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Philippines, 23 Feb 2026 |
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STORY OF PHILIPPINE BOXING PART XXVII: LUISITO ESPINOSA, THE TWO-DIVISION WORLD CHAMPION By Maloney L. Samaco PhilBoxing.com Fri, 01 May 2020  Luisito "Lindol" Espinosa was born on June 26, 1967 in Tondo, Manila. He was also nicknamed "Golden Boy" and turned professional in May 25, 1984 by outpointing Vladimer Raffy. He followed it up with another decision win over Ric Santiago. He suffered his first loss to Ariel Samson by decision on August 17, 1984. Then he won successively over Manuel Corpus by 3rd round KO, Danny Duran by 2nd round TKO, Titing Dignos by decision, Romy Austria by decision, Roger Pilapil by unanimous decision, and Romy Navarrete by decision. After losing twice to Jun Resma by decision and Dadoy Andujar by split decision, he grabbed seven straight wins over Robinson Cabusao and Ari Blanca by points decision, South Korean Bong Ho Lee by UD, Ruben de la Cruz by 9th round KO, Roger Pilapil by 4th round TKO, Dadoy Andujar in a rematch by UD, and Loremer Pontino by 3rd round KO. Espinosa lost in his first attempt at an international title when he was stopped by Mexican Juan Jose Estrada by 10th round TKO for the World Boxing Council international bantamweight championship in Tijuana, Baja California Mexico on March 14, 1988. He defeated Mauro Diaz of Atlanta, Georgia by 2nd round KO to wrest the USA California State bantamweight championship in San Francisco, California on July 23, 1988. In December 4, 1988, he travelled to Gwangju City, South Korea and was defeated by local hero Young Chun Min by a controversial split decision. He won four straight bouts against foreign opponents, namely Thailand's Somboonyod Singsamang by 1st round TKO, Mexico's Pedro Rodriguez by 4th round TKO, South Korea's Yung-Duk Park by 2nd round TKO and Japan’s Keiichi Ozaki by UD. Espinosa became world champion when he knocked out the dreaded Thai champion Khaokor Galaxy in the very first round to win the World Boxing Association bantamweight title in the hostile territory in Bangkok, Thailand. In October 18, 1989. Galaxy retired after his upset loss to Espinosa which is his only second career defeat. He defeated Mexican Juan Mendoza by 3rd round TKO in Daly City, California on December 1, 1989. Espinosa defended his world title against Hurley Snead of Detroit, Michigan by 8th round TKO when Snead went down three times in the 1st, 2nd and 8th rounds in May 30, 1990 in Bangkok, Thailand. He won another non-title bout against YongMan Chun by 1st round TKO when the South Korean went down three times in the opening round in October 12, 1990 in Manila. The Filipino champion defended the title for the second time and defeated Thai fighter Thanomsak Sithbaobay in November 24, 1990 in Bangkok, Thailand via unanimous decision when the local hero went down in the 4th round. Espinosa lose the title to Israel Contreras by a 5th round knockout in October 19,1991 at the Araneta Coliseum. Espinosa was leading in all scorecards because the Venezuelan challenger went down two times in the 2nd round. The Filipino was floored twice in the 5th round prompting the referee to stop the fight. Espinosa climbed back to prominence, winning six straight fights, over Rudy Cabiles by UD, Mexican Eduardo Rojas by UD, Thailand's Thanomchit Kiatkriengkrai by 1st round KO, Russian Evgeny Burchak by UD, Mexican Raul Martinez Mora by SD, and Boyet Andales by 3rd round TKO. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.  |
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