By David Martinez / Boxing Historian / dmboxing.com

A fighter that my uncle admired, and one which was before my time in boxing, was Carlos Chavez.

My uncle’s favorite boxer, though, was Manuel Ortiz. He met Ortiz on several occasions when both were living in the Imperial Valley town of El Centro, California.

I recall my uncle telling me that Carlos Chavez fought all the best boxers in a career that spanned seventeen years, from 1939 to 1956.

Chavez’s opponents included Lou Salica, Harold Dade, Lauro Salas, Willie Pep, Jimmy Carter, Paddy DeMarco, Tony DeMarco, Mario Trigo, Tony Olivera, Art Aragon, Jesse Flores, Eddie Chavez, Maxie Docusen, Paulino Montes, Cisco Andrade, and his epic five-bout series with all time great, Manuel Ortiz.

Chavez and Ortiz met twice in 1941, as bantamweights, with the first fight a draw; then a month later Ortiz won by 10-round decision.

They fought again, their third fight, in 1944, with Ortiz winning a disputed 10-round split decision.

In 1946, they fought twice more:  a 15-round draw in March for the vacant USA California State Featherweight title; and again in October, with Chavez winning a controversial 12-round decision.

I am not sure which Ortiz fights my uncle attended. I’m guessing they were fight #3 at Gilmore Stadium, Los Angeles, on September 30, 1944, and fight #4 at the Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, on March 19, 1946.

Sadly, Carlos Chavez died tragically when he was shot while resisting a robbery/mugging in his Eagle Rock, California neighborhood on August 8, 1990. He was 68 years old.

Chavez was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991 and the California Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006, both in the Posthumous Category.

On a family note, Carlos’ nephew, Vince Delgado, was an outstanding, world-renowned referee and judge from 1975 to 2005, doing many great fights in those thirty years.