Me ...
again, this time for his
WBC Featherweight title. Legrá floored Winstone twice in the first round of the fight. The bout was subsequently halted because Winstone had a badly swollen left eye.
Legra lost his WBC featherweight title on 21 January 1969 after being defeated by
French-Australian Johnny Famechon on points at the
Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272.
Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genre ...
in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
After Famechon
Legrá won two matches before losing by UD to
Vicente Saldivar. Seven matches later Legrá would regain the EBU Featherweight title after beating Tommaso Galli on points. Legra would defend it five times before vacating it in 1972.
Regaining the WBC title and retirement
On 16 December 1972. Legrá fought
Clemente Sanchez for the vacant Featherweight title, Sanchez was stripped of the title before the fight but the title was still on the line for Legrá. Legrá would TKO Sanchez in the tenth round to win.
Legrá lost the title in his very next fight to Brazilian
Éder Jofre by Majority Decision. He would fight 3 matches after that, beating Jimmy Bell by points, losing to
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– ...
by KO and beating Daniel Valdez by points.
On April 25, 2020, it was announced that Legra, aged 77, was battling the
coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...
.
Professional boxing record
See also
*
Lineal championship
*
List of WBC world champions
This is a list of WBC world champions, showing every world champion certificated by the World Boxing Council (WBC). The WBC is one of the four major governing bodies in professional boxing, and certifies world champions in 18 different weight cla ...
References
*
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, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legra, Jose
1943 births
Living people
Cuban male boxers
Cuban emigrants to Spain
European Boxing Union champions
World Boxing Council champions
Spanish male boxers
Featherweight boxers
People from Baracoa
20th-century Spanish sportsmen
20th-century Cuban sportsmen