Rudy Barro '1974 Journeyman Fighter of the Year'

Mr. Flea,,,,,,,,,,,,

Believe that when Antonio 'Kid Pambele' Cervantes travelled to Thailand,,,,,,,,,,,,,
to defend his WBA Light-Welterweight Championship versus Tongta Kiatayupakdi,,,,,,,in April 1978,,,,

a 'Non-Title Bout' over the 140 lb. weight limit was on the table between Antonio and Saensak,,,,,,,,
for a possible early-July 1978 Date,,,,,but Cervantes wanted $250,000 to take that bout in Thailand,,,,

And,,,,,,,the WBA (always in the best interest in boxing),,,,,,,,threatened to vacate the Light-Welterweight Title
if Antonio took that bout.

 

Mr. Flea,,,,,,,,,

Got most of the 'skinny' on Tongta from my South American boxing friend.

Tongta Kiatayupakdi,,,,,,,,

Height;,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,5' 7"
Stance;,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Southpaw
Style,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Similar to Saensak Muangsurin
Boxing Skills;,,,,,,,,,Above-Average
Hand-Speed,,,,,,,,,,Fast
Power Punch,,,,,,,,,Straight Left-hand (Ferocious)
Right-Jab,,,,,,,,,,,,,Poor (Used more for measuring his opponent)
Defense,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Good

* Born;............................. January, 18, 1954
* Turned Professional;..........August 1974

* Campaigned as a 135 lb. Lightweight
* Won First '3' Bouts............3-0-0 (2 KO's)
* Though not recorded, fought on the 'undercard' of the Saensak Muangsurn - Rudy Barro
bout in November 1974. (Scored a KO 2 over Fili Soteano)
* By April 1976,, improved to 14-0-0 (12 KO's)
* In May 1976, in his biggest bout, defeats one-time Top-Ranked Lightweight, Jimmy Heair
46-8-1 by a solid Decision (W Unan. Dec 10), in 'over-the-weight' Lightweight bout.

* June 30, 1976 - Fights in Madrid, Spain - on the undercard of the Saensak Muangsurin vs. Miguel Velasquez
WBC Light-Welterweight Championship. Scores an 'impressive win' over Spanish Lightweight Champion,
Jeronimo Lucas 18-3-1 (8 KO's) by stopping him in 4-Rounds ( KO 4).

* July 1976,,,,,,,is 16-0-0 {13 KO's}, and earns a #12 WBC Light-Welterweight Ranking.

* By October 1976, added '2' more wins, and improved his undefeated record to 18-0-0 {15 KO's}, and earned a
#10 WBC Light-Welterweight ranking.

* On November 26, 1976 - moved up to the Light-Welterweight Division, and took on OPBF Light-Welterweight
Champion, # 9 WBC Chung-Moon Chin 17-4-2 (12 KO's). The South Korean Chin, was coming off an impressive
(KO 10) over Frankie Benitez 24-3-1 (Wilfred Benitez's brother) on the undercard of the Wilfred Benitez vs. Tony Petronelli
WBA Light-Welteweight bout in October, and in San Juan, Puerto Rico in October 1976.

Tongta Kiatayupakdi got blitzed in Round 8 {L KO 8}, by Chung-Moon Chin who utilzed a non-stop attack and
over-whelmed the Thai-fighter, who was felled and counted out in the 8th-Round. The boxing report stated, that
Tongta boxed well through 5-Rounds, but was worn down by the aggressive Chung-Moon Chin, and could not
hold off the South Korean as the Tongta was dropped for the 'full-count' by a 'body shot'

 

Tongta Kiatayupakdi,,,,

Came back in February 1977 (after his November Knock-out loss) to defeat
Changthon Singthaningsakdi 8-2-1 (4 KO's) by Knock-out (KO 4).

Improved to 19-1-0 (16KO's).

March 12, 1977 - Tongta travelled to Manila, Philippines, to take on #11 WBC Light-Welterweight
Dan DeGuzman 17-2-0 (11 KO's) for the Asian-Pacific Light Welterweight Championship, a 12-Round bout.

DeGuzman an extemely tough-fighter, took control immediately, and swept all of the
early rounds. DeGuzman was trying to wear down Tongta (much like Chung-Moon Chin had). After Round-7,
Tongta was down 7 to 0 in Rounds. But in Round-8, Tongta got his straight left hand going, and badly hurt DeGuzman.

Tongta repeated his straight left hand shots in Round-9, and dropped Deguzman three times, with the final
knockdown scoring a 10-Count at 1:55 of the round.

Tongta improved to 20-1-0 (17 KO's), and moved to #11 WBC Light-Welterweight.

Note; Dan DeGuzman would go on to defeat Saensak Muangsurin in July 1979.

 

Looks like he was a pretty good fighter,,,,,,,and sparred with Saensak also,,,,,,,,,:good.

Similar styles, though nowhere near the power of Mr. Muangsurin.

 

After a 'disaster year' in 1975,,,,,,,,,

1976 opened up with Rudy Barro losing to #9 Welterweight, Andy Price 18-1-3 (L DEC 10) in a 144 lb. weight bout
on January 29.

Andy got some minor redemption, in defeating the Rudy, the 'guy' who blasted him out in '2' Rounds in 1974.

But, Rudy bounced back with another upset win over Top 10 Lightweight, Miguel Mayan 39-31-5,
by winning a Decision ( W Unan Dec 10) on March 18, 1976.

1977, another early year loss to Andy Price 21-3-3 (L Unan. Dec 10) on January 19.

That loss, seemed to knock Rudy into 'journeyman oblivion',,,,,,,,,,,,,,as Andy Price had
lost '2' fights in a row prior to defeating Rudy.

But, one more time,,,,,,,,,,, Rudy pulled an upset,,,,,,, by defeating #7 Light-Welterweight,
Adolfo Viruet 14-1-0 in California (W DEC 10) in February 1977.

Rudy Barro improved to a 'spotty' 29-20-0 (12 KO's)

Sice the Knock-out Loss to Saensak Muangsurin, in November 1974,,,,,,,,,,,Rudy had gone 4-10-0 (3 KO's),
with '4' Knock-out losses.

 

Flea Man,,,,,,

A little more inofpormation on Francisco 'The Mad Bull' Moreno

El Furioso de Toro'

Was actually 28-4-0 (13 KO's) when he fought Saensak in that 'Fight to the Death'
bout.

He was 25 at the time.

Turned professional in September 1973 (not 1975 like we thought).

5' 8" and 140 lbs. A style much like Fitzroy Guissepi of Trinidad.

A 'slick boxer' with good defense. No real power though.

Went 14-1-0 (6 KO's), through May of 1975. And was thought to be a potential
Light-Welterweight Challenger, down the road.

Here's the Light-Welterweight connection.

June 6, 1975 - Fights WBC Light-Welterweight Champion - Perico Fernandez in a
10-Round non-title bout, in Valencia, Spain.

Fights well, but the 22 year-old loses a Unanimous 10-Round Decision.

After that loss, goes 14-2-0 (7 KO's) over the next 3-years, eventually getting to
the #8 WBC Light-Welterweight ranking with a 28-4-0 (13 KO's) record.

Then gets a shot at WBC Champion, Saensak Muangsurin.
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Note; Box/Rec incorrectly has a Frank Molina listed as fighting Perico Fernandez on
June 6, 1975.

Note; It was in fact, the young 'Venezuelan' Francisco Molina.