Jorge Ahumada-the forgotten light heavyweight

[BoztheMadman]

Jorge Victor Ahumada was an Argentinian light heavyweight contender. He made Bob Foster quit the sport, more or less by his own doing, by giving him a very tough fight which ended in a draw. He was a rough and tough brawler who possessed nothing special of the physical tools apart from physical strength and instead made it all on pure guts and constant pressure. However, his boxing skills did improve after he came under the right tutelage. Today is his birthday. Born in 1946 in Godoy Cruz, Mendoza, Argentina and trained by the great Gil Clancy, he was called Aconcagua, after the highest peak of the Andes and Argentina, though he stood only 5'10. He turned professional at the age of 22 and won his first nine fights but then suffered a ko loss in 3 rounds against the far more experienced Emilio Ale Ali in November 1968. He avenged the loss a year later with a 10 round decision. In July 1970 he first squared off against his main domestic rival, the great Victor Galindez and lost by a KO 5. In 1971 he first beat Avenemar Peralta, another solid domestic fighter and then had a rematch with Galindez. This time he managed to snatch a close decision, thanks to Galindez's wild antics which made him lose 2 points. In their third fight both men got a point taken away for dirty fighting but Galindez floored Ahumada in the seventh and ultimately stopped him in the ninth. A fourth match saw Galindez again prevail by way of knockout, this time in six rounds.

 

In 1973 he went to USA and started training under Gil Clancy. This transition did him well for he started winning and by knockout. His first victim was Hal Caroll, whom he stopped in the 8th round with a bad eye cut. Then he also stopped Billy Wagner by TKO 7, before rounding up the year with his most impressive victory so far, a KO 3 over Andy Kendall. He knocked Kendall out with a left hook to the liver. 1974 started as promisingly as he reeled off two ko wins and two decision wins before facing off against the legendary world champ Bob Foster for the undisputed world title in June. After a very tough and bloody fight, the verdict was a draw and Foster retired three months later. In October Ahumada got another world title shot, fighting for the vacant WBC title against Liverpool's pride John Conteh. Ahumada fought well in the first half of the fight and hurt Conteh in the eight with a vicious right to the chin but Conteh rebounded after the tenth round while Ahumada started to tire. After a savage 15-round battle, Conteh emerged victorious after the referee Harry Gibb, the sole official, scored it 147-142 for him. And then finally, it was time for one final attempt at revenge against his archrival, Galindez. The fight took place in June 1975. Galindez scored a knockdown after the bell but it was acknowledged, which infuriated Ahumada and his corner. Ahumada took the fight to the champion but got caught with too many punches, yet lasted the distance, losing a rather clear decision. After the fight he stated "He was the same old Galindez tonight. Strong and rude."

 

After that he had a couple more fights, winning one and losing one before he retired at the age of 30, leaving behind a record of 42 wins with 22 knockouts, 8 losses and 2 draws. One can say he had the misfortune to fight at a time when the lhw division was pretty strong. Happy birthday Jorge!

Edited January 6, 2014 by BoztheMadman