Jose Legra

José Legrá was a highly skilled and tenacious professional featherweight boxer from the island of Cuba. Born on April 19, 1943, Legrá left a lasting legacy in the sport of boxing that spanned over a decade.

Over the course of his career, Legrá fought a total of 144 bouts, clinching an impressive record of 129 wins, 11 losses, and four draws. The Cuban boxer achieved a total of 49 knockouts in his career and won two world featherweight titles.

Legrá's professional boxing career began in Cuba back in 1960. During his debut bout against Pedro Pinera, the dynamic boxer secured a points victory after four rounds. Despite drawing in his next fight and losing two others, Legrá managed to fight in a total of 34 matches between Mexico and Cuba, posting a record of 27-5-2.

In 1963, Legrá made his way to Spain, where he continued his winning streak by going on a run of over sixty consecutive wins between 1963 and 1967, with only one defeat to Welshman Howard Winstone in England.

Legrá won his first title belt, the vacant European Featherweight title, in December 1967 with a third-round knockout win over France's Yves Desmarets. He subsequently relinquished the title without a defence.

The Cuban boxer's first opportunity to fight for a recognised world title belt came in July 1968, when he challenged Howard Winstone again. This time, he secured a victory via fifth-round TKO, becoming the WBC featherweight world champion.

However, just six months later, Legrá lost the title after being defeated by French-Australian Johnny Famechon on points at the Albert Hall in London. It was an unfortunate loss, but Legrá bounced back with two wins before losing to Vicente Saldivar via a unanimous decision.

Legrá went on to win his second world featherweight title in 1972, reclaiming the belt after a TKO victory over Clemente Sánchez in the tenth round of their bout. However, he lost the title in his next fight to Brazilian Éder Jofre, a loss which marked the end of his featherweight boxing career. After the Jofre fight, Legrá fought in three non-title matches, winning one and losing two, before his decision to retire.

Throughout his career, Legrá fought some notable opponents, including Howard Winstone, Giovanni Girgenti, Evan Armstrong, and Jimmy Revie. Legrá has left an indelible mark on the featherweight division of the sport, and his contribution to boxing cannot be underestimated.

Despite being a highly skilled boxer, Legrá faced some tough losses throughout his career. He had a total of 11 defeats, of which two were title bouts, and the other nine were non-title fights. The first loss of his professional career was against Agustin Carmona via eight round PTS on January 7, 1961. Of his 11 losses, he was stopped three times and lost eight via decision.

José Legrá was nicknamed "Pocket Cassius Clay," a tribute to the great Muhammad Ali. It's not difficult to see why Legrá was compared to the legendary Ali. He had an incredibly fast and powerful left hand, and his style of boxing was very similar to Ali's.

It's only fitting to end this article by paying tribute to José Legrá, the two-time world featherweight boxing champion, and legendary boxer. Legrá made an indelible contribution to the sport of boxing, and his legacy lives on today.

José Legrá Fight Record