Antonio Rivera
Encyclopedia
José Antonio Rivera was a well known Puerto Rican
boxer
. He was much better known as El Gallo Rivera or Tonito Rivera, and was a prominent boxer during the decade of the 1980s.
, Puerto Rico
. He posted two more wins in a row, one by knockout
, then lost for the first time as a professional, beaten by Herminio Adorno by a decision in five rounds on May 22. Rivera avenged that loss with a first round knockout of Adorno on July 9, in Trujillo Alto.
Rivera won five of his next six bouts before fighting abroad for the first time, losing by a ten round decision to Enrique Sanchez by a ten round decision at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on October 15, 1982. About one year and a half later, Sanchez lost to Alberto Davila
for the WBC
world Bantamweight title.
On February 12, 1983, Rivera fought for his first championship, the regional, Puerto Rican Super Bantamweight title. He conquered the belt by beating Orlando Perez by a twelve round decision in Canovanas
.
Rivera won his next four fights, including a seventh round knockout victory over Manuel Santos as part of the Wilfredo Gómez
-Eladio Santana fight's undercard at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum
on December 14 of that year, and his Madison Square Garden
debut, a win over Vincent Christian by a fifth round knockout on July 26, 1984, at the Garden's Felt Forum Arena.
In his next fight, Rivera defended his Puerto Rican Super Bantamweight title against fellow Puerto Rican Juan Veloz, on September 1 in Carolina
. The bout was a longawaited fight by Puerto Rican fight fans and press alike; ahead on points after ten rounds, Rivera lost the fight by a knockout in round eleven.
On February 2, 1985, Rivera re-established himself as a top ranked boxer when he knocked out Alberto Mercado
in seven rounds as part of one of Victor Callejas
' title defense undercards. At stake in that bout was a spot among the IBF
's top ten challengers. This time, it was Rivera who staged a comeback, being behind on the judges' scorecards before defeating Mercado.
On July 12, he met Tony Miller
in Australia
, and the two boxers fought to a ten round draw (tie). On October 5, he beat fringe contender Irving Mitchell in San Juan
by a knockout in five rounds to win the WBC continental Americas Featherweight title and position himself as the number one challenger among Featherweights with the IBF.
Rivera next faced a relatively long layoff, while negotiations over contracts for his world title challenge were finalized. Rivera finally got his first shot at becoming world champion on August 30, 1986, in Osan
, South Korea
, when he faced the IBF world Featherweight champion, Ki-Young Chung
. Rivera became world champion by knocking Chung out in ten rounds.
Rivera next faced another long layoff. When his first defense could be finally held. Rivera lost his title when he was knocked out in four rounds by Calvin Grove
, on January 23, 1988 in Gamaches
, France
. Sixteen months passed between the moment that Rivera won the world championship and his first title defense.
Tonito Rivera won his next three bouts before receiving a shot at becoming world champion again. On December 9, 1989, he dropped Kamel Bou Ali, but lost the fight by an eighth round knockout, in Teramo
, Italy
. That bout was contested for the WBO's vacant world Jr. Lightweight title.
Rivera, much like Marvin Hagler
before him, fell in love with Italy. He lived there for the rest of his life, returning to Puerto Rico multiple times for fights. He lost his next fight after the bout with Bou Ali, but rebounded with four straight wins, including a third round knockout over future world champion Giovanni Parisi
on November 10, 1990 in Monsano
.
On September 14, 1991, Rivera challenged Dingaan Thobela
for the WBO world Lightweight title, losing a twelve round decision to Thobela in Johannesburg
, South Africa
. After winning four more bouts and drawing one, Rivera received another world title shot, this time in a rematch with Parisi, by then the WBO world Lightweight champion, in Rome on September 24, 1993. Rivera was outpointed by Parisi over twelve rounds.
Rivera then embarked on another winning streak, which included a second round knockout over Argentine
hopeful Fabian Tejada on March 6, 1995, in Inglewood, California
. That same year, on December 15, he returned to the Madison Square Garden to defeat Gerard Gray by a ninth round knockout.
Rivera would get another world title chance after that bout: on April 13, 1996, he lost to Arthur Gregorian by a knockout in round twelve at Hamburg
, Germany
, for the WBO's world Lightweight title.
Rivera won one, lost three and drew one of his next five fights. One of those bouts was a first round knockout loss to fringe contender Shannan Taylor of Australia. He also lost to Dyobelis Hurtado, but, on October 25, 1997, he did draw over ten rounds with former WBO world Jr. Welterweight champion, fellow Puerto Rican Sammy Fuentes
.
Soon after defeating Johnny Valentin by a first round knockout on September 30, 2002 in Hatillo
, Puerto Rico, as part of a tournament named the world television
Hispanic
tournament, Rivera was diagnosed with an undisclosed disease, having to retire from boxing for good.
, a basketball
player who was murdered later that year while trying to defend a neighbor from robbers.
Antonio Rivera had a professional boxing record of 36 wins, 13 losses and 3 draws, with 32 wins by knockout.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. He was much better known as El Gallo Rivera or Tonito Rivera, and was a prominent boxer during the decade of the 1980s.
Professional career
José Antonio Rivera began his professional boxing career on February 26, 1981, after a long and successful amateur boxing career, knocking out Humberto Maldonado in the first round at Trujillo AltoTrujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
-Barrios :*Carraízo*Las Cuevas*Dos Bocas*La Gloria*Quebrada Grande*Quebrada Negrito*Saint Just*Trujillo Alto Pueblo*Cooperativa Jardines de Trujillo Alto-Geo/Topography:*Carraízo dam...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. He posted two more wins in a row, one by knockout
Knockout
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
, then lost for the first time as a professional, beaten by Herminio Adorno by a decision in five rounds on May 22. Rivera avenged that loss with a first round knockout of Adorno on July 9, in Trujillo Alto.
Rivera won five of his next six bouts before fighting abroad for the first time, losing by a ten round decision to Enrique Sanchez by a ten round decision at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on October 15, 1982. About one year and a half later, Sanchez lost to Alberto Davila
Alberto Davila
Albert "Alberto" Dávila is a Mexican-American boxer who boxed during the 1970s and 1980s in the bantamweight division. During parts of 1983 and 1984, he held the World Boxing Council championship. Dávila lost world bantamweight championships matches three times, and temporarily left the sport...
for the WBC
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
world Bantamweight title.
On February 12, 1983, Rivera fought for his first championship, the regional, Puerto Rican Super Bantamweight title. He conquered the belt by beating Orlando Perez by a twelve round decision in Canovanas
Canóvanas, Puerto Rico
Canóvanas is a municipality in Puerto Rico, located in the northeastern region, north of Juncos and Las Piedras; south of Loíza; east of Carolina; and west of Río Grande. Canóvanas is spread over 7 wards and Canóvanas Pueblo...
.
Rivera won his next four fights, including a seventh round knockout victory over Manuel Santos as part of the Wilfredo Gómez
Wilfredo Gómez
Wilfredo Gómez , sometimes referred to as Bazooka Gómez, is a former boxer and three time world champion.-Biography:...
-Eladio Santana fight's undercard at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum
Roberto Clemente Coliseum
The Roberto Clemente Coliseum is a sporting events and concert arena in San Juan, Puerto Rico.It was, for many years, Puerto Rico's largest indoor event facility, and it continues being one of the largest....
on December 14 of that year, and his Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
debut, a win over Vincent Christian by a fifth round knockout on July 26, 1984, at the Garden's Felt Forum Arena.
In his next fight, Rivera defended his Puerto Rican Super Bantamweight title against fellow Puerto Rican Juan Veloz, on September 1 in Carolina
Carolina, Puerto Rico
Carolina is a city located in the northern part of Puerto Rico, bordering the Atlantic Ocean; it lies north of Gurabo and Juncos; east of Trujillo Alto and San Juan; and west of Canóvanas and Loíza. Carolina is spread over 12 wards plus Carolina Pueblo...
. The bout was a longawaited fight by Puerto Rican fight fans and press alike; ahead on points after ten rounds, Rivera lost the fight by a knockout in round eleven.
On February 2, 1985, Rivera re-established himself as a top ranked boxer when he knocked out Alberto Mercado
Alberto Mercado
Alberto Mercado was a Jr. Featherweight boxer who was on the verge of fighting for a world title at least twice in his career....
in seven rounds as part of one of Victor Callejas
Victor Callejas
Victor Callejas is a Puerto Rican former boxer who was World Junior Featherweight champion. A native of Guaynabo, Callejas as a child wanted to be a singer, and his childhood friend, Orvil Miller, wanted to be a boxer. As it turned out, however, it was Callejas who was a boxer and Miller who...
' title defense undercards. At stake in that bout was a spot among the IBF
International Boxing Federation
The International Boxing Federation or IBF is one of four major organizations recognized by IBHOF which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC and WBO.- History :...
's top ten challengers. This time, it was Rivera who staged a comeback, being behind on the judges' scorecards before defeating Mercado.
On July 12, he met Tony Miller
Tony Miller
Tony Miller may refer to:* Tony Miller , Secretary of State of California* Tony Miller , Kentucky Congressional candidate* Tony Miller, United States Deputy Secretary of Education...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and the two boxers fought to a ten round draw (tie). On October 5, he beat fringe contender Irving Mitchell in San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
by a knockout in five rounds to win the WBC continental Americas Featherweight title and position himself as the number one challenger among Featherweights with the IBF.
Rivera next faced a relatively long layoff, while negotiations over contracts for his world title challenge were finalized. Rivera finally got his first shot at becoming world champion on August 30, 1986, in Osan
Osan
Osan is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, approximately 35 km south of Seoul. The population of the city is around 120,000. The local economy is supported by a mix of agricultural and industrial enterprises....
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, when he faced the IBF world Featherweight champion, Ki-Young Chung
Ki-Young Chung
Ki-Young Chung is a former professional boxer. During his career, which lasted from 1979 to 1986, Chung won the IBF world featherweight title. Before competing at featherweight, Chung won the Korean super bantamweight title in 1982. He also won the Korean title as a featherweight, along with the...
. Rivera became world champion by knocking Chung out in ten rounds.
Rivera next faced another long layoff. When his first defense could be finally held. Rivera lost his title when he was knocked out in four rounds by Calvin Grove
Calvin Grove
Calvin Grove was a boxer in the Featherweight division. Grove turned pro in 1982 and in 1988 captured the IBF featherweight title with a TKO over Antonio Rivera. He defended the belt once before losing it to Jorge Páez later that same year...
, on January 23, 1988 in Gamaches
Gamaches
Gamaches is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Gamaches is situated on the D1015, on the banks of the Bresle River, the border with Seine-Maritime, some southwest of Abbeville.Huge lakes to the west of the town are a paradise for naturalists, anglers and...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Sixteen months passed between the moment that Rivera won the world championship and his first title defense.
Tonito Rivera won his next three bouts before receiving a shot at becoming world champion again. On December 9, 1989, he dropped Kamel Bou Ali, but lost the fight by an eighth round knockout, in Teramo
Teramo
Teramo is a city and comune in the central Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo.The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines and the Adriatic coast...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. That bout was contested for the WBO's vacant world Jr. Lightweight title.
Rivera, much like Marvin Hagler
Marvin Hagler
Marvelous Marvin Hagler , is a former professional boxer who was undisputed world middleweight champion between 1980 and 1987. Hagler holds the distinction of having the highest KO% of all middleweight champions at 78%...
before him, fell in love with Italy. He lived there for the rest of his life, returning to Puerto Rico multiple times for fights. He lost his next fight after the bout with Bou Ali, but rebounded with four straight wins, including a third round knockout over future world champion Giovanni Parisi
Giovanni Parisi
Giovanni Parisi was an Italian boxer, who won the gold medal in the Men's Featherweight category at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.- Biography:...
on November 10, 1990 in Monsano
Monsano
Monsano is a comune in the Province of Ancona in the Italian region Marche, located about 20 km west of Ancona.Monsano borders the following municipalities: Jesi, Monte San Vito, San Marcello....
.
On September 14, 1991, Rivera challenged Dingaan Thobela
Dingaan Thobela
Dingaan Bongane Thobela , is a professional boxer in the Super Middleweight division."Rose of Soweto" The Dingaan Thobela story , the intimate biography written by Internationally renowned Deon Potgieter is available for order through all leading on-line stores world wide e.g.; Amazon, Barnes &...
for the WBO world Lightweight title, losing a twelve round decision to Thobela in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. After winning four more bouts and drawing one, Rivera received another world title shot, this time in a rematch with Parisi, by then the WBO world Lightweight champion, in Rome on September 24, 1993. Rivera was outpointed by Parisi over twelve rounds.
Rivera then embarked on another winning streak, which included a second round knockout over Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
hopeful Fabian Tejada on March 6, 1995, in Inglewood, California
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
. That same year, on December 15, he returned to the Madison Square Garden to defeat Gerard Gray by a ninth round knockout.
Rivera would get another world title chance after that bout: on April 13, 1996, he lost to Arthur Gregorian by a knockout in round twelve at Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, for the WBO's world Lightweight title.
Rivera won one, lost three and drew one of his next five fights. One of those bouts was a first round knockout loss to fringe contender Shannan Taylor of Australia. He also lost to Dyobelis Hurtado, but, on October 25, 1997, he did draw over ten rounds with former WBO world Jr. Welterweight champion, fellow Puerto Rican Sammy Fuentes
Sammy Fuentes
Sammy Fuentes is a retired Puerto Rican boxer. On February 20, 1995, he defeated Fidel Avendano to win the WBO Light Welterweight title. Fuentes defended the title once against Hector Lopez before losing it to Giovanni Parisi. He retired with a record of 34 wins , 18 loses, and 2 draws.-External...
.
Soon after defeating Johnny Valentin by a first round knockout on September 30, 2002 in Hatillo
Hatillo, Puerto Rico
Hatillo is a municipality located on Puerto Rico's north coast, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Lares and Utuado to the south, Camuy to the west, and Arecibo to the east. According to the 2000 US Census Hatillo is spread over 9 wards and Hatillo Pueblo...
, Puerto Rico, as part of a tournament named the world television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
tournament, Rivera was diagnosed with an undisclosed disease, having to retire from boxing for good.
Death
After a long battle with his disease, he died on April 4, 2005 of an asthma attack. After death, Rivera made Puerto Rican sports history, becoming the first athlete to have his mortal remains exposed at the Puerto Rican Sports Pavilion. The second athlete to have his mortal remains exposed there was Félix Javier PérezFélix Javier Pérez
Félix Javier Pérez Rivera was a Puerto Rican basketball player and a member of the Puerto Rican national basketball team. He was born on May 31, 1971 in Guayama, Puerto Rico....
, a basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player who was murdered later that year while trying to defend a neighbor from robbers.
Antonio Rivera had a professional boxing record of 36 wins, 13 losses and 3 draws, with 32 wins by knockout.