Vinny’s Views: In Remembrance of the Immortal Alexis Arguello
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By Vinny “Glory Days” Lucci
July 1st came and went passing into history with a subtle evanescence as just a prelude to the “fourth” and onset of summer. Some hardened fans with encyclopedic memories still remember, but my heart will never forget that transcendent day in in 2009. Alexis Arguello passed on from living legend to ring immortal with the echoing of a single rifle shot inside his living room. The historically proud Nicaraguan lay prone on his couch down for the forever count as his storied three decade career passed into the abyss.
That month in July itself will live in the annals of sports infamy as much as “the day the music died,” back on February 2, 1959 when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson died in a tiny Cessna flying in a blizzard over an Iowa cornfield. On the tragic night while Alexis was murdered in Nicaragua, an isosceles triangle of human depravity clung in the atmosphere of grey skies connecting three ring legends in three different countries over the course of three weeks. On July 11, retired super lightweight champion Arturo Gatti was murdered while vacationing with his wife Amanda Rodriguez in Pernambuco Brazil.
Both crimes scenes of Arguello and Gatti were staged to appear as suicides. Justice in foreign countries is not as expeditious as the United States of America and the faulty police work and tattered evidence has never stood trial leaving nearest of kin, friends, and fans worldwide troubled and broken hearted.
The following week on July 25 current WBC super welterweight champion Vernon Forrest was murdered while gassing up his car in a carjacking gone awry in Atlanta Georgia. Of small consequence but at least giving family closure his killer was brought to justice and given a life sentence.
In memorandum, Ringside Report pays homage to one of the greatest and most charismatic boxers the world has ever known. Alexis Arguello was born to be a fighter in every sense of the word but his movie star good looks and earnest leadership also took him to the frontlines of battlefields as well as the politics behind them. His storied 27 year career is eclipsed only by his battles outside the ring where the champion fought for his beliefs with intense conviction.
Born into poverty on April 19, 1952 in Managua Nicaragua where his storied life would come full circle fifty seven years later on July 1, 2009 when his prone body was found on his blood stained couch. At the time Alexis was the elected Mayor of Managua after returning back to his homeland having spent years in Coral Gables Florida at the height of his heyday. His death was ruled a suicide, but family members and closest friends believe it was a political cover-up where Arguello’s disenchantment with Sandinista government and the political machine behind it felt the need to silence him. Fans around the world find it hard to fathom anyone of such prominence would kill themselves with a rifle barrel placed over the heart. The sheer dynamics of such a posture make the reality of his departure much harder to envision, even under the stress and pressure of the Sandinistas tormenting his very existence. Alexis was a national hero whose roots were deeply dug into the soil that gave birth to a fighter and the rise of a champion.
Trying to encapsulate a legend’s story in a mere article is an impossible task but I feel privileged to summarize the highlights. Known as “El Flaco Explosivo,” (The Explosive Thin man) Arguello was a rangy 5’10” stick of dynamite that had grenades for fists. Fighting out of orthodox stance from an original and never duplicated style his 72” wingspan was a brutal adversary for all but the most fleet footed of quarries. If the champion had one chink in his armor it was his deliberate panther’s stalking footwork, much like Joe Louis and Felix Trinadad. He could hide his lack of lateral movement by keeping opponents on end of his jab. Once he entered the pocket he usually shut the gate behind him as his trench phone booth warfare beguiled shorter arm boxers into unconscious submission. His skills were honed to a craft of perfection and put magnificently on display to all comers.
After a brief amateur career posting a 58-2 record, Alexis turned pro as a Bantamweight in 1968 and went on to win legit titles at Featherweight, Super Featherweight, (where Associated Press ranked him greatest boxer of the division’s history), and Lightweight. Of note, fans across Latin America and United States clamored for a shootout with a leather fisted wolverine that went by the name of Roberto Duran. Unfortunely the super match never came to fruition as time and tides criss crossed with Duran moving north in weight before super nova of an event could be signed. Roberto was of a salty nature back in the day whose mission was to eviscerate his foes and publicly vowed an execution. The blend of styles was a pugilistic masterpiece waiting in the offing; instead dying in the horse latitudes.
Looking back pondering just how great Arguello was he instantly comes to my mind as one of my favorite top ten of all time. With hundreds of names spinning around the “id” it’s easy to say this reporter is bias but least we not forget Ring Magazine ranked him 20th on greatest punchers of all time and leaving little wonder that he was elected into International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992. His resume reads like an incredible ledger of “who’s who” during his tenure inside the ropes. Some of the outstanding names that graced his record include Ernesto Marcel, Ruben Olivares, Bobby Chacon, Jose Luis Ramirez, Ruben Castillo, Jerome Artis, Cornelius Boza Edwards, Rafael Limon, Alfredo Escalera, Jim Watt, Vilomar Fernandez, Billy Costello, and Ray Mancini. But he will forever be linked in history to enigmatic Aaron “the Hawk” Pryor. Their first encounter produced one of the most memorable fights of last fifty years.
Both gents boxed for position on fringes of the pocket trading rounds in tandem looking to impose their will behind their skills. As the thirteenth round was winding down Arguello finally had landed the good wood and had the perpetual motion in front of him side stepping on his heels. Between rounds the one minute break will live in boxing folklore as Pryor’s trainer Panama Lewis called to a second for a little black bottle. “Not the water bottle, the one I mixed.” Whatever liquid the three inch bottle contained wasn’t a fountain of youth but more like a volcano of spirits. The now heavy footed Pryor who was defending his junior welterweight title appearing battle weary and fatigued stormed off his stool like a man possessed with house on fire administering an unrelenting brutal stoppage after regaining control of fight with an unanswered 30 punch salvo. Florida State Boxing Commission failed to administer a post-fight urinalysis after the debacle. Lewis was later banned from boxing for life when he was found guilty of removing the horse hair padding from his boxer Luis Resto’s gloves in a bout against Billy Collins, JR. back in 1983. Let it be noted here nothing is permitted inside the ring except water for consumption. Afterwards Lewis gave the lame excuse it was peppermint schnapps for diarrhea. Gym rats have speculated for years that it was either liquid amphetamines or corticosteroid derived from an asthma inhaler.
In retrospect on perhaps his finest night, Alexis played matador to Ray Mancini allowing the barrel chested youth to come forward for ten rounds and slowly wear him out. Entering the true championship rounds of yesteryear, Arguello began timing the challenger with better combinations continuing to improve measurement and finding their target. At halfway mark of round fourteen the contest was stopped by TKO after Arguello dropped the game challenger. The referee stopped bout without administering a ten count after witnessing a brutal three punch combination that took away Ray’s legs as well as his equilibrium. The nationally televised Saturday afternoon matchup won over a new generation of American fans for Arguello as his gesture of friendship towards both Ray and his Dad touched the hearts of viewers.
Arguello’s one/two combination that took out top contenders Kevin Rooney in two, and Billy Costello in four were so textbook perfect that they could be used as training films for up and coming fighters.
Alexis Arguello had the true heart of a lion to match his indomitable skills inside the ring. In the early eighties his mansion in Nicaragua was confiscated by the Contras where the icon elected to put his career on hold as he took up arms against the Sandinista National Liberation Front on an ill-advised foray into jungle warfare. When the realization that little could be gained from joining a rebel militia he returned to states to resume his career.
On November 9, 2008, Arguello was elected Mayor of Nicaragua by less than a 2% margin over Edwardo Montealegre who was the candidate of opposing Constitutionalist Liberal Party. Less than seven months later Arguello was found dead.
From the water’s edge of inspiration to the far shores of accomplishment Alexis Arguello’s life played out with a Hemingwayesque grandeur which needs to be documented properly in narrative biography and immortalized on film. His ledger will read 77-8, 62 KO’s but if you’re a true boxing fan, light a candle In memory of Alexis. Vegas betting odds are the world will never witness another. Amen.
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