José Adolfo Legrá Utría

Featherweight boxer, naturalized Spanish citizen. In Spain he was nicknamed "The Puma of Baracoa".

He was born in Baracoa, in the humble neighborhood of Matachín, and was the second of seven siblings.

During years of poverty, he worked as a shoeshine boy and after finishing would distribute newspapers in the neighborhood, where he would call out the names of the newspapers he sold. At the end of the night he worked as a tour guide.

He enjoyed watching movies since childhood, and it was there where he could admire his first idols: Kid Chocolate, Kid Gavilán, Archie Moore, Ray "Sugar" Robinson, and a Cuban who boxed in Europe and was a friend of writer Ernest Hemingway called Kid Tunero.

Boxing matches were organized on Baracoa beach, and the prize for a boy like him was very lucrative: "a dollar, a bread, and a glass of milk". No one managed to defeat him in the matches he fought in that place.

The first person to discover him was René Pecado, who saw in him a champion in the making and recommended him to the La Punta gym. Despite his mother's opposition, who had already tried on several occasions to make him quit the sport, even burning his boxing equipment.

In November 1958 he made his amateur debut defeating Tomás Rodríguez "Guachiro". He fought a total of 23 amateur bouts, winning 22 and losing only one in Santiago de Cuba against Vicente Núñez, which was one of his greatest disappointments.

His mother eventually banned him from entering the gym, so he decided to leave Baracoa and go to Havana, saying that "To Havana I went... in search of glory". He left with a cardboard box and two hundred pesetas and started hitchhiking. A truck driver named Manolo was impressed by his confidence and determination to become a world boxing champion.

Upon arriving in Havana, Manolo paid for his first 15 days of room and board. There he met a countryman who introduced him to who would be his first manager, Luis Sarria, later cutman for Muhammad Ali and Ray Leonard "Sugar". Luis took him to the gym, where he would remember "There were only boxing monsters there: Luis Rodríguez, Mantequilla Nápoles, Sugar Ramos, Kid Chocolate, Kid Charol, Kid Tunero and Kid Gavilán".

Kid Gavilán, the legendary former world welterweight champion, taught him the legendary "bolo punch". He expressed that "Kid Gavilán told me the punch went to the carotid artery, so I drew a face on the bag and practiced the punch to the carotid artery". Gavilán himself taught that same punch to Muhammad Ali, and later it would be used by Ray Leonard "Sugar" and the Spaniard Pedro Carrasco.

In his first fights he accumulated twelve victories, one draw and one defeat to Bobby Luis.

Unable to practice boxing in his country due to the Cuban government's ban on professional sports, Legrá abandoned the country and emigrated to Spain in 1963.

With Kid Tunero by his side, in Spain he began to build a future in professional boxing, which would be, thanks to his agile and elegant boxing style, crowned by the greatest of successes.

In 1965, he faced Welshman Howard Winstone, who was the European Champion, but since Legrá did not yet have Spanish citizenship, he could not fight for the European title. He obtained Spanish naturalization in 1966.

In 1967 he is named co-contender for the European title against Frenchman Yves Desmarets, a position left vacant by Howard Winstone when he proclaimed himself world champion, and the Hispanic Cuban wins by KO in the third round.

At the height of his career, he obtained the right to fight for the world title. On July 24, 1968 he fought at the Caney Beach Arena in Porthcawl, against Welshman Winstone and wins by technical K.O. in the fifth round. The fight is broadcast live by the first TVE television channel. At the end of the fight, the Spaniards who witnessed Legrá's victory live jumped into the ring and carried the new featherweight monarch on their shoulders. On the canvas Legrá sang at the top of his lungs the "la, la, la" in a duet with Matías Prats who was broadcasting the fight for Radio Nacional de España.

In 1969 in London, he loses on points in a very controversial decision the world title to Australian Johnny Famechon, but he recovers it in 1971 against Clemente Sánchez in Monterrey. In that interval he becomes European champion again, defeating Italian Galli in 1970 in Madrid in the only event ever organized in Spain where two continental titles were contested. The promoter was the popular actor Tony Leblanc.

In 1973, he loses on points the world title to Brazilian Eder Jofré. From then on his career begins to decline and closes with a fight against Danny Valdés whom he defeats on points in 1975 in the United States.

José Legrá was a boxer of fine style, who in his fights constantly "danced" around the ring, which caused the bewilderment of his opponents and the admiration of fans.

On the other hand, his verbosity before fights, similar to that of the legendary Cassius Clay, made him very popular throughout the world. In fact, in the United Kingdom where he fought several times and enjoyed the admiration of knowledgeable British audiences, they knew him as "the little Cassius Clay".

He was a very popular boxer at a time when fighters like Carrasco, Urtaín, Velázquez and Legrá had fame similar to the football stars of the moment.

His record stands at 150 fights, of which he won 135, lost 11, and 4 fights were draws. In the early 1990s in Spain, on the newly created Telecinco channel, he regularly appeared on variety shows like Tutti Fruti or Vip noche.

Main Fights
December 22, 1967, Madrid, Spain. Legrá defeats Yves Desmarets by technical KO in three rounds and is proclaimed European featherweight champion.
December 24, 1968, Porthcawl, Wales, United Kingdom. Legrá defeats Howard Winstone and is proclaimed featherweight world champion in the World Boxing Council version.
January 21, 1969, London, England, United Kingdom. Legrá is defeated on points in fifteen rounds by Johnny Famechon and loses his world featherweight crown in the World Boxing Council version.
June 26, 1970, Madrid, Spain. Legrá defeats Tommaso Galli on points in fifteen rounds and is proclaimed European featherweight champion.
January 25, 1971, London, United Kingdom. Legrá defeats Jimmy Revive on points in 15 rounds and retains his European crown.
August 14, 1971, Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain. Legrá defeats Giovani Girgentti and retains the European title.
February 15, 1972, London, United Kingdom. Legrá defeats Evan Armstrong and retains the European title.
May 17, 1972, Birmingham, United Kingdom. Legrá defeats Tommy Glencross and retains the European title.
October 6, 1972, Madrid, Spain. Legrá defeats Daniel Vermandere on points in 15 rounds, retaining the European title.
December 16, 1972, Monterrey, Mexico. Legrá defeats Clemente Sánchez and is proclaimed featherweight world champion in the World Boxing Council version.
May 5, 1973, Brasilia, Brazil. Legrá is defeated by Eder Jofre on points in 15 rounds.