Frankie Duarte: Tough as nails

[The_budweiser]

In the 1970's and 80's the bantamweight division was loaded with talent. Great champions like Ruben Olivares, Carlos Zarate, Daniel Zaragoza and Jeff Chandler forged their Hall Of Fame careers in that era. So did Lupe Pintor who should be in the Hall Of Fame. There were also fine champions like Rafael Herrera,Chucho Castillo,Rodolfo Martinez,Romeo Anaya and Alberto Davila.

 

 

One tough hombre from that era just missed being crowned a world champion. Nevertheless his all out action style repeatedly drew big crowds to the Olympic Auditorium and the Inglewood Forum. His name was Frankie Duarte.

 

 

Duarte was born in 1954 in Santa Monica,California. He joined the punch for pay ranks in 1973 and quickly became a fan favorite. He won his first 16 bouts but then lost a decision in 1974 to rugged Joe Guevara. In 1975 he split a pair of decisions with Tarcisco Gomez.Frankie would then reel off 11 straight leading to a bout with the talented Alberto Davila. This was a WBC title eliminator bout and on this night the scappy Davila halted Frankie in round five.

 

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