Antonio Cervantes, better known in the boxing world as ‘Kid Pambelé’, is recognized for being one of the first glories of national sport. His triumph on October 28, 1972 against the Panamanian Alfonso Peppermit Frazer consecrated him as the first ‘tricolor’ world champion in history.
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50 years ago, Colombia took to the streets to celebrate the triumph of the Palenquero at the New Panama Gym. In the moving voice of the narrator Napoleón Perea, sporting joy was heard for the first time in a country submerged by suspicions of electoral fraud and the emergence of new armed groups.
“The fight will continue: left, right, world champion, ‘Kid Pambelé’ world champion”, Perea recounted with notable emotion, after Frazer fell to the canvas three times in a row.
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Three consecutive years he remained as the best Junior Welterweight boxer until in 1976, Puerto Rican Wilfred Benitez snatched the crown from him in a fight that lasted 15 rounds.
Unfortunately, his legacy was stained after retiring from the ‘sport of flat noses’, as he fell into drug and alcohol use, which kept him almost destitute for some years. Today, according to one of his sons, he is in good health and enjoying what he likes the most: hitting the sack.
Recently Pambelé has become a trend on social networks, after it was recorded hitting the pear during his visit to the Hugo Barraza gym in the municipality of Turbaco, Bolívar. In the register you he saw making good hand and foot movements during your training session.
“That’s so they can see that my dad is in good health, that video is from two months ago,” said José Luis Cervantes, one of the sons of this legend.
Today he is considered one of the most important athletes in the history of the country. Moreover, some have dared to say that he is the best coffee athlete of all time.
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