Rafael Pedroza’s WBA Breakthrough Ends at the First Defense
Rafael “Rafaelito” Pedroza Mosquera was a Panamanian professional boxer who held the WBA super-flyweight championship from December 1981 to April 1982. Born in Colón and associated with Panama City, he was the cousin of featherweight champion Eusebio Pedroza. His championship belonged to the 115-pound division.
The championship victory in Panama
Pedroza won the WBA title from Argentina’s Gustavo Ballas on December 5, 1981, in Panama City. The contest went fifteen rounds and ended in a split decision. Ballas had become the organization’s inaugural super-flyweight champion earlier that year, so Pedroza’s victory made him the second boxer in that title lineage.
His first defense took place against Japan’s Jiro Watanabe at the Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka on April 8, 1982. Watanabe won a unanimous decision after fifteen rounds and took the championship. Pedroza therefore finished his reign without a successful defense, despite having won the belt directly from its existing holder.
A full-distance defeat in Osaka
Compiled career records list Pedroza’s professional activity from 1974 to 1982 and a record of nineteen wins, nine defeats and one draw, with fifteen knockout victories. His final listed opponent was Watanabe. Those dates and results place his career in the earlier generation of Panamanian lower-weight boxing, alongside his brief WBA title reign.
The two championship contests also capture the demands of the fifteen-round era. Pedroza won his belt through a divided verdict at home, then traveled overseas and completed another full-distance title fight against Watanabe.
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Boxing, Boxing History
