Raúl Macías

Raúl Macías Guevara (July 28, 1934, in Mexico City – March 23, 2009) was a Mexican professional boxer, actor and boxing trainer. He took the NBA World Bantamweight Championship on March 9, 1955. Widely known as "Ratón" Macías, or "Mouse" Macías, he won a bronze medal at the 1951 Pan American Games.

Early life and amateur career Macias was born on July 28, 1934, in Tepito, Distrito Federal, Mexico, a suburb of Mexico City. Macías had always expressed pride at being Mexican.

Macias began his amateur career at age fourteen, winning the National Junior Flyweight, Flyweight and Bantamweight titles. He won a bronze medal at the Pan American Games, and represented Mexico as a bantamweight at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games. In the Olympics, he first defeated Angel Amaya of Venezuela in a unanimous decision, then lost to Gennady Garbuzov of the Soviet Union

Macías was one of Televisa's first boxing stars. Many of his fights were shown live on Televisa during the 1950s. Macias floored Songkitrat twice in the sixth. From the sixth on, Macias dominated the bout. Songkitrat down for an eight count from a right in the eleventh. After he was down again from a right to the head, referee Fred Apostoli, a former world champion, ended the bout thirty seconds into round eleven.

Next followed a series of non-title fights. In a non-title bout on June 16, 1955, Macías suffered his first defeat when he was knocked out 2:29 into the third round by Billy Peacock in Los Angeles. The final blows were two left hooks that left Macias with a broken jaw. Macias, originally a 3-1 favorite, was down for a no count from a blow to his jaw earlier in the round. The bout would be Macías' only defeat by knockout, and left him hospitalized for two days.

Macías' popularity followed him to California and Texas, where he fought a number of times. On October 17, 1955, he defefated Cecil Schoonmaker in a ten-round decision in Corpus Christi, Texas. The non-title bout was considered drab by several ringsiders.

NBA bantamweight title defenses, and losing title Macias had five victories before he defended his NBA world Bantamweight title for the first time against Leo Espinoza. He defeated Espinoza, father of Philippines world boxing champion Luisito Espinoza, before a crowd of 50,000 in a tenth-round knockout on March 25, 1956, in Mexico City. A blow to the ribs and a right to the head put Espinoza down for the full count 2:57 into the tenth round. Espinoza complained that the altitude of Mexico City robbed him of his full breathing capacity.

Top rated Italian bantamweight Gaetano Annaloro fell to Macias on November 21, 1956, in a decisive ten-round decision in San Antonio, Texas. The crowd of 4,500 shouted for more action in the carefully fought non-title bout. Macias used his left effectively, and though he sustained a slightly bruised hand in the fourth, it did not hinder him in the remaining rounds. Annaloro bobbed and weaved to maintain his defense, but was unable to gain an advantage over his opponent.

On February 10, 1957, Macias knocked out Juan Carcenas in Mexico City in the sixth round. In their non-title bout, Macias put Carcenas to the mat ten times before he was counted out 1:30 into the sixth round. Cardenas was down four times in the second, three in the third, once in the fifth and twice in the sixth.

After seven more non-title fight wins, Macias faced Dommy Ursua on June 15, 1957, in San Francisco in his second title defense. Macias was down for a four count from a left hook in the first, but retained his championship, knocking out Ursua in the eleventh before a crowd of 13,000. Macias took the lead after the third round, and used his five-inch height advantage to score with telling body blows. A cut above Ursua's eye slowed his progress after the sixth. Macias was called for a low blow in the eleventh, not long before unleashing a right and two handed combination that led to the referee ending the match.

On November 6, 1957, he faced Alphonse Halimi at Los Angeles' Wrigley Field in his last title bout. Halimi shook Macias with a hook to the jaw in the furious fourth round, though the bout featured no knockdowns. Macias lost his belt by a close and controversial 15-round split decision. Macias tried to close stronger in the final round, but was stopped by Halimi's offense.

Life after boxing He retired from boxing in 1959 after outpointing Ernesto Parra in ten rounds in Mexico City. After a three-year break, he knocked out Chocolate Zambrano in the fifth as part of a charity event on October 13, 1962, in Guadalajara. The match was his last.

In retirement, Macías appeared in a number of Mexican telenovelas, most notably 1990's "Mi Pequeña Soledad" ("My Small Soledad"), alongside Verónica Castro. His best known movies included El Raton in 1957, La Culpa in 1966, and Llanto, risas e nocaut in 1974. The black and white film El Raton, in which he starred, was directed by Chano Urueta. He co-starred with gifted boxer, four times world champion and Boxing Hall of Fame member, Ruben Olivares, ("el puas"), in Llanto, risas e nocaut.

After his participation in "Mi Pequeña Soledad", Macías dedicated himself to training boxers in a Mexico City gym. He compiled a professional boxing record of 41 wins and 2 losses, with 25 wins by knockout. He died at the age of 74.

Professional record

Win 41–2

Win 40–2

Win 39–2

Win 38–2

Win 37–2

Loss 36–2

Win 36–1

Win 35–1

Win 34–1

Win 33–1

Win 32–1

Win 31–1

Win 30–1

Win 29–1

Win 28–1

Win 27–1

Win 26–1

Win 25–1

Win 24–1

Win 23–1

Win 22–1

Win 21–1

Win 20–1

Loss 19–1

Win 19–0

Win 18–0

Win 17–0

Win 16–0

Win 15–0

Win 14–0

Win 13–0

Win 12–0

Win 11–0

Win 10–0

Win 9–0

Win 8–0

Win 7–0

Win 6–0

Win 5–0

Win 4–0

Win 3–0

Win 2–0

Win 1–0