Luisito Pio Espinosa (born June 26, 1967) is a Filipino actor and former
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...
who competed from 1984 to 2005. He is a
world champion in two weight classes, having held 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 ...
(WBA)
bantamweight
Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is .
The name for the class ...
title from 1989 to 1991 and 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 ...
(WBC)
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, ...
title from 1995 to 1999.
Professional career
Espinosa turned professional in 1984. In 1989, he won the
WBA Bantamweight
Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is .
The name for the class ...
title by knocking out
Kaokor Galaxy in the first round. He was then managed by famed boxing analyst and businessman Hermie Rivera. Espinosa defended the title twice before losing it to
Israel Contreras by a fifth-round knockout in 1991.
Espinosa made an arduous climb back to the top, this time fighting under Joe Koizumi's stable. His comeback culminated in 1995, when he won the
WBC 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, ...
title by outpointing
Manuel Medina. In his first title defense, Espinosa knocked out Alejandro "Cobrita" Gonzalez in the 4th round in Mexico. He then took on the hard-hitting body-puncher
César Soto at Luneta (Rizal) Park in Manila and hammered out a well-deserved unanimous decision in front of his countrymen, which included no less than President
Fidel V. Ramos
Fidel Valdez Ramos (; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military officer to reached ...
. He defended the title seven times before losing the belt in 1999 to Soto who won by a controversial unanimous decision. The following year, he challenged
Guty Espadas, Jr. for the Vacant WBC Featherweight Title, but was outboxed and lost a technical decision after their fight was stopped after a clash of heads.
Retirement
Espinosa retired in 2005 after a public outcry for him to stop fighting after being
knocked out by
Cristóbal Cruz. He spent his retirement living in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.
Post-boxing career
Due to some promotional and managerial disputes and divorce, Espinosa was left with little. He had to take jobs washing dishes, stocking shelves, flipping burgers and cleaning carpets in the US. Espinosa, who was out of the boxing scene for quite a while, entered the
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world.
In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...
(MMA) scene by training brothers
Nick Diaz
Nicholas Robert Diaz (born August 2, 1983) is an American professional boxer and mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Diaz is a former Strikeforce, WEC and ...
and
Nate Diaz in boxing to improve their stand-up. He also assisted in the training of the
University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...
's Boxing team from 2006-2007 in preparation for the annual Hilltop Cup. After losing his job in the US he was invited to work in Hong Kong as a boxing trainer at the Everlast Fight and Fitness Gym and moved in November 2014. On June 16, 2015, after 17 years, he won a case for prize money that was owed to him his by the promoters of his WBC featherweight title defense against
Argentine
Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
Carlos Rios. In 2017, he moved to the Everlast Gym as a boxing trainer in downtown
Dalian
Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...
city in mainland
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.
When he returned to the Philippines, he was added as cast of ''
FPJ's Batang Quiapo'', as Roberto.
Professional boxing record
Awards and recognition
*2023
Gabriel "Flash" Elorde Memorial Boxing Awards Banquest of Champions ''"Ring Excellence Award"''
Filmography
Film
Television
See also
*
List of Filipino boxing world champions
The history of boxing in the Philippines is the history of boxing and the evolution and progress of the sport in the Philippines. In the Philippines, boxing is one of its most popular sports, together with basketball, due to the many accolades i ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Espinosa, Luisito
1967 births
Living people
Bantamweight boxers
Featherweight boxers
World boxing champions
World bantamweight boxing champions
World featherweight boxing champions
World Boxing Association champions
World Boxing Council champions
Filipino male boxers
Boxers from Manila
People from Tondo, Manila
Filipino male television actors
Filipino male film actors