Boxer Carlos Ortiz, one of the best in the history of Puerto Rico, dies

• Sad news in the world of boxing.
• The death of Carlos Ortiz, one of the best boxers in the history of Puerto Rico, has been announced.
• So far, no further details of his cause of death have been shared.

Carlos Ortiz, one of the best boxers in the history of Puerto Rico, dies. A few months after his 86th birthday, the tremendous boxer Carlos Ortiz, a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, passed away. No further details are available at this time.

According to Primera Hora, Rick Glaser, an IBHOF elector, shared this unfortunate news on Twitter: “The great Carlos Ortiz has died. Three-time champion in the junior lightweight and lightweight divisions. He was one of the greatest fighters of all time from Puerto Rico.” Rest in peace.

Carlos Ortiz lived practically all his life in New York

Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Carlos Ortiz moved to New York before starting his professional life. He was the second Puerto Rican boxer to win a world boxing championship. He won his first crown on June 12, 1959, called junior welterweights, which he achieved by defeating the American Kenny Lane by TKO in two rounds.

Later, the boxer dropped to the lightweight category and was crowned champion on April 21, 1962 by defeating American Joe Brown by points in 15 rounds in a fight in Las Vegas. During his fifth defense, he lost the world crown in Panama to Ismael Laguna, regaining it seven months later in a rematch in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Ortiz is compared to Julio Cesar Chavez

In the words of renowned journalist José Sánchez Fournier, boxer Carlos Ortiz was an outstanding fighter who achieved several historic events for boxing in Puerto Rico: ““At the time he was champion, there was only one champion for each weight. And there were only nine divisions.”

“He was first champion in the junior lightweight and then dropped in weight to be champion in the lightweight division. There he remained champion for almost nine years and earned the consideration of many experts as one of the best lightweights of all time along with Roberto ‘Manos de Piedra’ Durán and Julio César Chávez.” (Filed as: Carlos Ortiz dies, one of the best boxers in the history of Puerto Rico).

Colleagues mourn the death of Carlos Ortiz

One of the first to react to the death of boxer Carlos Ortiz was the Cuban-Puerto Rican athlete, lawyer and politician, currently a senator in Puerto Rico, Henry Neumann Zayas, who shared a photo on Twitter with the following message: “Together with Carlos Ortiz, one of the great boxing champions of Puerto Rico. Member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Ortiz leaves a legacy full of great triumphs. May he rest in peace.”

For his part, Mickey Dunne said: “May former lightweight champion and Boxing Hall of Famer Carlos Ortiz rest in peace. This photo was shortly after I lost one of my fights, he went out of his way to come up to me afterwards and tell me that he thought I won, giving me some words of encouragement, I will never forget his kindness.”

More about the renowned boxer

As of January 2018, Carlos Ortiz held the record for most title unification wins in boxing history with 10. In 1991, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, while in 2002 he was voted by the magazine The Ring as the sixtieth best fighter of the last 80 years. Until before his death, he was ranked 21st in the BoxRec ranking of the best pound-for-pound boxers of all time.

His final record was 61 wins, 7 losses, and 1 draw, with one fight declared a no contest, and 30 wins by knockout. Carlos Ortiz liked to take photos with his fans and sign autographs. A sad loss for the boxing world. Rest in peace (Filed as: Carlos Ortiz, one of the best boxers in the history of Puerto Rico, dies)

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