Leo Gamez: The Invisible Four Division Champ
By Mike “Rubber Warrior” Plunkett
The proliferation of sanctioning bodies and “world titles” has done much to blur the overall landscape of our sport over the last quarter century. Gone are the days of one recognized championship. Now it has come down to a handful of recognized “major world titles” and the remote chance that somewhere down the line the stars will come together and the money will materialize for a unification, or even partial unification match to determine on some level, just who is the champion in a given division.
Of course even in this day and age winning a major world title is still a considerable feat. Recently, while expanding on the unique talent that is Manny Pacquiao after he managed to his fourth major world title in as many weight classes, I took the liberty to point out that all but a handful of pugilists manage to ascend such a steep slope. Despite all of the alphabet soup marring the clarity of our time-honored sport, only a select few manage to reach the summit. Going further, I pointed-out that winning a second major world title, or even a third or fourth, in as many weight classes was an even more difficult and unlikely feat. To many, this issue may come down to old fashioned hair-splitting and maybe even some microscope work, but the odds suggest it takes considerably more than just some good connections, timing and a considerable dose of good luck. I hold that there has to be a degree of greatness involved.
Over the course of writing that article, I decided to review the short list of those special fighters that have managed a fourth world title in a fourth weight class in order to add context to Pacquiao’s recent feat. I have for a long time considered myself a fairly knowledgeable individual when it comes to boxing, but I have to admit a raised eyebrow when I came across the name of Leo Gamez. Like Manny, Gamez managed to win four major world titles in four different weight classes. A former world Flyweight champion, Gamez became the first Flyweight boxer in history to win world titles in four different divisions. Even more amazingly, he managed to do it ever so quietly, right under our noses!
Born in Venezuela and fighting out of the orthodox stance, Leo Gamez embarked upon his unlikely career with a four round decision on Valentine’s Day in 1985. In April that same year, he got his second victory, another four round points win, this time over Alcides Hernandez, also in Maracay. With those two wins, the diminutive “Torito” had scored six consecutive knockout wins, including two over Rafael Lara, and one in his first fight outside Maracay, held in August at El Guayabo, where he beat Jose Escorcia in the fourth round. In November of 1986, he would go on to beat Escorcia’s brother, Alberto, also by knockout in four rounds, at Maracaibo.
On February 2 of 1987, he suffered his first career blemish when he was held to a two round technical draw by Rafael Bolivar, at Maracay. On April 30, Gamez received his first shot at a title, when he faced Pedro Nieves for the National Light Flyweight title. Gamez won the championship with a second round knockout. He defended the title once and won a handful of non-title bouts before reducing weight in order to get his first world championship opportunity.
On January 10, 1988, Gamez fought for the vacant WBA Minimumweight Title against Bong Jun Kim. In what also was his first fight abroad, “Torito” became a world champion for the first time when he outpointed Kim over twelve rounds in South Korea. He had several managerial problems after that, however, and he was able to defend that title only once, knocking out Kenji Yokozawa in three rounds in Japan. After the win, Gamez took an extended layoff after suffering an arm injury in the gym, a layoff that would last some eighteen months.
On October 29, 1989, Gamez returned to active ring duty, dispatching Victoriano Hernandez in five rounds. After another win, he attempted to win the WBA Light Flyweight Title against Myung-Woo Yuh, once again, in South Korea. Gamez lost a controversial twelve round split-decision; many fans and observers thought he deserved the win, and the WBA ordered an immediate rematch. On November 10 of that same year, he would again fight Woo Yuh in South Korea, losing this time by a more clear-cut twelve round unanimous verdict.
Disillusioned, “Torito” was inactive for the better part of a year. Having been promised a title try by the WBA, he returned to active ring duty in South Korea, where he moved-up to 112 pounds to challenge WBA Flyweight champ Yong Kang Kim, losing by unanimous decision. This time undaunted at the setback, Gamez won four before once again dropping weight in order to challenge for a world title.
His third try at the WBA Light Flyweight Title, which was vacant after Woo Yuh’s retirement, came on November 21, 1993, against Shiro Yashiro, in Tokyo. Knocking Yashiro out in nine rounds, “Torito” had clinched his second world title in a second weight class.
He defended the title successfully three times, with fights in Panama and Thailand, before losing it to Hi Yong Choi on February 4 of 1995, once again in Korea. His first opportunity at joining the elite group of fighters who have won world championships in three different divisions, and his second attempt at becoming a major world flyweight champion came on March 24, 1996, when he challenged Saen Sor Ploenchit for the WBA Flyweight Title in Thailand. Gamez failed, dropping a twelve round split decision to Ploenchit.
Leo Gamez joined the exclusive group of champions to win titles in three or more divisions, when he knocked out defending WBA Flyweight champion Hugo Rafael Soto in the third round on March 13, 1999. The fight, held at New York’s Madison Square Garden, also marked his debut as a professional fighter in the United States.
In May 2000, he won the WBA “interim” Super Flyweight Championship by knocking out former WBO Light Flyweight champion Josue Camacho in the fifth round at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was not generally considered to be a four division world champion, however, because the WBA had conditioned their recognition of him as the Super Flyweight Champion on either one of two things happening: the real champion, Hideki Todaka, would have to decide to leave his place as champion or “Torito” would have to beat him in a match in order for to be recognized as champion.
In and about this period of time, Gamez lost his WBA Flyweight Title to Sornpichai Kratingdaengym by knockout over eight brutal rounds in Thailand. It marked the first time he had lost by stoppage to that point in his up and down career. As fate would have it, Gamez received an opportunity to solidify his status as WBA Super Flyweight champion when the official champion the aforementioned Hideki Todaka, agreed to defend against him in October 2000.
Once again, Gamez defied the odds and made boxing history, stopping the gallant Todaka in seven torrid rounds, winning the WBA Super Flyweight Title and becoming a four division champion in the process. In doing so, he joined that small but extremely elite group of fighters that have won world titles in four different classes, becoming the first among them to have at one time have held the world Flyweight Title, while proudly being the first to represent Venezuela at such an elite level.
As previous portions of his career had gone, so did too his first title defense, held in March of 2001 in Yokohama, Japan, losing the crown by a twelfth round knockout to Celes Kobayashi. Despite the emphatic setback and his increasing years, “Torito” was determined to squeeze every last drop out of his youth, drive and experience when he attempted to join the very exclusive group of fighters to win world titles in five weight classes when he challenged and ultimately lost to WBA Bantamweight Champion Johnny Bredahl by a telling twelve round unanimous decision, in November 2002, in Denmark. The writing was on the wall.
After two more decision losses, including one in a rematch with former foe Hideki Todaka, Leo decided to retire for good from boxing with a record of 35-12-1 (26 KO) in an outstanding if unlikely career that spanned eighteen years.
Some purists would have you believe that the competition from the minimumweight class up through super flyweight wasn’t akin to today’s welterweight ranks, or the middleweight ranks of our sport’s “Golden Era”. Others would point out the relatively small disparity in poundage between some of the lower weight classes, or that his preferred sanctioning body of choice seemed to be the World Boxing Association, but the fact remains that “Torito” managed the very unlikely in a career that had more than its share of letdowns and setbacks.
If anything, I believe Leo “Torito” Gamez was an overachiever of the highest order. I don’t believe he lucked his way into opportunity or that he was in the right place filling-in at the right time, like Iran “The Blade” Barkley. Lightning simply doesn’t strike that many times. I believe that Leo Gamez optimized his standing over a long and often torrid career by quietly pursuing his dream in the dank confines of decaying South American boxing gyms, looking to squeeze every last ounce of his talent and unwavering drive out of his diminutive frame, paying his dues along the way.
He didn’t have the supernatural gifts of a prime Muhammad Ali, the athleticism of a young Roy Jones JR or the uncanny radar of “The Pretty Boy”. The setbacks and disappointments would almost have certainly ruined most any other fighter, yet “Torito” persevered. That was his greatness. It is here, I believe, that Leo “Torito” Gamez proved his greatness over time; the unwavering desire to win and to achieve. On that front there is no doubt that he deserves to be ranked among the rare greats that are four-division champs.