Esteban de Jesús

Esteban de Jesús (August 2, 1950 – May 11, 1989) was a Puerto Rican boxer who reigned as the WBC lightweight champion from 1976 to 1978. De Jesús, a native of the town of Carolina, Puerto Rico, was a gymmate of Wilfred Benítez and was trained by Benitez's father, Gregorio Benitez. He was the first boxer to defeat Roberto Durán as a pro, and the only fighter to defeat Duran during his lightweight reign. His career was mired in controversy, problems, and scandals.

Professional career

De Jesús debuted as a professional in 1969, he won his first twenty fights, thirteen by knockout. He then stepped up in class, for the first time, when he boxed future world title challenger Josue Marquez in 1971, beating him in a twelve-round decision to claim the Puerto Rican national Lightweight championship.. His next fight was a fourth-round knockout victory over Victor Ortíz. After that, there was a rematch with Marquez, who was beaten again, also over twelve rounds, to retain the Puerto Rican Lightweight title.

Next came his first international fight, in Caracas, Venezuela, against the future four-time world title challenger Leonel Hernandez. De Jesús won the ten round fight by unanimous decision in what was the start of a four fight tour of Venezuela. That Venezuelan campaign ended with a ten-round decision loss against former world champion Antonio Gomez in Caracas.

1972 was a pivotal year in de Jesús' career. He won six fights in a row, including a twelve-round knockout win in a third fight with Marquez to again retain the Puerto Rican Lightweight title, and a ten-round decision over Doug McClendon. Despite all the wins, he was virtually unknown to most boxing fans. That changed quickly in his last fight of 1972 against the undefeated new world's Lightweight champion Roberto Durán at the Madison Square Garden arena. In a televised bout that marked the beginning of the "Durán - de Jesús trilogy", de Jesús dropped Durán in round one and went on to inflict Durán's first defeat in a ten-round decision.

In 1973, he was rewarded for his efforts, receiving a chance to challenge Ray Lampkin for the North American Boxing Federation lightweight belt. He won the vacant title by beating Lampkin in a twelve-round decision. He went on to beat Johnny Gant and Raul Montoya in ten-round decisions and beat Lampkin by decision in a rematch in New York. He finished 1973 with a first-round knockout win over fringe contender Al Foster.

He began 1974 by knocking out former world Jr. Welterweight champion Alfonso "Peppermint" Frazer in ten rounds in San Juan, Puerto Rico, after which he traveled to Panama City to receive his first world title shot and, at the same time, face Durán in the second fight of their trilogy. He once again dropped Durán in round one, but this time Durán rebounded and dominated the bout, retaining the title in an eleventh-round knockout. He recovered from that defeat with two more wins before the end of the year.

In 1975, he went up in weight briefly, and after beating Jesse Lara by a knockout in three, he returned to Panama City to challenge Colombia's Antonio Cervantes for the world's Jr. Welterweight title, losing in a fifteen-round decision. He beat Rudy Barros by knockout in round five to end that year, and started 1976 by beating Valentin Ramos by knockout in round two.

Next came his third world title try when the WBC's world Lightweight champion Ishimatsu Suzuki of Japan traveled to Puerto Rico to defend his title against de Jesús. The third time proved to be the charm for de Jesús, who won the world title by beating Suzuki in a fifteen-round decision. He retained the title against Hector Medina with a knockout in round seven.

De Jesús admitted publicly to using drugs during his boxing career. He began using cocaine and heroin early in his boxing career with an older brother, Enrique.

In 1977, he retained the title against Buzzsaw Yamabe by knockout in round six and against Vicente Mijares Saldivar by knockout in round eleven.

1978 began with the third and final chapter of his trilogy with Durán. In a title unification bout in Las Vegas, which displayed Durán at the peak of his power, Durán systematically broke down de Jesús resulting in a twelfth-round knockout.

De Jesús rebounded with three wins before the end of that year, including one over former world title challenger Edwin Viruet.

In 1979, he had two more wins, including one over Jimmy Blevins. After beating José Vallejo by a knockout in round seven in San Juan to start 1980, he traveled to Bloomington, Minnesota, to challenge Saoul Mamby for Mamby's WBC world Jr. Welterweight title, in the major supporting event of the Larry Holmes-Scott Le Doux world heavyweight championship bout's undercard. In what turned out to be his last fight, he was beaten by a knockout in thirteen rounds.

His record was 57 wins and 5 losses, with 32 wins by knockout.

Crime, commuted sentence and death

On November 27, 1980, in what became a famous case in Puerto Rico, after having injected himself with cocaine, de Jesús was involved in a traffic dispute with 17-year-old Roberto Cintron Gonzalez, which ended in de Jesús fatally shooting Gonzalez in the head. De Jesús was sentenced to life in prison.

In 1985, he learned that his brother Enrique, with whom he had shared needles, had died of AIDS. De Jesús tested positive for the virus, and symptoms began to appear. He died in San Juan, Puerto Rico on May 11, 1989, aged 38, of an AIDS-related illness.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes62Loss57–5Saoul Mamby61Win57–4José Vallejo60Win56–4Ruby Ortiz59Win55–4Jimmy Blevins58Win54–4Edwin Viruet57Win53–4Chuchu Hernandez56Win52–4Pablo Baez55Loss51–4Roberto Durán54Win51–3James Brackett53Win50–3Vicente Mijares52Win49–3Buzzsaw Yamabe51Win48–3Hector Julio Medina50Win47–3Guts Ishimatsu49Win46–3Valente Ramos48Win45–3Rudy Barro47Loss44–3Antonio Cervantes46Win44–2Jesse Lara45Win43–2Javier Ayala44Win42–2Gerardo Ferrat43Loss41–2Roberto Durán42Win41–1Alfonso Frazer41Win40–1Al Foster40Win39–1Miguel Mayan39Win38–1Radames Checo38Win37–1Ray Lampkin37Win36–1Raul Montoya36Win35–1Johnny Gant35Win34–1Ray Lampkin34Win33–1Roberto Durán33Win32–1Doc McClendon32Win31–1Raimundo Dias31Win30–1Chuck Wilburn30Win29–1Angel Robinson Garcia29Win28–1Josue Marquez28Win27–1George Foster27Win26–1Percy Hayles26Win25–1Milton Mendez25Win24–1Johnny Harp24Win23–1Frank Leroy23Win22–1Josue Marquez22Win21–1Victor Ortiz21Win20–1Josue Marquez20Win19–1Armando Mendoza19Win18–1Leonel Hernandez18Win17–1Gustavo Briceno17Loss16–1Antonio Gómez16Win16–0Jose Llanos15Win15–0Johnny Sandoval14Win14–0Jose Jimenez13Win13–0Coverly Kid Daniels12Win12–0Ike Estrada11Win11–0Jose Jimenez10Win10–0Bobby Parnell9Win9–0Braulio Rodriguez8Win8–0Chino Guerrero7Win7–0Ramon Dominguez6Win6–0Ivelaw Eastman5Win5–0Tommy Sheffield4Win4–0Ramon Montes3Win3–0Johnny Sandoval2Win2–0Francisco Maldonado1Win1–0Braulio Rodriguez

Esteban de Jesús

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