Gavilan, Kid

▪ 2004

Gerardo González 

      Cuban-born boxer (b. Jan. 6, 1926, Camagüey, Cuba—d. Feb. 13, 2003, Miami, Fla.), was one of the most popular boxers of the 1950s and was world welterweight champion from 1951 to 1954. He began boxing at the age of 10 and fought his first professional bout in Havana in 1943. He relocated to the United States in 1947. Gavilan won the world welterweight championship in a 15-round decision against Johnny Bratton in May 1951 and successfully defended the title seven times before he lost a fight to Johnny Saxton in October 1954 in a controversial decision (almost all the boxing reporters present believed Gavilan had won the fight). Gavilan retired in 1958 with a record of 107 victories, 30 losses, and 6 draws, as well as the distinction of never having been knocked out. In 1990 he was inducted into the freshman class of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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