Eleoncio Mercedes – Dominican World Champion Boxer

Born on September 12, 1957 in La Romana, the largest city in the Dominican Republic, Eleoncio Mercedes was a world champion boxer in the flyweight division.

Most of Mercedes’ boxing career was spent in the United States and Mexico. He debuted as a professional boxer on July 2, 1978 in a fight against Darryl Jones in which he won. His first taste of defeat was in a fight against Joey Olivo in Las Vegas. It was Mercedes’ third finish as a professional boxer. It was in 1979 where he made his first eleven fights in Mexico. During that span of his boxing career, he posted a 6-3-2 record in various Mexican venues including Mexico City, Reynosa and Monterrey. He also lost to Cándido Téllez and Juan Díaz, but ultimately defeated Guty Espadas, a former world boxing champion by knockout.

In 1982, Mercedes had her first boxing match in her home country through a rematch with Díaz. The fight took place in Santo Domingo and ended with Mercedes winning the bout by a twelve round decision. Until then, his record was 10-6-2: 10 wins, six losses and two draws.

In a surprise decision, the World Boxing Conference (WBC) announced that they are giving Mercedes the chance to be world champion. On November 6, 1982, he fought two-time world champion Freddie Castillo in Los Angeles. Surprisingly, Mercedes won the fight and took home the World Flyweight Champion, a title that made the Dominican flag proud. Mercedes defended his title for the first time against Charlie Magri. During the seventh round of the fight he suffered a cut and ultimately lost his title to Magri. After that, he continued his boxing career, but was only able to win a few.

On December 22, 1985, at the age of 28, Mercedes was murdered by a police officer under unclear circumstances. She was shot because she was allegedly pulling a gun on the police officer.