Vicente Rondón


Vicente Paúl Rondón was a Venezuelan professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1974, holding the WBA light heavyweight title from 1971 to 1972.

Personal background

Rondón was born into extreme poverty in San José de Río Chico, Miranda, Venezuela, and decided to escape his poor surroundings by enlisting in the Venezuelan military at an early age.

Professional career

When Rondón turned professional, his year of birth was listed as 1944; in fact it was 1938. Rondón began fighting as a middleweight and made a name for himself with upset victories over former world welterweight champion Luis Rodríguez and middleweight contender Bennie Briscoe. However, Rondon was growing and quickly established himself as a top rated light heavyweight with impressive wins over Roger Rouse, Eddie Talhami, and Allen Thomas. World Light-heavyweight Champion Bob Foster did not seem eager to fight the #2 ranked Rondón or the #1 rated Jimmy Dupree at the time. In 1971, the WBA stripped Foster of his title and matched Rondón and Dupree.
Rondón and Dupree faced each other on February 27th, 1971, at Nuevo Circo in Caracas. In an exciting slugfest, Rondón climbed off the canvas in the second round to stop the favored Dupree at 2:58 of the 6th round. At the time of the stoppage, referee Zack Clayton had the fight scored even at 47–47. Judge Dimas Hernandez also scored the bout 47–47, and judge Gustavo Vargas favored Rondón, 48–47. Following the fight, a controversy broke out with Dupree claiming he was drugged. The United Press International published a story of the claim. In the UPI article, Charliese Smith, a registered nurse and friend of Dupree said, "I believe Jimmy was drugged. I saw Jimmy after the fight and he was very very weak. His vision was blurry and he couldn't even see the other side of the room." She went on to say, "I know of muscle relaxants that can be administered in food and I'm convinced that Jimmy was given something." Regardless of the charges, the World Boxing Association recognized Rondón as world champion, while The Ring magazine viewed Bob Foster as the legitimate light-heavyweight king.
1971 was an outstanding year for Rondón with a number of title defenses. He became the first and only fighter to stop Gomeo Brennan. Many experts felt that Rondón could and would defeat Bob Foster, with a unification fight finally arranged for April 7th, 1972. On fight night at Miami Beach, Florida, Rondón was stopped by Foster in two rounds. A venture into the heavyweight ranks proved just as bad, as he was beaten by Ron Lyle by TKO, Earnie Shavers by UD, and José Urtain on points. Interestingly for a former light heavyweight, he was one of the few fighters to go the distance with famed heavyweight power-puncher Shavers, being the second of just six fighters to lose to Shavers by decision, though he had earlier been stopped by the similarly powerful hitter Lyle. Rondón did better in 1973 as he started to trim down in weight. He scored an impressive 10-round decision over undefeated prospect Oliver Wright on Miami Beach. Shortly after, he stopped heavyweight Mike "Jim" Boswell in four rounds.
At the same time, Rondón was plagued by troubles outside of the ring. He was developing a drinking problem and had very poor spending habits. An attempt to regain the light-heavyweight title saw him drop a decision to number 1-rated Len Hutchins; Rondón later suffered a 9th-round technical knockout to John Conteh. In 1974, Rondón, weighing 188 pounds, went back to the heavyweight division, where he would be largely unsuccessful. He was unable to get off the stool for round three in his fight with Rodney Bobick at Miami Beach, Florida. In his next fight, he was knocked out in two rounds by former world heavyweight title contender José Roman. This proved to be the last bout in his career.

Retirement and life after boxing

Shortly after the Roman fight, Rondón faced a litany of problems that forced him into retirement. He was confined to a mental hospital, and later arrested on charges of robbing a store for $150. Rondon served a prison sentence, and there are unconfirmed reports that he boxed some exhibitions or possibly a professional match while incarcerated. Rondón was released from prison a physical wreck. Rondón, a boxing idol of his country, died in poverty in Santa Ana de Carapita, a slum of Caracas. Rondón had been living with his elderly mother at the time. He was 54 when he died.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
59LossJosé RomanTKO2 1974-06-06Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa, Florida, U.S.
58Loss40–15–1 Rodney BobickRTD2 1974-02-19Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.
57Loss40–14–1 Bobby LloydUD10 1973-12-08Birdland Arena, Nassau, Bahamas
56Loss40–13–1 Rudiger SchmidtkePTS10 1973-11-17Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany
55Loss40–12–1 John ContehTKO9 1973-09-10Empire Pool, Wembley, England, U.K.
54Win40–11–1 Mike BoswellTKO4 1973-08-24Convention Exposition Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
53Win39–11–1 Boston BlackieTKO7 1973-07-03A.F. Adderley Auditorium, Nassau, Bahamas
52Loss38–11–1 Tom BogsUD10 1973-06-14K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark
51Loss38–10–1 Len HutchinsUD10 1973-05-19Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
50Win38–9–1 Oliver WrightUD10 1973-04-03Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.
49Win37–9–1 Larry BeilfussPTS10 1973-02-15Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan, Puerto Rico
48Loss36–9–1 José Manuel UrtainPTS10 1972-12-01Pabellón Polideportivo, Madrid, Spain
47Loss36–8–1 Earnie ShaversUD10 1972-08-26Memorial Auditorium, Canton, Ohio, U.S.
46Loss36–7–1 Ron LyleTKO2 1972-07-10Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
45Loss36–6–1 Bob FosterTKO2 1972-04-07Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.Lost WBA light-heavyweight title;
For WBC & The Ring light-heavyweight titles
44Win36–5–1 Doyle BairdTKO8 1971-12-15Arena, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.Retained WBA light-heavyweight title
43Win35–5–1 Gomeo BrennanTKO13 1971-10-26Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.Retained WBA light-heavyweight title
42Win34–5–1 Conny VelensekPTS10 1971-10-14Germany
41Win33–5–1 Eddie JonesUD15 1971-08-21Nuevo Circo, Caracas, VenezuelaRetained WBA light-heavyweight title
40Win32–5–1 Johnny GriffinPTS10 1971-07-11Valencia, Venezuela
39Win31–5–1 Piero Del PapaKO1 1971-06-05Nuevo Circo, Caracas, VenezuelaRetained WBA light-heavyweight title
38Win30–5–1 Jimmy DupreeKO6 1971-02-27Nuevo Circo, Caracas, VenezuelaWon vacant WBA light-heavyweight title
37Win29–5–1 Roger RouseUD10 1970-11-07Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico
36Win28–5–1 Willie JohnsonTKO4 1970-10-06Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.
35Win27–5–1 Hydra LacyKO2 1970-08-11Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.
34Win26–5–1 Levan RoundtreePTS10 1970-05-20Parque Isidoro García, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
33Win25–5–1 Fred WilliamsKO4 1970-04-18San Juan, Puerto Rico
32Win24–5–1 Avenamar PeraltaPTS10 1969-12-06Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires, Argentina
31Win23–5–1 Randy StevensKO5 1969-11-29San Juan, Puerto Rico
30Win22–5–1 Angel OquendoTKO6 1969-10-26San Juan, Puerto Rico
29NC21–5–1 Paul JohnsonNC7 1969-08-09San Juan, Puerto Rico
28Win21–5–1 Eddie TalhamiPTS10 1969-07-05San Juan, Puerto Rico
27Win20–5–1 Jose Luis GarciaPTS12 1969-05-30Caracas, VenezuelaWon vacant Venezuelan light-heavyweight title
26Win19–5–1 Karl ZurheideUD10 1969-05-06Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
25Win18–5–1 Allen ThomasUD10 1969-04-01Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
24Loss17–5–1 Bennie BriscoeTKO8 1969-01-25San Juan, Puerto Rico
23Win17–4–1 Charlie JordanUD10 1968-11-26Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.
22Win16–4–1 Charlie JordanUD10 1968-11-12Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.
21Loss15–4–1 Juarez de LimaPTS10 1968-11-03San Juan, Puerto Rico
20Win15–3–1 Bennie BriscoeUD10 1968-09-23Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico
19Win14–3–1 Charley AustinPTS10 1968-09-09San Juan, Puerto Rico
18Loss13–3–1 Luis Manuel RodríguezUD10 1968-07-18Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico
17Win13–2–1 Luis Manuel RodríguezUD10 1968-06-03Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico
16Loss12–2–1 Jose GonzalezTKO8 1968-04-19National Maritime Union Hall, New York City, New York, U.S.
15Loss12–1–1 Bobby WarthenSD10 1968-01-12National Maritime Union Hall, New York City, New York, U.S.
14Win12–0–1 Phil RobinsonKO5 1967-12-14Caracas, Venezuela
13Draw11–0–1 Harold RichardsonPTS10 1967-11-10San Juan, Puerto Rico
12Win11–0 Pedro MirandaTKO10 1967-10-14San Juan, Puerto Rico
11Win10–0 Tony SmithKO3 1967-09-08Estadio Manuel Carrasquillo Herpen, Río Piedras, Puerto Rico
10Win9–0 Marco Tulio PolancoKO3 1967-06-12Nuevo Circo, Caracas, Venezuela
9Win8–0 Danny MachadoTKO4 1967-03-20Palacio de Deportes, Caracas, Venezuela
8NC7–0 Marco Tulio PolancoNC2 1966-12-04Nuevo Circo, Caracas, VenezuelaSuspended on account of rain
7Win7–0Marcos PirellaKO2 1966-11-14Caracas, Venezuela
6Win6–0Melville BennettKO2 1966-09-16Caracas, Venezuela
5Win5–0Marco Tulio PolancoKO3 1966-06-24Nuevo Circo, Caracas, Venezuela
4Win4–0Pedro VanegasKO7 1965-12-05Estadio Once de Noviembre, Cartagena, Colombia
3Win3–0Pedro VanegasTKO4 1965-10-29Coliseo Humberto Perea, Barranquilla, Colombia
2Win2–0Joe Louis TroconisKO1 1965-07-26Palacio de Deportes, Caracas, Venezuela
1Win1–0Jose CaraballoKO3 1965-06-28Palacio de Deportes, Caracas, Venezuela