José Guadalupe Pintor Guzmán (born April 13, 1955), better known as Lupe Pintor, is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1995. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight title from 1979 to 1983 and the WBC super bantamweight title from 1985 to 1986.
Early life and career Lupe Pintor was born into a poor, working-class family in Cuajimalpa, just outside Mexico City in 1955 and is alleged to have had an extremely violent relationship with his father, eventually forcing him to run away. He lived for some time on the city streets and began boxing professionally in 1974.
He opened his account with a second-round knockout of Manuel Vázquez and immediately stepped up to ten round bouts, claiming a decision over Francisco Nunez on his next outing. He suffered his first loss three fights later, when he was disqualified against Magarito Lozano, but claimed victory in his next eight bouts, seven by knockout, including wins over notables Juan Díaz, Rocky Mijares and Willie Jespen.
Pintor first boxed future World Bantamweight Champion Alberto Davila on 25 February 1976, losing a decision over ten rounds, then embarked on a winning streak of some twenty-two fights in a row. Amongst the fighters he beat during this period were Gerald Hayes – who later conquered Juan Laporte – and Antonio Becerra, the only man to get the better of Salvador Sánchez as a professional boxer.
He then travelled to Puerto Rico, where he lost a ten-round decision to Leo Cruz – himself a future world champion. Upon returning to Mexico, Pintor lost for the second time in a row, carelessly dropping a decision to journeyman Jose Luis Soto. Another winning streak, comprising five fights in a row, all by way of knockout and he was ready for a shot at the world title.
World championships
Carlos Zárate, a fellow Mexican boxer, was the reigning champion at the time and is widely regarded as one of the greatest bantamweights in boxing history. Pintor won the boat by a split decision after a closely contested fight in which he was knocked down in the fourth round. The judges' scorecards differed significantly, and the decision has remained controversial.
Pintor was a busy champion and he began his reign by engaging in three non-title bouts, beating Aucencio Melendez by a knockout in the first and avenging his loss to Jose Luis Soto before losing a rematch with Manuel Vázquez by a knockout in six. Then he began to defend his title in earnest, retaining it with a knockout in twelve over Alberto Sandoval in Los Angeles and drawing over fifteen with Eijiro Murata in Tokyo.
His next bout ended tragically. He defended against Johnny Owen of Wales in Los Angeles. Many of the fans present and the authors of The Ring'''s Boxing in The 20th Century, have agreed that the fight should have been stopped during round ten. But it carried on until the close of the twelfth, when Pintor unleashed a savage right-hand, knocking his opponent out cold. Owen failed to regain consciousness, lapsed into a coma and died seven weeks later. This fight was documented in the film Faces of Death II.
Saddened, Pintor – encouraged by Owen's family – resumed his career by avenging his loss to Davila, retaining the title by unanimous decision. He went on to retain the belt against Jose Uziga – again by decision – and Jovito Rengifo, by a knockout in eight. He stopped Hurricane Teru in the fifteenth and final round to close 1981 and began 1982, by retaining the title against Seung-Hoon Lee with an eleventh-round knockout.
Soon after the Lee fight, Pintor vacated his world title and started eyeing the WBC Super Bantamweight crown worn by the great Wilfredo Gómez. Stepping up, he immediately beat former WBA World Bantamweight Champion Jorge Luján and then, on 3 December of that year, he and Gómez met as part of the Carnival of Champions in New Orleans. Showcased on HBO, this duel was subsequently dubbed the division's 'Fight of The Decade' by The Ring'' magazine. But it did not go Pintor's way. Gómez recorded a fourteenth-round knockout and relinquished his own title five months later.
Pintor was inactive throughout 1983. He returned to the ring a year-and-a-half later as a fully-fledged Super Bantamweight defeating Ruben Solorio on 16 February 1984 and busied himself thereafter trying to get another shot at the world title. his perseverance paid off when he was pitted against Juan 'Kid' Meza, the WBC's Super Bantamweight Champion on 18 August 1985. Pintor floored the defending champion three times on the way to collecting a unanimous decision and celebrated his new status as a double world title holder.
His first defense of this new crown did not go to plan. Traveling to Bangkok to meet Samart Payakaroon, Pintor exceeded the division weight limit and was subsequently stripped of his title at the scales. Payakaroon could still become champion if he defeated Pintor but if Pintor won the title would be declared vacant. Payakaroon pounded Pintor to defeat in five rounds and the ex-champion quit fighting for the next eight years.
Pintor made a comeback of sorts in 1994, but at the comparatively advanced age of thirty-eight, he was long past his best. Winning just twice in seven contests over the next eighteen months, he was finally convinced that it was time to retire.
Honors Pintor was named The Ring magazine Comeback of the Year fighter for 1985.
After boxing Pintor opened a boxing school in Mexico City. In 2002, he was invited to Merthyr Tydfil by Johnny Owen's family to help unveil a bronze statue commemorating the boxer's life and career.
In 2008, Pintor reunited with Carlos Zarate and joined Juan Laporte as the three former victims of Wilfredo Gómez showed up at a party dedicated to Gómez for his fiftieth birthday in Puerto Rico.
Pintor, along with Hector Camacho, Hilario Zapata, and several non-boxers, was voted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in December 2015 and inducted in June 2016.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes72Loss56–14–2 Russell MosleyKO2 (10)Jul 21, 199571Loss56–13–2 Rodrigo CerdaPTS10Dec 2, 199470Win56–12–2 Kevin SedamTKO1 (10), Nov 18, 199469Loss55–12–2 Leonardo MasRTD8 (12)Aug 13, 199468Loss55–11–2 Fernando CaicedoUD12Apr 2, 199467Loss55–10–2 Ramon SanchezPTS10Feb 25, 199466Win55–9–2 Carmelo GomezPTS10Jan 14, 199465Loss54–9–2 Samart PayakaroonKO5 (12), Jan 18, 198664Loss54–8–2 Billy WhiteTKO10 (?)Dec 12, 198563Win54–7–2 Juan MezaUD12Aug 18, 198562Draw53–7–2 Javier MarquezSD10Jun 10, 198561Win53–7–1 Eugenio MorganTKO2 (10), Apr 19, 198560Loss52–7–1 Adriano ArreolaTKO7 (10), Jan 17, 198559Win52–6–1 Ronnie GaryTKO6 (10), Jan 1, 198558Win51–6–1 Cleo GarciaKO1 (10), Apr 26, 198457Win50–6–1 Ruben SolorioUD10Feb 16, 198456Loss49–6–1 Wilfredo GómezTKO14 (15), Dec 3, 198255Win49–5–1 Jorge LujánUD10Sep 23, 198254Win48–5–1 Lee Seung-hoonTKO11 (15), Jun 3, 198253Win47–5–1 Hurricane TeruKO15 (15), Sep 22, 198152Win46–5–1 Jovito RengifoTKO8 (15), Jul 26, 198151Win45–5–1 Jose Felix UzigaUD15Feb 22, 198150Win44–5–1 Alberto DávilaMD15Dec 19, 198049Win43–5–1 Johnny OwenKO12 (15), Sep 19, 198048Draw42–5–1 Eijiro MurataSD15Jun 11, 198047Win42–5 Alberto SandovalTKO12 (15)Feb 9, 198046Loss41–5 Manuel VazquezRTD5 (10), Dec 29, 197945Win41–4 Jose Luis SotoPTS10Oct 29, 197944Win40–4 Torito MelendezKO1 (?)Oct 5, 197943Win39–4 Carlos Zárate SernaSD15Jun 3, 197942Win38–4 Rodrigo GonzalezTKO3 (10), May 1, 197941Win37–4 Livio NolascoTKO6 (10), Mar 10, 197940Win36–4 Agustin VegaKO3 (?)Nov 11, 197839Win35–4 Roger BuchelliKO2 (10), Sep 26, 197838Win34–4 Richard RozelleKO5 (10), Jul 18, 197837Loss33–4 Jose Luis SotoPTS10Jun 30, 197836Loss33–3 Leonardo CruzPTS10Apr 22, 197835Win33–2 Antonio BecerraPTS10Mar 31, 197834Win32–2 Gerald HayesUD10Feb 25, 197833Win31–2 Davey VasquezKO2 (10), Jan 30, 197832Win30–2 Joaquin GonzalezKO2 (10)Dec 18, 197731Win29–2 Baby Kid ChocolateKO2 (10), Nov 8, 197730Win28–2 Tony RochaKO4 (10), Oct 8, 197729Win27–2 Andres TorresTKO4 (10), Aug 20, 197728Win26–2 Ramon GuillenKO1 (?)Jul 2, 197727Win25–2 Eduardo LimonKO1 (?)Jun 17, 197726Win24–2 Tranquita BrownKO1 (?)May 20, 197725Win23–2 Gabby CanteraKO7 (?), Apr 12, 197724Win22–2 Orlando AmoresKO1 (?)Mar 11, 197723Win21–2 Evaristo PerezKO1 (?)Feb 26, 197722Win20–2 Babe San MartinTKO7 (10)Jan 29, 197721Win19–2 Jose Angel CazaresKO1 (10)Jan 1, 197720Win18–2 Nacho BeltranKO3 (?)Nov 13, 197619Win17–2 Jose Antonio RosaTKO6 (10), Oct 2, 197618Win16–2 Samuel MachorroPTS10Aug 1, 197617Win15–2 Manuel KillerKO2 (10)Jun 26, 197616Win14–2 Gallito CastroKO1 (?)Jun 2, 197615Win13–2 Jose Luis CruzTKO9 (10)Mar 27, 197614Loss12–2 Alberto DávilaUD10Feb 25, 197613Win12–1 Catalino FloresKO2 (10), Dec 4, 197512Win11–1 Alvaro LopezKO2 (10)Oct 11, 197511Win10–1 Willie JensenKO7 (10), Sep 20, 197510Win9–1 Roberto AlvarezKO1 (10)Jul 25, 19759Win8–1 Rocky MijaresTKO6 (10)Apr 16, 19758Win7–1 Andres ReyesPTS10Mar 10, 19757Win6–1 Martin ValenciaKO6 (?)Feb 19, 19756Win5–1 Juan DiazKO2 (10)Dec 21, 19745Loss4–1 Magallo LozadaDQ4 (?)Oct 16, 19744Win4–0 Salvador MartinezPTS10Sep 10, 19743Win3–0 Manuel CastanedasTKO4 (?)Jul 24, 19742Win2–0 Francisco Javier NunezUD10May 7, 19741Win1–0 Manuel VazquezKO2 (10)Mar 26, 1974
See also List of WBC world champions List of Mexican boxing world champions
References
Sources (i) There are few online accounts of Pintor's upbringing. A sensitive description may however, be located here: . (ii) For an in-depth discussion of Pintor's controversial defeat of Carlos Zarate, see: . (iii) A ring report describing the Owen fight can be found here: . (iv) For more on Pintor's relationship with Johnny Owen's family, see: . (v) For a piece on Pintor's return fight with Albert Davila, go to Boxing Insider . (vi) Details of Pintor's ring record can be found at the Boxing Records Archive: .
External links