Santos Benigno Laciar (born 31 January 1959), is an Argentine former professional boxer who competed from 1976 to 1990. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the World Boxing Association (WBA) flyweight title twice between 1981 and 1985, and the World Boxing Council (WBC) super-flyweight title in 1987.
Biography Laciar was born in Huinca Renancó, in the province of Córdoba, Argentina.
Laciar began his career in his hometown, on December 3 of 1976, knocking out Carlos Maliene in four rounds. After three more wins, all by knockout, he was faced with Alejandro Holguin, who held him to a ten-round draw, becoming the first boxer to face Laciar and not come out on the losing end. After three more wins, he drew once again, this time against Jose Ibiris, but in his next fight, he was able to take the Córdoba State Flyweight title away from Carlos Reyes Sosa in Villa María with a 12-round decision. He finished 1977 with four more wins, including a knockout in six in a rematch with Reyes Sosa.
In 1978 he had 13 fights, for an average of slightly more than one fight per month. Among his fights that year: a rematch with Ibiris, which ended in a ten-round decision win for Laciar, two fights versus contender Ramon Soria, which ended in a draw and in Laciar's first defeat, a 10-round decision loss, a fight with Luis Gerez, who drew with Laciar, and Laciar's Buenos Aires debut, a 10-round decision win over Angel Luis Fernandez.
1979 was another busy year for Laciar, boxing 13 times again during that year. He won 9 of those bouts. Among his fights in '79, a loss to future world Junior bantamweight champion Gustavo Ballas, who beat him in 10 on points, a rubber match with Ibris, resulting in another Laciar 10-round decision win, two decision losses to Raúl Pérez, and a 10-round decision win against top contender Federico Condori.
But early in 1980 Laciar started what would turn out to be a great decade for him. He was matched with Miguel Lanzarte on February 26 of that year for the vacant Argentinian flyweight title and won the bout by a decision in 12. After a draw in ten against Condori's brother Ruben, he won four straight bouts, and on August 30, he challenged for the South American flyweight title. In what was his first fight outside Argentina, he and South American champion Jaime Miranda battled to an 8-round no contest (a no contest is declared when circumstances beyond boxing cause the fight to be stopped) in Santiago, Chile. After one more win over Federico Condori, Miranda returned the favor by travelling to Laciar's country and this time, Laciar won the South American title with a 12-round decision win. Laciar finished the year by travelling to England, where he lost a 10-round decision to future world champion Charlie Magri.
In 1981, one day before his birthday, he beat Jose de la Cruz in Mar del Plata. He was already ranked number one by the WBA, and in March he flew to South Africa, where he beat Peter Mathebula on the 28th day of that month, by a knockout in seven rounds to become the world's flyweight champion. After the retirement of Carlos Monzón in 1977 and Victor Galindez in 1978, (Galindez died in 1980 in an auto race accident), Argentina was in need of a world champion boxer, and Laciar became a national hero instantly.
A rematch with Lanzarte, resulting in a 10-round non title decision win, followed, and then he fought at the Luna Park, where he lost his title to Luis Ibarra.
Ibarra lost his title in his first defense to Juan Herrera, and after 5 more bouts, Laciar challenged Herrera in the champion's hometown of Tampico, Mexico. Laciar recovered the crown by a knockout in 13 rounds, and this time, he wouldn't lose it again. He defended it for three years, after which he left it vacant. He defeated former world champion Betulio González in Maracaibo, Venezuela by a decision in 15, Steve Muchoki in Copenhagen, Denmark by a knockout in 13, Ramon Nery (a deaf-mute boxer) by a knockout in 9 at Córdoba, Shuichi Hozumi by a knockout in 2 in Japan, Hee Sup Chin, by a knockout in one in South Korea, Juan Herrera, in a rematch at Marsala, Italy, by a decision in 15, former world champion Prudencio Cardona by a knockout in 10 in Córdoba, former two-time world Junior Flyweight champion Hilario Zapata by a decision in 15 at Buenos Aires, and Antoine Monteiro, beaten by a knockout in 11 at Paris, France. After his fight with Monteiro, he decided to leave the world Flyweight championship vacant. His fame also surpassed the Argentinian borders and he became famous all over Latin America, The Ring's Spanish edition featuring him on the cover many times, as well as on posters and articles. He was also on the cover of Guantes magazine multiple times during his second period as champion.
On June 8, 1986, he and Jaime Miranda had a rubber match, Laciar winning a ten-round decision. Two months later, world Junior Bantamweight champion, Mexican Gilberto Roman, travelled to Argentina to defend his WBC and Lineal crown versus Laciar, the fight ending in a 12-round draw. Six more wins followed, including one against Hector Patri, and then on May 16 of 1987, he and Roman met again. This time the WBC chose a neutral place for the fight, but Laciar won the fight by a knockout in 11 at Reims, France, becoming a world champion for the third time. However, in his first title defense, Laciar was on the losing end of a decision against Colombian Sugar Baby Rojas in Miami.
Laciar kept on boxing and reeled off eight more straight wins, but on October 8, 1988, he was outpointed by Juan Carazo in Caguas, Puerto Rico, by a decision in 12 rounds. Two more wins and another no contest followed, and, after Carazo lost in his title try against Roman by decision, it was Laciar's turn to face the Mexican again. This time, they boxed in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California, and Roman came out victorious by a 12-round decision.
Roman would die in a car crash the next year, and all chances of a fourth bout between the two, which was a possibility that was being talked about, were dashed with Roman's death.
Laciar fought three more bouts, all in 1990, after which he decided to retire. A world-traveling boxer, Laciar had fights in twelve countries, not counting fights held at his native Argentina. The countries he visited as a professional boxer to fight at were, in the following order, Chile, the United Kingdom (specifically, England), South Africa, Mexico, Venezuela, Denmark, Japan, South Korea, Italy, France, the United States and Puerto Rico.
His final record was 79 wins, 10 losses, 11 draws and 1 fight ended in a no-contest, with 31 wins coming by knockout.
After retirement Laciar became an occasional boxing commentator for TyC Sports's Saturday night boxing show, Boxeo de Primera.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes101Loss79–10–11 Hugo SotoUD1021 Dec 1990100Win79–9–11 Ruben CondoriPTS1015 Sep 199099Win78–9–11 Juan Carlos CortesUD1027 Apr 199098Loss77–9–11 Gilberto RománUD1212 Sep 198997Win77–8–11 Hugo GomezPTS106 Apr 198996Win76–8–11 Jesús MorenoKO3 (10)18 Feb 198995NC75–8–11 Raúl OjedaNC1 (10)7 Jan 198994Loss75–8–11Juan CarazoSD128 Oct 198893Win75–7–11Alejandrino CastañoKO5 (10)24 Jun 198892Win74–7–11Ricardo Escobar BaezPTS1010 Jun 198891Win73–7–11Luis Alberto OcampoRTD6 (10)7 May 198890Win72–7–11Ricardo Escobar BaezPTS1015 Apr 198889Win71–7–11José NarvaezPTS102 Apr 198888Win70–7–11Bernardo MendozaKO3 (10)5 Mar 198887Win69–7–11Juan Alberto IvaloKO6 (10)17 Feb 198886Win68–7–11José NarvaezPTS1010 Dec 198785Loss67–7–11Sugar Baby RojasUD128 Aug 198784Win67–6–11Gilberto RománTKO11 (12), 16 May 198783Win66–6–11Alejandro VazquezKO2 (10)14 Apr 198782Win65–6–11 Isaias CarvachoKO4 (10)21 Mar 198781Win64–6–11José NarvaezPTS105 Mar 198780Win63–6–11Hector PatriPTS1030 Jan 198779Win62–6–11 Oscar BolivarPTS108 Nov 198678Win61–6–11José NarvaezPTS1024 Oct 198677Draw60–6–11Gilberto RománPTS1230 Aug 198676Win60–6–10Alberto PachecoKO8 (10)17 Jul 198675Win59–6–10Jaime MirandaPTS108 Jun 198674Win58–6–10Antoine MonteroUD156 May 198573Win57–6–10Hilario ZapataUD158 Dec 198472Win56–6–10Prudencio CardonaKO10 (15)15 Sep 198471Win55–6–10Juan HerreraSD1528 Jan 198470Win54–6–10Juan Carlos CortesPTS1016 Dec 19869Win53–6–10Shin Hi-supTKO1 (15), 17 Jul 198368Win52–6–10Shuichi HozumiTKO2 (15), 5 May 1983 67Win51–6–10Ramón NeryTKO9 (15), 4 Mar 198366Win50–6–10Rodolfo RodriguezPTS1018 Dec 198265Win49–6–10Steve MuchokiTKO13 (15)5 Nov 198264Win48–6–10Ramón AlbersTKO5 (10)9 Oct 198263Win47–6–10Betulio GonzálezSD1514 Aug 198262Win46–6–10José GomezPTS1022 Jul 198261Win45–6–10Mario PaniaguaPTS108 Jul 198260Win44–6–10Domingo AragónPTS1011 Jun 198259Win43–6–10Juan HerreraTKO13 (15), 1 May 198258Draw42–6–10Rodolfo RodriguezPTS107 Nov 198157Win42–6–9Miguel Angel LazartePTS1018 Sep 198156Draw41–6–9Ruben CondoriPTS1018 Sep 198155Win41–6–8Domingo AragónPTS104 Sep 198154Draw40–6–8Rodolfo RodriguezPTS1022 Aug 198153Loss40–6–7Luis IbarraUD156 Jun 198152Win40–5–7Miguel Angel LazartePTS108 May 198151Win39–5–7Peter MathebulaTKO7 (15), 28 Mar 198150Win38–5–7José De La Cruz LópezPTS1030 Jan 198149Loss37–5–7Charlie MagriPTS128 Dec 198048Win37–4–7Jaime MirandaPTS1222 Nov 198047Win36–4–7Federico CondoriPTS106 Nov 198046Draw35–4–7Jaime MirandaTD8 (12)27 Aug 198045Win35–4–6Miguel Angel VelezRTD6 (10)22 Jul 198044Win34–4–6Adrian RomanKO3 (10)6 Jun 198043Win33–4–6Juan José BrizuelaPTS109 May 198042Win32–4–6Domingo AragónPTS1018 Apr 198041Draw31–4–6Ruben CondoriPTS1028 Mar 198040Win31–4–5Miguel Angel LazartePTS1227 Feb 198039Win30–4–5Federico CondoriPTS107 Dec 197938Loss29–4–5Gustavo BallasPTS103 Nov 197937Win29–3–5 Hector VelazquezPTS1012 Oct 197936Win28–3–5Luis GomezPTS106 Sep 197935Draw27–3–5Miguel Angel LazartePTS1022 Aug 197934Win27–3–4Juan EspíndolaPTS1022 Jun 1979 33Loss26–3–4Raúl PerezPTS1025 May 197932Win26–2–4José FloresTKO7 (10)26 Apr 197931Win25–2–4 Gilberto LopezPTS1011 Apr 197930Loss24–2–4Raúl PerezPTS1016 Mar 197929Win24–1–4Juan Carlos RiosPTS109 Feb 197928Win23–1–4José IbirisPTS1026 Jan 1979 27Win22–1–4Raúl PerezPTS1014 Dec 1978 26Loss21–1–4Ramon SoriaPTS101 Dec 197825Win21–0–4Felipe RojasKO5 (10)9 Nov 197824Win20–0–4Angel Lois FernandezPTS1021 Oct 1978 23Draw19–0–4Luis GerezPTS106 Oct 1978 22Win19–0–3José LopezTKO4 (10)20 Sep 197821Win18–0–3José IzquierdoPTS106 Sep 197820Win17–0–3Hector BarretoPTS108 Jul 197819Win16–0–3Reynaldo RomeroPTS102 Jun 197818Win15–0–3Carlos AgueroPTS1019 May 197817Draw14–0–3Ramon SoriaPTS1014 Apr 197816Win14–0–2José IbirisPTS1010 Feb 197815Win13–0–2Luis GerezPTS1013 Jan 1978} 14Win12–0–2Enrique NavarroTKO6 (10)17 Dec 197713Win11–0–2José IzquierdoPTS104 Nov 197712Win10–0–2Carlos Reyes SosaRTD6 (10)22 Oct 197711Win9–0–2Manuel QuinterosRTD8 (10)30 Sep 197710Win8–0–2Carlos Reyes SosaPTS129 Sep 19779Draw7–0–2José IbirisPTS108 Jul 1977 8Win7–0–1José ZárateKO1 (10)18 Jun 19777Win6–0–1José IzquierdoPTS107 May 19776Win5–0–1Alberto MartinPTS1022 Apr 19775Draw4–0–1Alejandro OlguinPTS1026 Mar 19774Win4–0José FloresKO4 (6)25 Feb 19773Win3–0Amado ChavezTKO5 (6)5 Feb 19772Win2–0Angel PereyraTKO4 (6)15 Jan 19771Win1–0Carlos MalieneKO4 (6)3 Dec 1976
See also List of world flyweight boxing champions List of world super-flyweight boxing champions
References
External links
Santos Laciar - CBZ Profile