Kid Gavilan

Kid Gavilan
Data
Birth Name	Gerardo González
Weight class	Welterweight
nationality	Cuban
birthday	January 6, 1926
place of birth	Camaguey
Date of death	February 13, 2003
Place of death	Miami
style	Left delivery
size	1.79 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	143
Victories	108
Knockout victories	28
Defeats	30th
draw	5

Kid Gavilán (born January 6, 1926 in Berrocal, Camagüey as Gerardo González , † February 13, 2003 in Miami ) was a Cuban boxer .

Professional career

He got his name from his manager Fernando Balido, who owned a café called "El Gavilán" (The Sparrowhawk). Kid Gavilán began his featherweight career in 1943, but only fought at welterweight from 1946. He stepped into the limelight when he beat Tommy Bell and after a defeat in the first duel was able to defeat the world lightweight champion Ike Williams twice .

He was allowed to challenge world champion Sugar Ray Robinson on July 11, 1949 , who had already defeated him in a non-title fight on points, but was again without a chance.

When Robinson, who was almost unbeatable in the welterweight division, moved up to the middleweight division and Johnny Bratton won the vacant NBA title, Kid Gavilán was able to beat this on May 18, 1951 on points. He became the undisputed world champion on February 2, 1952 with an early win against Bobby Dykes .

He defended the title over the next few years against the hard-hitting Gil Turner, Billy Graham , Chuck Davey , Carmen Basilio and Bratton.

He also beat Rocky Castellani , Beau Jack , Tony Janiro, Joe Miceli, Ralph Jones, won three times and lost to Billy Graham once. In what was perceived as a misjudgment, he lost his title to Carl "Bobo" Olson on April 2, 1954. In October 1954 he fought against Johnny Saxton one last time for the world championship, but lost on points. He continued to box until 1958, but his heyday was over after his loss to Saxon.

In 1990 Kid Gavilán was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame .

Web links

• Kid Gavilán in the BoxRec database
• Hall of Fame Biography (English)