José Legrá Utría

Cuban boxer, nicknamed The Puma of Baracoa. His boxing debut took place in Cuba as an amateur boxer, with a record of 22 fights won out of 23 disputed.

He was born the second of seven siblings in the humble neighborhood of Matachín in Baracoa. During years of poverty, he worked as a shoeshine boy and as a newspaper delivery person 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 that he was able to 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 named Kid Tunero.

He was trained by Cuban trainers, who made him a good athlete. He debuted as an amateur, with a record of 22 fights won out of 23 disputed. He retired at age 30, with a record of 135 victories, 11 defeats, and 4 draws.

On the beach in Baracoa, boxing matches were organized, 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 to discover him was René Pecado, who saw in him a champion in the making and recommended him to the La Punta gymnasium. Despite his mother's opposition, who had already tried on several occasions to make him quit the sport by burning his boxing equipment.

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

His mother even went so far as to forbid him from entering the gymnasium, so he decided to leave Baracoa and go to Havana, saying that "To Havana I went...in search of glory".

He moved to Havana to become a professional. In his first matches he accumulated twelve victories, one draw, and one defeat against Bobby Luis.

Unable to practice boxing in his country due to the Cuban government's prohibition on professional sports, Legrá abandoned the country and emigrated to Spain in 1963. Under the guidance of Kid Tunero 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 compete for the European title.

He obtained Spanish citizenship in 1966. In 1967 he is named co-contender for the European title against Frenchman Yves Desmarets, a position left vacant by Howard Winstone after he proclaimed himself world champion, and the Cuban-Spaniard wins by KO in the third round.

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

In 1969 in London, he loses on points in a very controversial decision the world title to Australian Johnny Famechon, but 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 organized in Spain where two continental titles were disputed. 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 with a fine style, who in his fights "danced" constantly on 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 mythical 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 the knowledgeable British public, they knew him as "the little Cassius Clay".

He was a very popular boxer in an era when fighters like Carrasco, Urtain, Miguel Velázquez, and Legrá had a fame similar to the football stars of the time. His record is 150 fights, of which he won 135, lost 11, and 4 draws. In the early 1990s in Spain, on the newly created Telecinco channel, he regularly appeared on variety programs such as Tutti Frutti or Vip noche.

In April 2020 he was hospitalized with COVID-19.1​

Main Fights
December 22, 1967, Madrid, Spain. Legrá defeats Yves Desmarets by technical KO in three rounds and proclaims himself European featherweight champion.
December 24, 1968, Porthcawl, Wales, United Kingdom. Legrá defeats Howard Winstone and proclaims himself world featherweight 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 proclaims himself 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, preserving the European title.
December 16, 1972, Monterrey, Mexico. Legrá defeats Clemente Sánchez and proclaims himself world featherweight champion in the World Boxing Council version.
May 5, 1973, Brasilia, Brazil. Legrá is defeated by Eder Jofre on points in 15 rounds.