Manuel Ortiz (July 2, 1916 – May 31, 1970) was an American

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 ...

in the

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 ...

division and one of the very best boxers of the 1940s. He was a two-time Undisputed Bantamweight World Champion and was named to ''

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's'' list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years. In 1996, he was inducted into the

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 ...

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Amateur career

Ortiz, who was of Mexicans, Mexican descent, started an amateur career in 193

Within a year, Ortiz won the Southern California Amateur Flyweight Title, the

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

Title, and the National AAU title in Boston. He also defeated Chief Lopez, who was an Olympic runner-up, and Bobby Hagar (father of former Van Halen frontman

Sammy Hagar Sam Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose before launching a ...

) twice. In their first fight, Ortiz decked Hagar 17 times. In their second match, Ortiz decked Hagar twenty times.

Professional career

Ortiz turned pro in 1938 and in 1942 won the World Bantamweight title by beating Lou Salica. He defended the title a division record of 15 times against 11 boxers before losing to Harold Dade in 1947. He regained the title in a rematch later in the year, and defended the title four more times giving him the most combined title defenses of any bantamweight champion in history at 19 title defenses. After losing his undisputed championship to the undefeated Vic Toweel in 1950, he went on to fight for 5 more years never getting a chance at an unprecedented third bantamweight title reign.

Outside the Ring

*Ortiz made a very brief appearance in a gym scene in the 1947 movie Killer McCoy. *Ortiz served in the U.S. Army. *Ortiz died from cirrhosis of the liver after a long illness in 1970. *Ortiz is the very first boxer in the prominent boxing online database on

BoxRec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profess ...

, having the Global ID number of simply "1". *Ortiz spent most of his life living in El Centro, CA. Town in which he is currently buried.

Professional boxing record

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

* NYSAC

champion (118 lbs) (2×) * NBA (WBA) bantamweight champion (118 lbs) (2×)

''The Ring'' magazine titles

* ''The Ring'' bantamweight champion (118 lbs) (2×)

Regional/International titles

* California State bantamweight champion (118 lbs)

Undisputed titles

* Undisputed bantamweight champion (2×)

References

External links

*
Manuel Ortiz - CBZ Profile
* https://titlehistories.com/boxing/wba/wba-world-b.html * https://titlehistories.com/boxing/na/usa/ny/nysac-b.html * https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/The_Ring_Magazine%27s_Annual_Ratings:_Bantamweight--1940s {{DEFAULTSORT:Ortiz, Manuel 1916 births 1970 deaths American boxers of Mexican descent Boxers from California Bantamweight boxers International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees American male boxers Sportspeople from Corona, California 20th-century American sportsmen