National Hispanic Heritage Month is here, and there is no doubt that one of the sports most heavily influenced by athletes of Hispanic descent is boxing. What better time to take a look back through the fight game’s history to honor some of these Latino and Hispanic greats.

Legendary boxing champions have come from several Latin-American countries, including Panama and Mexico. We will try to honor many of them in our list of the top 10 all-time greatest.

Who was the first Hispanic Boxing Champion?

A young Panamanian boxer known as Panama Al Brown was the first Hispanic world champion in boxing history. He won his first title in 1929, claiming the vacant NYSAC bantamweight title, and made a real name for himself fighting in Paris, France, during the prime of his career.

Brown was an Afro-Panamanian who dealt with a lot of racism during his boxing career, but there was no doubt that the tall bantamweight was a superstar in his era.

Sadly, Brown ended up extremely poor, as many fighters did at that time. Having moved to New York, he struggled to find work and passed away penniless at age of 48, following a battle with tuberculosis. Brown will always be remembered as a super fighter who recorded 131 career wins.

Current Hispanic Boxers

There are several excellent Latino boxers fighting today, starting with Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez, who is not only the best active boxer of Hispanic descent, but also one of the best fighters of all time.

Alvarez has won world championships in four separate weight classes. He made history when he became the first and only boxer to be crowned the undisputed champion of the super middleweight class, having claimed the WBA, WBC, and Ring magazine titles.

Canelo Alvarez didn’t make the top 10 list below, but that’s only because he has not yet finished his boxing career. When that career eventually ends, he will undoubtedly be listed as one of the greatest Mexican and Latino boxing legends.

Juan Francisco Estrada of Mexico is an elite-level super flyweight who has had some top-tier victories in his weight class. With 44 wins with 28 KOs, he is considered one of the very best pound-for-pound boxers in the world.

Other current boxers of Hispanic descent include Mexico’s Mauricio Lara, Luis Nery, and the dominant Emanuel Navarette, one of the world’s very best super featherweights in 2023.

Famous Hispanic Boxers

In the modern era, Canelo Alvarez is certainly one of the best-known boxers. He is not only a big hit in Mexico, but a very popular fighter around the world with a huge social media following thanks to his immense success in the ring. Boxing fans have enjoyed following his career thus far, and he is far from finished.

Before Alvaraz, there were the likes of Roberto Duran and Julio Cesar Chavez, the latter of whom was nicknamed “The Great Mexican Champion” due to his success as one of the best Latino boxers of the 1990s.

Honorable Mentions

Narrowing this list down to the all-time top 10 boxers of Hispanic heritage wasn’t easy. A few great fighters missed out, including Oscar De La Hoya and Carlos Zarate.

Both of these men had superb boxing careers. De La Hoya, an American, is among the most famous of all Hispanic boxers, and was dubbed the “Golden Boy of Boxing” when he represented the U.S. at the 1992 Olympic Games.

De La Hoya won the 1992 gold medal at Barcelona, Spain, an event that was huge for both the sport of boxing and for De La Hoya himself because his mother had wished her son would win gold one day before she died. He remains the most famous Mexican-American in boxing history.

Carlos Zarate was one of the greats of the 1970s and 1980s and one of the most dangerous Mexican-born fighters of all time. Some 63 of Zarate’s 66 career wins were knockouts, making him one of the best knockout artists in boxing history.

Ranking the 10 Most Influential Hispanic Boxers of all Time

10. Juan Manuel Marquez

Nationality: Mexico
Career Span: 1993 to 2014
Career Record: 56-7-1
Weight Classes: Featherweight, Super Featherweight, Lightweight, Light Welterweight, Welterweight
Awards and Honors: International Boxing Hall of Fame (2020)
Championship Belts: IBF Featherweight, WBA Featherweight, WBC Super Featherweight, The Ring Lightweight, WBA Lightweight
Title Defenses: 7

Juan Manuel Marquez, nicknamed “Dynamita,” spent 20 years in professional boxing, claiming a total of nine major world title belts across four weight classes.

His success made him the third Mexican boxer to win titles in four classes, following both Erik Morales and Jorge Arce. Dynamita’s quick hands, combinations, and counters made him an exhilarating boxer to watch, and his fights were never short of action because he had so much speed at his disposal.

He boasted seven title defenses, with four ending in knockouts. Among those victories, some of the most unforgettable fights in recent history stand out, most notably a grueling four-fight battle with Manny Pacquiao, a topic worthy of its own article.

Juan Manuel Marquez was recently inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2020, where he joined an elite list as one of the best Hispanic boxers of all time.

9. Erik Morales

Nationality: Mexico
Career Span: 1993 to 2012
Career Record: 52-9
Weight Classes: Super Bantamweight, Featherweight, Super Featherweight, Lightweight, Light Welterweight, Welterweight
Awards and Honors: International Boxing Hall of Fame (2018)
Championship Belts: WBC Super Bantamweight, WBO Super Bantamweight, WBC Featherweight, WBC Super Featherweight, IBF Super Featherweight, WBC Super Lightweight
Title Defenses: 13

Erik Morales had a storied boxing career that saw him take down many of the world's greatest fighters.

The Mexican fought across six weight classes and became the first man from his country to win titles at four separate weights. He defeated 15 world champions throughout his highly-decorated career.

Morales was 52-9 with 36 knockouts as a professional. Nicknamed “El Terrible,” he was mentored from a young age by his father, who had also been a professional fighter.

The Mexican star had many great bouts, but he is most notably recognized for his trilogy of fights against with both Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera.

8. Kid Chocolate

Nationality: Cuba
Career Span: 1927 to 1938
Career Record: 136-10-6
Weight Class: Super Featherweight
Awards and Honors: International Boxing Hall of Fame (1991)
Championship Belts: World Jr. Lightweight Championship
Title Defenses: 2

“Kid Chocolate,” whose birth name was Eligio Sardinas Montalvo, was one of the world's most successful boxers during the 1920s and 1930s.

In that era, he won 136 fights, experiencing only 10 defeats and settling for six draws. An impressive 51 of his wins came by knockout. A super featherweight fighter, he claimed the World Junior Lightweight Championship in 1931 -- accomplishing his dream of becoming the first ever Cuban world boxing champion.

Kid Chocolate is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and one of the earliest stars of the sport who came from Hispanic descent. He traveled Europe for professional fights, including appearances in Barcelona, Madrid, and Paris. After coming out his first retirement, he went on to win 47 of his next 50 fights.

Sadly, it is believed that he was ignored by the powers of boxing during the later years of his career and denied another title shot despite his superb record. He undoubtedly influenced generations of Cuban fighters who came after him.

7. Jose Napoles

Nationality: Mexico
Career Span: 1958 to 1976
Career Record: 81-7
Weight Classes: Welterweight, Middleweight
Awards and Honors: International Boxing Hall of Fame (1990)
Championship Belts: WBA, WBC, & The Ring Welterweight
Title Defenses: 13

Jose Napoles was a Cuban-born Mexican pro boxer who fought his way to not one but two undisputed welterweight championships.

Napoles held the WBA, WBC, and The Ring titles in his weight class from 1969 to 1975 and is considered one of the greatest welterweights of all time for his dominance during those years.

He had 14 unified championship bout wins during his career, tying him with Muhammad Ali for the second-most all time behind only Vladimir Klitschko, who managed 15.

As one of the all-time greats, Jose Napoles was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He had 88 professional fights, posting a record of 81-7.

6. Alexis Arguello

Nationality: Nicaragua
Career Span: 1968 to 1995
Career Record: 77-8
Weight Classes: Bantamweight, Featherweight, Super Featherweight, Lightweight, Light Welterweight
Awards and Honors: International Boxing Hall of Fame (1992)
Championship Belts: WBA Featherweight, The Ring Featherweight, WBC Super Featherweight, WBC Lightweight, The Ring Featherweight
Title Defenses: 16

Alexis Arguello was a heavily experienced Nicaraguan boxer, who won titles in three weight classes over the course of his career.

He first claimed the WBA featherweight title in November 1974 and held it until June 1976. He won it in stunning fashion -- with a title challenge against Ruben Olivares at The Forum in California. That fight made it to the 13th round, when both fighters landed powerful left hooks at the same time. Arguello was impacted by the punch he took, but the one he delivered sent Olivares to the mat, and he was counted out.

Having held the featherweight championship for nearly three years, Arguello eventually progressed to super featherweight, where he won again – holding that title between 1978 and 1980. He then once again stepped up a class, and won his third different title by claiming the WBC lightweight belt in 1981.

The former champ never lost a world title belt in the ring – only vacating his titles to chase championships in other weight classes. Arguello fought across four decades, and is considered one of the best Latino boxers of all time.

5. Wilfred Benitez

Nationality: Puerto Rican/American
Career Span: 1973 to 1990
Career Record: 53-8-1
Weight Classes: Light Welterweight, Welterweight, Light Middleweight
Awards and Honors: International Boxing Hall of Fame (1996)
Championship Belts: WBC Super Welterweight, WBC Welterweight, The Ring Welterweight, WBA Super Lightweight, The Ring Super Lightweight
Title Defenses: 5

Wilfred Benitez is well known to fight fans as the youngest world champion in the history of boxing. An American-born Puerto Rican, Benitez won his first world title at the age of 17.

Benitez's historic rise to his first belt, the WBA light welterweight championship, was frankly absurd. As a 17-year-old kid -- with his high school classmates in attendance for the title fight -- he faced 30-year-old experienced champion Antonio Cervantes.

Cervantes had 74 career wins at the time, but Benitez defeated him in a 15-round decision. It was no fluke, either. He defended that title three times and later moved up the welterweight division, where he would win again.

Benitez ultimately won titles in three weight classes, making him the youngest three-time world champion in boxing history. He won his third title in the WBC Super Welterweight division, when he challenged and knocked out Maurice Hope in a major event at Las Vegas.

Benitez's career rise was monumental, and while he tailed off a little toward the end of his fighting days, he is still a Hall of Famer, having joined the International Hall in 1996.

4. Salvador Sanchez

Nationality: Mexico
Career Span: 1975 to 1982
Career Record: 44-1-1
Weight Classes: Bantamweight, Featherweight
Awards and Honors: International Boxing Hall of Fame (1991)
Championship Belts: WBC Featherweight, The Ring Featherweight
Title Defenses: 9

Salvador Sanchez’s professional boxing career began when he was just 16 years old. He quickly climbed the ranks by racking up wins. That led to a matchup with Mexican bantamweight champion Antonio Becerra in Sanchez’s 19th professional fight.

That fight turned out to be the only loss of Sanchez's professional career. It was a split-decision loss -- one in which the champion proved a little too experienced for the young rising star.

From that point on, Sanchez learned from his mistakes. He held both the WBC and The Ring title belts from 1980 to 1982, when he was tragically killed in a car accident in Mexico.

Sanchez was only 32 when he died, and many believe that had a tragedy not occurred, he would have gone on to be the greatest featherweight boxer of all time.

Sanchez's career record was 44-1-1 with 32 knockouts.

3. Carlos Monzon

Nationality: Argentina
Career Span: 1963 to 1977
Career Record: 87-3-9
Weight Class: Middleweight
Awards and Honors: International Boxing Hall of Fame (1990)
Championship Belts: WBA, WBC and The Ring Middleweight
Title Defenses: 14

Carlos Monzon claimed the middleweight title belt in 1970 with a knockout win over another Hall of Famer, Nino Benvenuti. He would then go on to defend that title 14 times, establishing a division record that still stands today.

The Argentine fighter defeated Emile Griffith twice, won a rematch against Benvenuti, and recorded wins over Bennie Briscoe and fellow Latino Hall of Famer Jose Napoles.

Monzon’s run at the top was one of the greatest we’ve ever seen, and some boxing fans could make a case for him to rank No. 1 on this list.

One of the best Hispanic middleweight boxers in history, Monzon was undefeated over the final 13 years of his career. He won 81 straight bouts before retiring and is now a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

While he was a superb boxer, Monzon’s life outside of the ring was troubled. He was convicted of the 1988 murder of his partner and mother of his son and sentenced to 11 years in prison. On Jan. 8, 1995, Monzon died in a car accident while on a weekend furlough during his prison term.

2. Julio Cesar Chavez

Nationality: Mexico
Career Span: 1980 to 2005
Career Record: 107-6-2
Weight Classes: Super Featherweight, Lightweight, Light Welterweight, Welterweight
Awards and Honors: International Boxing Hall of Fame (2011)
Championship Belts: WBC Super Featherweight, WBA Lightweight, WBC Lightweight, The Ring Lightweight, WBC Super Lightweight, IBF Super Lightweight
Title Defenses: 27

What a career Julio Cesar Chavez had. The Mexican-born boxer spent 25 years in the ring, and earned every bit of his first title when he took down Mario Martinez via knockout in 1984.

At the time, Chavez was 43-0, and that WBA super featherweight title was only his first. He would go on to claim the WBA lightweight title in 1987, and add the WBC version a year later in 1988 after beating Jose Luiz Ramirez.

The Mexican managed 12 straight title defenses, including wins over Hector Camacho and Greg Haugen in what was one of the biggest fights of an entire generation.

He would finally suffer his first defeat in 1994, when his pro record stood at 89-0-1. On Jan. 29, 1994, Chavez lost the WBC junior welterweight title to Frankie Randall. Unsatisfied, he reclaimed his title in the rematch and held it until he lost it a second time to Oscar De La Hoya in 1996.

A brutally aggressive fighter, Chavez was always on the attack -- often overwhelming his opponents. He is a legendary figure in Mexico and one of the greatest Boxing Hall of Famers of all time. He retired with a professional record of 107-6-2.

1. Roberto Duran

Nationality: Panama
Career Span: 1968 to 2001
Career Record: 103-16
Weight Classes: Super Featherweight, Lightweight, Light Welterweight, Welterweight, Light Middleweight, Middleweight, Super Middleweight
Awards and Honors: International Boxing Hall of Fame (2006)
Championship Belts: WBA Lightweight, WBC Lightweight, The Ring Lightweight, WBC Welterweight, The Ring Welterweight, WBA Light Middleweight, WBC Middleweight
Title Defenses: 12

The man with the “Hands of Stone,” Roberto Duran, is largely considered the greatest Latino boxer in the sport’s history. He was born in Panama in 1951, made his professional boxing debut in 1968, and went on to fight in five different decades.

Duran’s professional boxing career lasted from 1968 to 2001, which is incredible in itself. His ability to win titles in four separate weight classes during those 33 years makes his story 100 times more interesting.

He earned his first championship at Madison Square Garden in 1972 when he TKO'd Ken Buchanan in 13 rounds for the WBA lightweight championship. He would go on to successfully defend that title 12 times, marking one of the most successful and inspirational runs in the history of the division.

Duran then moved up a weight class to challenge the iconic Sugar Ray Leonard for the WBC welterweight belt on June 20, 1980. Duran achieved one of his most legendary wins in that 15-round fight, which ended with a unanimous decision. That lifted Duran’s career record to 72-1. Unfortunately, he did not fare as well in the rematch just five months later, when Leonard won by TKO in what is famously remembered as the “No Mas” fight.

He won titles everywhere he went and in whichever weight class he chose. When he eventually retired, Duran had a professional record of 103-16 with 70 knockouts. Most of those victories had come late in his career.

Duran is the all-time greatest boxer of Hispanic descent as well as one of the greatest boxing legends of our time.

Parameters for Ranking

These all-time great Hispanic boxers have been ranked based on their success in the ring and influence on the sport. They are all champions in their own right, and each fighter has a well-deserved place in the Hall of Fame.

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