Esteban De Jesús’ Lightweight Battles
Esteban De Jesús gave Roberto Durán the first loss of his professional career, then met him twice more for world titles. Their rivalry became a defining thread in De Jesús’s own story: a sharp Puerto Rican lightweight who could drop the future legend, win a championship of his own, and keep challenging the division’s best.
The night Durán was beaten
On November 17, 1972, De Jesús met the reigning WBA lightweight champion at Madison Square Garden in a 10-round non-title bout. He floored Durán with a left hook in the opening round and went on to win a unanimous decision. Durán’s championship was not at stake, but his unbeaten record was—and the result made De Jesús the first man to beat him as a professional.
They fought again in Panama in March 1974, this time with Durán’s title on the line. De Jesús dropped him in the first round again, but Durán recovered and stopped him in the 11th. Their third meeting came four years later, after De Jesús had earned a belt of his own.
A champion in Puerto Rico
On May 8, 1976, De Jesús won the WBC lightweight title from Japan’s Guts Ishimatsu with a 15-round decision in Puerto Rico, as BoxRec’s championship history records. He made three successful defenses. When the rivals met for the third time in January 1978, Durán’s WBA title and De Jesús’s WBC belt were both at stake. Durán stopped De Jesús in the 12th round to unify the championships.
De Jesús continued boxing and made another world-title challenge against Saoul Mamby in 1980. The bout ended in a 13th-round stoppage. The chapter after boxing was painful: De Jesús was convicted of first-degree murder in 1981 and sentenced to life in prison. He was released for humanitarian reasons shortly before his death from AIDS-related complications in 1989. His boxing record remains one of Puerto Rico’s most striking careers: a world champion whose rivalry with Durán gave the lightweight era a rare three-fight arc.
Supporting sources: Los Angeles Times: De Jesús obituary and Duran trilogy; UPI: De Jesús and the WBC title reign; BoxRec: career and championship record.
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Article Tags
Esteban De Jesus, Boxing, Boxing History, Championship Boxing
