Betulio González facts for kids

Betulio Segundo González (born October 24, 1949) is a famous former boxer from Venezuela. Many people in Venezuela see him as a national hero. He is often called Venezuela's greatest world champion in boxing history. Betulio had a long career with 92 fights. He kept fighting until he was almost 40 years old, which was the age when professional boxers in Venezuela had to retire.

Betulio's Boxing Journey

Betulio González was born in Maracaibo, Zulia State. He started his professional boxing career on April 24, 1968. In his first fight, he won by knocking out Elio Monzat in the third round. Betulio won his first ten fights in a row! This included his first fight in Caracas, where he won after ten rounds.

His winning streak ended on August 1, 1969, when his fight against Juan José Brizuela ended in a tie (called a "draw"). But Betulio beat Brizuela in a rematch. Then, on October 10, he fought Hector Criollo for the Venezuelan Flyweight title. He won his first championship belt by knocking out Criollo in seven rounds.

On March 6, 1970, Betulio had a surprising loss to Felix Marquez. Marquez knocked him out in six rounds. But Betulio got his revenge in a rematch, winning by a close decision. He also won against Nestor Jimenez, but lost to Ignacio Espinal. Both Jimenez and Espinal later fought for world titles too.

Becoming a World Champion

On April 1, 1971, Betulio got his first chance to fight for a world title. This was also his first fight outside Venezuela. He traveled to Tokyo to challenge Masao Ohba for the WBA world Flyweight title. He fought for fifteen rounds but lost by a decision.

After winning three more fights, he got a second chance at a world title on November 20, 1971. He faced the world champion Erbito Salavarria for his WBC world title. The fight ended in a draw, but the WBC still recognized Betulio as the world champion!

He lost his WBC title in his second defense on September 29, 1972. Venice Borkhorsor knocked him out in the tenth round in Bangkok. Before that, Betulio had successfully defended his title once against Socrates Batoto.

Winning More World Titles

Betulio won four fights in a row after losing his first world title. Then, on August 4, 1973, he became a world Flyweight champion for the second time! He won the vacant WBA title by beating Miguel Canto in a fifteen-round fight in Maracaibo.

He defended this title on November 17, knocking out Alberto Morales. On May 19, 1974, he fought another world champion, Shoji Oguma, in a non-title fight in Tokyo and won. He also kept his WBA world Flyweight title on July 20, 1974, by knocking out Franco Udella in Italy.

However, Oguma later became the WBA world Flyweight champion when he beat Betulio on November 1, 1974.

Betulio and Canto met again on May 24, 1975, this time with Canto as the WBC world champion. Canto won by a close decision.

Betulio then won eight fights in a row. On June 20, 1976, he won the Fecarbox regional Flyweight title. On November 10, he fought Canto for a third time, but Canto kept his WBC world title.

A Three-Time World Champion

Betulio won eight more fights in a row, earning another chance at a world title. On August 12, 1978, he joined a special group of boxers who have won world championships three times in the same weight class! He beat Guty Espadas in Caracas to win the WBA world Flyweight title.

He defended his title on November 4, 1978, by knocking out Martin Vargas. Then, he had a third fight with Oguma on January 1, 1979, which ended in a draw.

Betulio returned to Japan in July 1979. On July 6, he got his revenge on Oguma, keeping his title by knocking him out in the twelfth round. But in his next defense, on November 17, he lost his world title to Luis Ibarra.

Betulio went on another winning streak, winning seven fights in a row. This included two wins against future world champion Peter Mathebula. His winning streak ended when he challenged Juan Herrera for the WBA world Flyweight title on December 19, 1981. Betulio was trying to become a world champion for the fourth time, but he was knocked out in seven rounds.

Later, Betulio fought Santos Laciar for the WBA world title on September 14, 1982. This was his last chance to become a four-time world champion, but he lost a close fight.

After losing another fight on July 7, 1984, Betulio announced he was retiring from boxing. However, he returned for one more fight in 1988. He lost to future world champion Rodolfo Blanco and then retired for good. This was just eleven months before boxers in Venezuela had to retire by law.

Betulio became very famous across Latin America during his time as world champion. Boxing magazines like Ring En Español and Guantes helped make him popular.

See also

In Spanish: Betulio González para niños

• List of world flyweight boxing champions