Lupe Pintor
Soon after the Lee fight,
Pintor vacated his world title and started eyeing the WBC Super Bantamweight
crown worn by the great Wilfredo Gomez. Stepping up, he immediately
beat former WBA World Bantamweight Champion Jorge Lujan and then,
on December 3 of that year, he and Gomez met as part of the Carnival
of Champions in New Orleans. Showcased on HBO, this duel was subsequently
dubbed the division’s ‘Fight of The Decade’ by The Ring magazine.
But it did not go Pintor’s way. Gomez recorded a fourteenth round
knockout and relinquished his own title five months later.
Pintor
was inactive throughout 1983. He returned to the ring a year and a
half later as a fully fledged Super Bantamweight defeating Ruben Solorio
on February 16, 1984 and busied himself thereafter trying to get another
shot at the world title. His Perseverance paid off when he was pitted
against Juan ‘Kid’ Meza, the WBC’s Super Bantamweight Champion on
August 18, 1985. Pintor floored the defending champion three times
on the way to collecting a unanimous decision and celebrated his new
status as a double world title holder.
His first defense of this
new crown did not go to plan. Traveling to Bangkok to meet Samart
Payakaroon, Pintor exceeded the division weight limit and was subsequently
stripped of his title at the scales. Payakaroon could still become
champion if he defeated Pintor but if Pintor won the title would be
declared vacant. Payaaroon pounded Pintor to defeat in five rounds
and the ex-champion hung up his gloves for the next eight years.
Pintor
made a comeback of sorts in 1994, but at the comparatively advanced
age of thirty-eight, he was long past his best. Winning just twice
in seven contests through over the next eighteen months, he was finally
convinced that it was time to retire.
Honors
Pintor was named
The Ring magazine Comeback of the Year fighter for 1985.
After
boxing
Unlike many great champions, Pintor has managed his money well
and opened a boxing school in Mexico City. In 2002, he was invited
to Merthyr Tydfil by Johnny Owen’s family to help unveil a bronze
statue commemorating the boxer’s life and career.
In 2008, Pintor
reunited with Carlos Zarate and joined Juan Laporte as the three former
victims of Wilfredo Gomez showed up a party dedicated to Gomez for
his fiftieth birthday, in Puerto Rico.
Pintor, along with Hector
Camacho and Hilario Zapata and several non-boxers was voted into the
International Boxing Hall of Fame in December 2015 and was inducted
in June 2016.
