Carlos Palomino's comeback

Richard M Murrieta · May 10, 2020

bandeedo said: ↑

He was fairly popular and was well known, although not a household name. He did a lot of Miller lite commercials and even came out on “Cheers” as himself. An exciting and very good fighter who came along around a very stacked era in the welters.
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My Friend, he even came out in an episode of Taxi in 1978.

Nighttrain · May 10, 2020

He was always one of my all-time favorites. Palomino is also among those who in my mind increase the stature in a loss.If you haven’t seen it, or seen it lately treat yourself to his fight against Roberto Duran! Duran’s respect for speaks volumes in my opinion .

Richard M Murrieta · May 10, 2020

I thought that Carlos Palomino was always a class act, I enjoyed watching his title bouts on CBS Sports Spectacular on Saturday afternoons. He always took his training serious, never boasted of defeating his opponents, as a matter of fact he was confident but praised his adversaries. He was an action packed fighter, a very deadly body puncher, my favorite was the title defense against Davey Boy Green in 1977, what a will to win. As for his comeback, he started out successful but fell short, age caught up to him, he took it serious, it was not a gimmick. One of my favorites.

vast · May 10, 2020

Dubblechin said: ↑

Carlos Palomino was an excellent fighter and was an extremely well-respected champ by everyone back then.

During his reign, most of the talk centered around either a unification with the WBA champion Pipino Cuevas (classic boxer-puncher matchup) or the possibility of the lightweight champ Duran moving up and fighting Palomino for his welterweight title.

In all the boxing mags, there were always letters from readers asking for those two matchups.

Palomino was based in California, so he was very popular with the movie and TV stars of that time period, particularly those who were into boxing (like James Caan and Ryan O'Neill). Carlos seemed to view boxing as a steppingstone to a career in Hollywood. So, when he started nearly the end of his reign, he got an agent and began appearing on television regularly. He most famously starred in an episode of the TV Show "Taxi" where one of the cab drivers (Tony Danza) sparred with the champ (Palomino) and dropped him.

Palomino just missed the rise of the welterweight division. Before Ray Leonard, no boxer below heavyweight had ever earned $1 million for a fight. Carlos typically made $100,000 (sometimes less) for a title defense. But that was no reflection on Palomino. I think Eddie Mustafa Muhammad made $25,000 to challenge Marvin Johnson for the light heavyweight belt. Probably Palomino's biggest rival during his reign was Armando Muniz, who was also based out of California and was a former Olympian. He'd been around longer. But Palomino sort of leapfrogged him to the title.

When Carlos lost to Wilfred Benitez, it was an upset. Then Leonard fought Benitez, and both Ray and Wilfred earned just over $1 million. It was a huge deal at the time. Then Palomino fought Duran in a non-title welterweight fight. It was the bout everyone had anticipated for years, and it was an excellent fight, but Duran was the clear winner. (I've always considered it one of the Duran's best wins.) Then Leonard and Duran fought for the first time, and Ray got $10 million to Duran's $1 million. (The money just JUMPED.)

With the money and the spotlight on the welters, it was a suprise when Palomino retired at 30. It was something he'd promised himself he'd do. So he did. He certainly had MANY good years left in him as a fighter. He just thought Hollywood was calling.

Then he attempted to become a movie star. Appeared in dozens of TV shows and had small parts in movies, but he never became famous in that arena.

I think everyone liked Palomino. He was always a nice guy in public. Very gentlemanly. Always carried himself with class. He started appearing on ESPN talk shows in the late 80s, and with his moustache shaved, he looked even younger than he did when he was fighting.

The comeback was a suprise. I was happy he did so well. The Rivera outcome was a real shock. Leads you to believe he could've been involved in all those fights at 147 and 154 in the early 80s. But he was a natural welterweight. He may not even have campaigned at 154.

I've always held him in high regard. One of the best welterweights ever. Not in the top 10. But one of the best.
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Excellent summary. One of my all time favorite WWs.

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Carlos Palomino's comeback

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Carlos Palomino's comeback

Richard M Murrieta Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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Richard M Murrieta Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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