Armando Ramos (November 15, 1948 – July 6, 2008) was an American professional boxer and the former Undisputed Lightweight Champion. He was born in Long Beach, California. Armando "Mando" Ramos was one of the most popular fighters in Southern California during the 1960s. Ramos was an outstanding amateur.

Professional career Mando Ramos turned pro at age 17 using a forged birth certificate. Mando went on to fight the main event at the Olympic Auditorium by his 8th pro fight. At the age of 18 Mando defeated the reigning Jr. Lightweight Champ, Japan's Hiroshi Kobayashi, in a non-title bout. When offered a re-match for the title, Ramos refused to fight for a 'Junior' title.

World Lightweight Champion He demanded to fight dangerous Lightweight Champ Carlos Ortiz—Ortiz, who had dominated the division for over a decade. Negotiations were in place, but Ortiz was upset by 'Teo' Cruz and so Ramos took the fight to the new champ, narrowly losing in a decision. Ramos won the re-match via KO to become the youngest Lightweight Champion in history. Cruz would only live 11 more months. He died in a plane crash in January 1970 alongside the Puerto Rican national women's volleyball team at the Dominicana DC-9 air disaster.

When a Mando Ramos fight was held in Los Angeles, movie stars such as John Wayne, Bill Cosby, Kirk Douglas, Liz Taylor and Connie Stevens attended . Women caught Mandomania, and Hollywood loved 'The Wonder Boy'.

Trained by Hall of Fame trainer Jackie McCoy, Ramos fought ten World title fights, was a two-time champion and earned millions of dollars. Whilst Mickey Mantle and Joe Namath earned 100k per season, Ramos was earning 100k per fight. He was the world's highest paid teenager and his purses were larger than anyone but Muhammad Ali's. McCoy stated Mando was the most naturally talented fighter he had ever seen in his life.

Retirement Tough fights, drugs, and alcohol put the brakes on his career. By age 24 Ramos was out of boxing. With the aid of his wife, Sylvia Van Hecke, Ramos became clean and sober over his last three decades. He founded a non-profit youth organization---B.A.A.D.--boxing against alcohol and drugs— and coached, mentored, and trained inner-city at-risk youths.

Mando Ramos died suddenly at his home in San Pedro, California on July 6, 2008.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateAgeLocationNotes49Loss Wayne BealeTKO2 (10)Oct 29, 1975 48Win37–10–1 Antonio LeyvaTKO7 (10)Oct 15, 1975 47Win36–10–1 Tony MartinezUD10Sep 2, 1975 46Loss35–10–1 Tony MartinezSD 10Jul 30, 1975 45Loss35–9–1 Wolfgang GansTKO5 (?)Jul 12, 1974 44Loss35–8–1 Wolfgang GansKO2 (?)Jun 3, 1974 43Win35–7–1 Arpad MagyarKO4 (?)May 16, 1974 42Win34–7–1 Mi Whan KimTKO2 (8)May 10, 1974 41Draw33–7–1 Jaroslav TravnikPTS8May 4, 1974 40Loss33–7 Arturo PinedaTKO5 (10)Aug 9, 1973 39Loss33–6 Chango CarmonaTKO8 (15)Sep 15, 1972 38Win33–5 Pedro CarrascoSD15Jun 28, 1972 37Win32–5 Pedro CarrascoSD15Feb 18, 1972 36Loss31–5 Pedro CarrascoDQ12 (15)Nov 5, 1971 35Win31–4 Ruben NavarroUD10Sep 30, 1971 34Win30–4 Raul RojasTKO6 (10)Dec 10, 1970 33Win29–4 Sugar RamosSD10Aug 6, 1970 32Loss28–4 Ismael LagunaTKO9 (15)Mar 3, 1970 31Win28–3 Raton PalaciosUD10Jan 13, 1970 30Win27–3 Yoshiaki NumataKO6 (15)Oct 4, 1969 29Win26–3 Jerry GraciTKO7 (10)May 20, 1969 28Win25–3 Carlos Teo CruzTKO11 (15)Feb 18, 1969 27Win24–3 Beau JaynesTKO2 (10)Dec 12, 1968 26Win23–3 Billy ColemanTKO3 (10)Oct 29, 1968 25Loss22–3 Carlos Teo CruzUD15Sep 27, 1968 24Win22–2 Hiroshi KobayashiUD10Jun 20, 1968 23Win21–2 Phil GarciaKO9 (10)May 2, 1968 22Win20–2 Frankie CrawfordUD10Feb 1, 1968 21Loss19–2 Frankie CrawfordMD10Oct 5, 1967 20Win19–1 Eliseo EstradaTKO5 (10)Sep 14, 1967 19Win18–1 Alex LunaTKO2 (10)Aug 15, 1967 18Loss17–1 Kang Il SuhUD10Jul 6, 1967 17Win17–0 Len KeseyTKO5 (10)Jun 22, 1967 16Win16–0 Pete GonzalezUD10Mar 30, 1967 15Win15–0 Ray EchevarriaUD10Jan 12, 1967 14Win14–0 Al FranklinKO4 (10)Nov 28, 1966 13Win13–0 Al FranklinUD10Nov 17, 1966 12Win12–0 Allen SyersTKO5 (10)Oct 13, 1966 11Win11–0 Jorge Baby SalazarUD10Sep 8, 1966 10Win10–0 Manny LinsonKO2 (10)Aug 11, 1966 9Win9–0 Ray ColemanTKO6 (10)Jul 21, 1966 8Win8–0 Joey AguilarKO8 (10)Jul 7, 1966 7Win7–0 Jerry StevensKO1 (6)Jun 23, 1966 6Win6–0 Bosco BasilioUD6May 12, 1966 5Win5–0 Jose BarreraKO2 (6)Mar 17, 1966 4Win4–0 Fidel CruzKO3 (5)Mar 3, 1966 3Win3–0 Berlin RobertsKO1 (5)Jan 27, 1966 2Win2–0 Chuey LoeraKO4 (4)Dec 2, 1965 1Win1–0 Berlin RobertsPTS5Nov 18, 1965

Titles in boxing Major world titles WBA lightweight champion (135 lbs) WBC lightweight champion (135 lbs) (2×)

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

Undisputed titles Undisputed lightweight champion

See also List of world lightweight boxing champions

References

External links