Benito Badilla: Chilean Boxer and WBA Title Challenger
Chilean boxer Benito Badilla built a professional career around national championships, regional title bouts and an opportunity at a world championship. His record includes contests at bantamweight and super bantamweight, with appearances in Chile and elsewhere in Latin America.
From Laja to a world-title challenge
Badilla, whose full name is Benito Segundo Badilla Inostroza, was born in Villarrica on August 26, 1958, and was associated with Laja. He began his professional career in February 1978 with a points victory over Germán Alvarado.
National and regional contests followed. His early record includes Chilean bantamweight championship success, while later bouts involved WBA Fedelatin titles. In November 1982, he challenged Leonardo Cruz for the WBA super-bantamweight championship in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Cruz won by an eighth-round stoppage.
The Cardenio Ulloa rivalry
Badilla’s domestic career included a notable pair of meetings with Cardenio Ulloa. In November 1985, Badilla won by knockout in Talcahuano in a Chilean bantamweight title contest. Their April 1986 meeting in Antofagasta produced the opposite outcome, with Ulloa winning by knockout.
Badilla continued competing after those bouts. His later results include victories over Isaías Carvacho and José Moreira, and a 1991 win against Jorge Luis Fernández in Laja. The available career summaries list 49 wins, 13 losses and one draw across 63 professional contests.
That record places his achievements in context: Badilla won at national and regional level, but his challenge against Cruz did not produce a world title. His career remains part of the history of Chile’s lighter-weight professional divisions.
Boxerlist’s bout history identifies the opponent, date and title at stake. Sources: Career chronology and title bouts; [1] [2]
Sources
Career records and reporting: boxerlist.com; boxingtitlefights.com.
Tags
Boxing, Boxing History
