Juan Evangelista Venegas | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||||||
| Born | Juan Evangelista Venegas Trinidad December 27, 1928 | ||||||||||||||
| Died | April 16, 1987(1987-04-16) (aged 58)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Puerto Rican | ||||||||||||||
| Other names | "Veneguitas" | ||||||||||||||
| Statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Weight(s) | Bantamweight Featherweight | ||||||||||||||
| Stance | Southpaw | ||||||||||||||
| Boxing record | |||||||||||||||
| Total fights | 32 | ||||||||||||||
| Wins | 20 | ||||||||||||||
| Wins by KO | 7 | ||||||||||||||
| Losses | 10 | ||||||||||||||
| Draws | 2 | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||
Juan Evangelista Venegas (December 27, 1928 – April 16, 1987) was aPuerto Rican boxer notable for winning Puerto Rico's firstOlympic medal.
Venegas (birth name:Juan Evangelista Venegas Trinidad[note 1]) was born in an underprivileged section of the town of Río Piedras. Río Piedras at the time was not incorporated into the City ofSan Juan, Puerto Rico. There street fighting was a common way of life and many of the youth at that time saw the sport ofboxing as a way to a better life. Among them was Venegas, who admired Puerto Rico's first international boxing champion,Sixto Escobar. Venegas took up boxing and his performance in the ring soon caught the attention of the island's recently establishedOlympic Committee. In 1948 the Puerto Rican Olympic Committee included him in the delegation which would represent the island.
The1948 Summer Olympics celebrated inLondon, was a historical one for Puerto Rico because it was the first time that the island would participate as a nation in an international sporting event. The island's delegation consisted of twelve members.[2] In their opening ceremonies, the Puerto Rican delegation carried the flag of theUnited States into the Olympic stadium. The United States protested, claiming that two nations could not use the same flag at the same time. The decree ofCommonwealth on July 25, 1952, would give the Puerto Rican delegation a flag of their own.[3]
In the 1948 Summer Olympics, known as the XIV Olympics, Juan Evangelista Venegas made Puerto Rican sports history by winning Puerto Rico's first Olympic medal ever when he beatBelgium's representative, Louis Callenboat, on points for a unanimous decision. He won the bronze medal in boxing in theBantamweight division, falling short of the silver medal toGiovanni Zuddas.[4][5]
Below are the results of Juan Evangelista Venegas who competed as a bantamweight boxer for Puerto Rico at the 1948 London Olympics:
After returning to a hero's welcome to Puerto Rico, Venegas turned professional. In 1948, Venegas made his professional boxing debut against Puerto Rican Abelardo Alejandro. Venegas, asouthpaw, fought in thebantamweight andfeatherweight division for a total of 32 fights, compiling a record of 20-10-2. His last fight was in 1958 against Al Tisi.[7]
On April 16, 1987, Juan Evangelista Venegas died when he suffered a fall at his home which caused a skull fracture. A week before his death, he was honored by the College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico.[8]
In honor of his memory, the Puerto Rican Boxing Commission sponsors the Juan Evangelista Venegas boxing tournament, which serves as a tune-up to future Olympic boxing prospects.[4] There is a Juan Evangelista Venegas Olympic Cup which is given in other sports with Olympic orientation.[9]
