Carlos Teo Rosario Cruz (November 4, 1937 – February 15, 1970) was a boxer from the Dominican Republic. Cruz was world lightweight champion from 1968 to 1969. He is the older brother of former super bantamweight world champion of boxing, Leo Cruz.

Amateur career Cruz claimed he didn't put on his first pair of boxing gloves until his 20th birthday. He fought as an amateur from 1957 to 1959, posting a 14–3 record.

Personal Cruz's father, Francisco Rosario Almonte was an army officer in the Dominican military. Cruz met his wife, Mildred Ortiz in the town of Río Piedras in Puerto Rico. They were married in 1961 when Ortiz was 24 years old. Cruz had two children.

Cruz's younger brother, Leo Cruz, went on to become a world champion.

Pro career He started his career as a professional boxer with a loss, being defeated by decision in eight rounds by Juan José Jiménez, October 23 of 1959 in Santo Domingo. His first win came on December 3 of that year, also in Santo Domingo, with a ten-round decision win over Rafael Acevedo.

After one more win in Santo Domingo, he moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico. There, he posted a record of 7 wins and 2 losses before returning to Santo Domingo in 1962. Out of the 7 wins in Puerto Rico during that era, 5 were by knockout. In his return to Santo Domingo, he posted a decision win over Acevedo in a rematch. Towards the end of 1962, he started campaigning in the United States, particularly in New York. There, he boxed 5 times before returning to San Juan for another bout. He won 4 and drew 1 of those fights, all wins by decision.

He spent the first half of 1964 touring Australia, where he won 2 fights and lost one. He lost on points to Graham Dicker in Brisbane, stopped Guizani Rezgui in Sydney and outpointed Gilberto Biondi in Melbourne. Then he returned to Latin America, his first fight after arriving from Australia being a major step up in quality of opposition for him: In Caracas, he met fellow world champion boxer Carlos Morocho Hernández. He was knocked out in four rounds by Hernandez. On to Panama City, where he lost a ten-round decision to Julio Ruiz. He finished his year by beating Marcos Morales, a boxer of Puerto Rico during this era, at Santo Domingo.

In 1965, he was undefeated. He fought in St. Croix, in Mayagüez, in Caguas and in London among other places. He won all ten of his bouts that year.

He won 8 bouts, lost 1 and drew 1 in 1966. He drew with Jaime Valladares in Quito, and lost to Frankie Narvaez in San Juan. But he also beat former world title challenger Bunny Grant. In 1967, he avenged his loss to Narvaez, and went undefeated the rest of the year, securing his position as the world's number one challenger among Lightweights.

He won three more fights to begin 1968, and then, on June 29 in Santo Domingo, he was given his first chance to challenge for a world title. He became world Lightweight champion when he defeated Carlos Ortiz by a decision in fifteen rounds.

He defended the world title with a fifteen-round decision over Mando Ramos in Los Angeles, and then, he closed the year by winning a non-title bout in Tokyo, also by decision, in ten.

There was a rematch between Cruz and Ramos, also held in Los Angeles. The second time around, Ramos became world Lightweight champion by beating Cruz with an eleventh-round knockout. Cruz went on to win his next three bouts of 1969.

On January 17 of 1970, Cruz won his last fight. He beat Benito Juarez in San Juan by a decision in ten, and then returned to Santo Domingo.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes57Win Benito JuarezUD10Jan 17, 1970 56Win41–13–2 Victor MelendezUD10Oct 20, 1969 55Win40–13–2 Len KeseyTKO4 (10)Oct 3, 1969 54Win39–13–2 Grady PonderPTS10Aug 9, 1969 53Loss38–13–2 Mando RamosTKO11 (15)Feb 18, 1969 52Win38–12–2 Hidemori TsujimotoUD10Dec 19, 1968 51Win37–12–2 Mando RamosUD15Sep 27, 1968 50Win36–12–2 Carlos OrtizSD15Jun 29, 1968 49Win35–12–2 Julio VieraUD10Apr 15, 1968 48Win34–12–2 Johnny BeanTKO2 (10)Mar 3, 1968 47Win33–12–2 Chris FernandezKO9 (10)Jan 1, 1968 46Win32–12–2 Kennedy ClarkUD10Dec 11, 1967 45Win31–12–2 Grady PonderPTS10Jun 23, 1967 44Win30–12–2 Frankie NarvaezPTS10May 5, 1967 43Loss29–12–2 Frankie NarvaezSD10Dec 12, 1966 42Win29–11–2 Fernand Simard RTD10Oct 1, 1966 41Win28–11–2 Vicente Milan DeradoSD10Aug 20, 1966 40Win27–11–2 Bunny GrantUD10May 7, 1966 39Draw26–11–2 Jaime ValladaresPTS10Apr 2, 1966 38Win26–11–1 Vicente Milan DeradoPTS10Sep 4, 1965 37Win25–11–1 Jose Chico VelizPTS10Aug 14, 1965 36Win24–11–1 Frankie TaylorPTS10Jul 6, 1965 35Win23–11–1 Daniel BerriosKO1 (10)Jun 18, 1965 34Win22–11–1 Alejandro ParraTKO4 (10)Apr 3, 1965 33Win21–11–1 Criscencio FernandezKO3 (10)Feb 19, 1965 32Win20–11–1 Marcos MoralesTKO2 (10)Dec 12, 1964 31Loss19–11–1 Julio RuizMD10Sep 20, 1964 30Loss19–10–1 Carlos Morocho HernándezTKO2 (10)Jun 1, 1964 29Win19–9–1 Gilberto BiondiPTS12Mar 6, 1964 28Win18–9–1 Guizani RezguiTKO11 (12)Mar 2, 1964 27Loss17–9–1 Graham DickerPTS12Feb 14, 1964 26Loss17–8–1 Vicente Milan DeradoPTS10Nov 1, 1963 25Win17–7–1 Johnny BeanPTS10Jul 6, 1963 24Win16–7–1 George FosterPTS8Mar 2, 1963 23Win15–7–1 Roland KellemUD8Feb 5, 1963 22Win14–7–1 Calvin WoodlandPTS6Jan 12, 1963 21Win13–7–1 Candy ParillaPTS6Dec 18, 1962 20Draw12–7–1 Freddie JacksonPTS6Nov 24, 1962 19Win12–7 Sammy BurgessPTS10Sep 14, 1962 18Win11–7 Alejandro GonzalezPTS6Jun 1, 1962 17Win10–7 Rafael AcevedoUD12Feb 17, 1962 16Win9–7 Jose AneiroTKO8 (8)Jan 15, 1962 15Win8–7 Lionel RiveraTKO8 (10)Oct 17, 1961 14Loss7–7 Daniel BerriosPTS4Aug 29, 1961 13Win7–6 Gerardo ClementePTS8Aug 26, 1961 12Loss6–6 Vernon LynchPTS10May 26, 1961 11Loss6–5 Daniel BerriosDQ2 (10)Feb 24, 1961 10Win6–4 Gerardo ClementeTKO10 (10)Nov 25, 1960 9Loss5–4 Daniel BerriosPTS10Sep 16, 1960 8Win5–3 Lionel RiveraPTS10Sep 2, 1960 7Loss4–3 Marcos MoralesSD10Jul 5, 1960 6Win4–2 Bob AshfordKO3 (6)Jun 11, 1960 5Win3–2 Estaquio GonzalezTKO5 (6)May 29, 1960 4Loss2–2 Daniel BerriosPTS10May 6, 1960 3Win2–1 Jesus M SerranoPTS6Mar 26, 1960 2Win1–1 Rafael AcevedoPTS10Dec 3, 1959 1Loss0–1 Juan JimenezPTS8Oct 23, 1959

Titles in boxing Major world titles WBA lightweight champion (135 lbs) WBC lightweight champion (135 lbs)

The Ring magazine titles The Ring lightweight champion (135 lbs)

Undisputed titles Undisputed lightweight champion

Death On February 15, 1970, Cruz was flying back to San Juan alongside his family for a fight against Roger Zami,Crash stills title hopes when their Dominicana de Aviación DC-9 plane crashed into the waters of the Caribbean shortly after take-off, killing Cruz, his wife and two children, along with all other passengers and crew on board, which included the coach and eleven players of the Puerto Rico women's national volleyball team.

See also List of world lightweight boxing champions

References

External links