Luis Ángel Firpo

For the football club from El Salvador, see C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo.

Luis Ángel Firpo
File:Luis Angel Firpo (cropped).jpg Firpo in 1919
Statistics
Nickname(s)	El Toro Salvaje de las Pampas
Height
Born	11 October 1894 Junín, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died
Stance	Orthodox

Luis Ángel Firpo (11 October 1894 – 7 August 1960) was an Argentine boxer. Born in Junín, Argentina, he was nicknamed The Wild Bull of the Pampas.

Boxing career

In 1917, Firpo began his professional boxing career by beating Frank Hagney by a decision in six in Buenos Aires. Originally declared a no decision, the bout's result was later changed to a win for Firpo.

For his second bout, he traveled, in January 1918, to Montevideo, Uruguay, where he suffered his first defeat, a first round knockout at the hands of Angel Rodriguez. He put a string of six wins in a row after that, and so on November 1, 1919, he found himself challenging Dave Mills in Santiago, for the South American Heavyweight title. He lost on that occasion by a decision in 15 rounds, but then came back with a win over Andres Balsa by a knockout in round six.

File:Luis Firpo, G. Widmer, A. Mayer, J. DeForest (cropped).jpg

Firpo and his handlers.

On April 20, 1920, he and Mills had a rematch and Firpo won the title with a first-round knockout. After one more win, he and Mills faced each other in a rubber match, and the result was the same as that of their second bout: Firpo the winner by a knockout in the first. In 1921, the quality of Firpo's challengers improved, when he defeated fringe contender Gunboat Smith twice, the first by decision in 12 and the second by knockout, also in 12.

In 1922, he continued his rise in the Heavyweight rankings by winning all four of his fights by a knockout.

Firpo began 1923 by knocking out former title challenger Bill Brennan in the 12th round. He followed that with seven more wins in a row, including wins over Jack McAuliffe and former world champion Jess Willard. After a win against Charlie Weinert, Firpo challenged world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey at New York City on September 14, becoming the first Latin American in history to challenge for the title.

Firpo was floored seven times in the first round of the bout, before he trapped Dempsey against the ropes and launched a combination that sent the champion out of the ring. Dempsey hit his head against a writer's typing machine, and for a moment, it looked as if Firpo would become world Heavyweight champion. But Dempsey was helped into the ring at the count of nine (in spite of having been seventeen seconds outside the ring; fighters are given a twenty-second count when they are knocked through the ropes) and he eventually knocked out Firpo in the second round. This fight has been regarded by critics and experts as one of the greatest fights in history. Boxing historian Bert Sugar called it the greatest fight in the history of the sport. Despite losing, Firpo gained substantial fame all over Latin America after this bout, as many people in different parts of that region spoke about his feat of dropping Dempsey. This fight remained so inspirational that, for instance, it led to the naming of the Salvadorian football club C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo.

Firpo sending Dempsey outside the ring; Dempsey and Firpo, 1923 painting by George Bellows.

In 1924, Firpo won his first three fights by knockout, but then lost his last two by decision, the last to legendary challenger Harry Wills.

He retired for a short period, but came back in 1926 to beat Erminio Spalla by a decision in ten. Then, he kept away from the fight game for nine years, but he attempted another comeback in 1936, winning two fights before being beaten by a knockout in three by future Joe Louis challenger Arturo Godoy. Firpo finally retired after compiling a record of 32 wins and 6 losses in 38 fights, with 26 wins by knockout.

Retirement

Afterwards, Firpo became a car-dealer for Stutz and a rancher. By 1940 he was ranching on a large scale in Carlos Casares with 8,000 cattle, 4,000 sheep and 400 horses. He discovered the boxer Abel Cestac in July 1940. Firpo and Jack Dempsey agreed to jointly manage Cestac, who went on to become the South American heavyweight champion. On his passing in 1960, Luis Firpo was buried in La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires. His mausoleum has a statue of him at the front.

Legacy

File:Firpo tomb recoleta.JPG

Luis Angel Firpo vault in the Cemetery of Recoleta, Buenos Aires, where his remains were interred.

Firpo's popularity around Latin America was immeasurable. Years later, C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo, a professional football team in El Salvador, a Central American country thousands of miles north of Argentina, was named after him. In addition, various schools, streets, and avenues across Latin America have been named after him.

In 2003, he was named by The Ring as one of the 100 greatest punchers of all time.

Professional boxing record

31 Wins (26 Knockouts), 4 Defeats, 2 No Contests
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	31-4 2 NC, 2 ND	Arturo Godoy	TKO	4 (10)	1936-07-11	Luna Park, Buenos Aires
Win	31-3 2 NC, 2 ND	Siska Habarta	KO	3 (10)	1936-05-25	Buenos Aires
Win	30-3 2 NC, 2 ND	Saverio Grizzo	KO	1 (10)	1936-05-09	Luna Park, Buenos Aires
Win	29-3 2 NC, 2 ND	Erminio Spalla	PTS	12	1926-04-03	Parque Romano, Buenos Aires
ND	28-3 2 NC, 2 ND	Charley Weinert	ND	12	1924-11-12	113th Regiment Armory, Newark, New Jersey
ND	28-3 2 NC, 1 ND	Harry Wills	ND	12	1924-09-11	Boyle's Thirty Acres, Jersey City, New Jersey
Win	28-3 2 NC	Al Reich	KO	1 (10)	1924-04-05	Club Sportivo Barracas, Buenos Aires
Win	27-3 2 NC	Erminio Spalla	TKO	14 (15)	1924-03-27	Buenos Aires
Win	26-3 2 NC	Farmer Lodge	KO	5 (10)	1924-02-24	Club Atlético River Plate, Buenos Aires
Loss	25-3 2 NC	Jack Dempsey	KO	2 (10)	1923-09-14	Polo Grounds, New York City, New York	For NYSAC World Heavyweight title.
Win	25-2 2 NC	Charley Weinert	TKO	2 (8)	1923-08-13	Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win	24-2 2 NC	Homer Smith	PTS	10	1923-08-03	Omaha, Nebraska
Win	23-2 2 NC	Joe Burke	KO	2 (10)	1923-07-27	Battle Creek, Michigan
Win	22-2 2 NC	Jess Willard	KO	8 (12)	1923-07-12	Boyle's Thirty Acres, Jersey City, New Jersey
Win	21-2 2 NC	Jim Hibbard	KO	2 (10)	1923-06-17	El Toreo, Mexico City
Win	20-2 2 NC	Jack Herman	KO	2 (10)	1923-06-10	Havana
Win	19-2 2 NC	Jack McAuliffe II	KO	3 (15)	1923-05-12	Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York
Win	18-2 2 NC	Bill Brennan	KO	12 (15)	1923-03-12	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Win	17-2 2 NC	Jim Tracey	KO	4 (10)	1922-10-08	Club Sportivo Barracas, Buenos Aires
Win	16-2 2 NC	Jack Herman	TKO	5 (10)	1922-05-13	Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York
Win	15-2 2 NC	Joe McCann	KO	5 (10)	1922-04-04	Newark, New Jersey
Win	14-2 2 NC	Tom Maxted	KO	7 (10)	1922-03-20	Newark, New Jersey
Win	13-2 2 NC	Fernando Priano	KO	2 (10)	1921-09-27	San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán
Win	12-2 2 NC	Gunboat Smith	KO	12	1921-04-23	Club Universitario, Buenos Aires
Win	11-2 2 NC	Gunboat Smith	PTS	12	1921-03-12	Valparaíso, Valparaíso
Win	10-2 2 NC	Dave Mills	KO	1 (10)	1920-12-11	Club Universitario, Buenos Aires	Defended South American Heavyweight title.
NC	9-2 2 NC	Alberto Coleman	NC	10	1920-09-11	Teatro Municipal, Mendoza, Mendoza
Win	9-2 1 NC	Antonio Jirsa	KO	1 (10)	1920-07-07	Club Universitario, Buenos Aires
Win	8-2 1 NC	Dave Mills	KO	1 (10)	1920-04-30	Estadio Hippodrome, Santiago, Santiago	Won South American Heavyweight title.
Win	7-2 1 NC	Andrés Balsa	KO	6 (10)	1920-02-28	Valparaíso, Valparaíso
Loss	6-2 1 NC	Dave Mills	PTS	15	1919-11-01	Santiago, Santiago	For South American Heavyweight title.
Win	6-1 1 NC	Arthur Manning	KO	3 (10)	1919-04-26	Montevideo, Montevideo
Win	5-1 1 NC	Fernando Priano	KO	4 (10)	1919-04-12	Montevideo, Montevideo
Win	4-1 1 NC	Calvin Respress	PTS	15	1919-02-07	Santiago, Santiago
Win	3-1 1 NC	Calvin Respress	DQ	2 (10)	1918-12-14	Santiago, Santiago
Win	2-1 1 NC	Ignacio Sepulveda	KO	2 (10)	1918-11-09	Santiago, Santiago
Win	1-1 1 NC	William Daly	KO	7 (10)	1918-09-28	Chillán, Biobío
Loss	0-1 1 NC	Angel Rodriguez	KO	1 (10)	1918-01-12	Teatro Casino, Montevideo, Montevideo
NC	1 NC	Frank Hagney	NC	6 (10)	1917-12-10	Internacional Boxing Club, Buenos Aires

See also

• Jack Dempsey vs. Luis Ángel Firpo
• C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo -Football (soccer) team
• List of Argentines
• John Ruiz - First Hispanic world heavyweight champion
• Andy Ruiz - Second Hispanic world Heavyweight champion

External links

• Professional boxing record for Luis Ángel Firpo from BoxRec
• Gene Tunney's description of Firpo's multimillionaire success after retirement from the ring.
• 22-9-1923, El Gráfico, Firpo vs. Dempsey
• Un KO di 17 secondi (IT) - Dempsey vs. Firpo, un "match" indimenticabile