Luisito Espinosa

Not to be confused with American boxer Louie Espinoza.

Luisito Espinosa
File:Luisito Espinosa.jpg
Statistics
Real name	Luisito Pio Espinosa
Nickname(s)	Lindol ("Earthquake") Golden Boy
Rated at	Featherweight
Height	5 ft 7.5 in (1.71 m)
Nationality	Filipino
Born	(1967-06-26) June 26, 1967 Manila, Philippines
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	60
Wins	47
Wins by KO	26
Losses	13
Draws	0

Luisito Pio Espinosa (born June 26, 1967 in Manila) is a retired boxer from the Philippines who won World titles in two different weight divisions.

Boxing career

Espinosa turned professional in 1984. In 1989, he won the WBA Bantamweight title by knocking out Kaokor Galaxy in the first round. He was then managed by famed boxing analyst and businessman Hermie Rivera. Espinosa defended the title twice before losing it to Israel Contreras by a fifth-round knockout in 1991.

Espinosa made an arduous climb back to the top, this time fighting under Joe Koizumi's stable. His comeback culminated in 1995, when he won the WBC Featherweight title by outpointing Manuel Medina. In his first title defense, Espinosa knocked out Alejandro "Cobrita" Gonzalez in the 4th round in Mexico. He then took on the hard-hitting body-puncher César Soto at Luneta (Rizal) Park in Manila and hammered out a well-deserved unanimous decision in front of his countrymen, which included no less than President Fidel V. Ramos. He defended the title seven times before losing the belt in 1999 to Soto who won by a controversial unanimous decision. The following year, he challenged Guty Espadas, Jr. for the Vacant WBC Featherweight Title, but was outboxed and lost a technical decision after their fight was stopped after a clash of heads.

Retirement

Espinosa retired in 2005 after being knocked out by Cristóbal Cruz. Promotional disputes left Espinosa with little, and he retired in 2005 after a public outcry for him to stop fighting.

Post-boxing career

Espinosa, who was out of the boxing scene for quite a while, entered the mixed martial arts (MMA) scene by training brothers Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz in boxing to improve their stand-up. He also assisted in the training of the University of San Francisco's Boxing team from 2006-2007 in preparation for the annual Hilltop Cup. From 2014 he has been working in Hong Kong.

See also

• History of boxing in the Philippines

External links

• Professional boxing record for Luisito Espinosa from BoxRec

Preceded by Khaokor Galaxy	WBA Bantamweight Champion October 18, 1989 – October 19, 1991	Succeeded by Israel Contreras
Preceded by Manuel Medina	WBC Featherweight Champion December 11, 1995 – May 15, 1999	Succeeded by Cesar Soto