Kid Chocolate
Eligio Sardiñas Montalbo better known as KID CHOCOLATE (January 6, 1910 – August 8, 1988), was a Cuban boxer who enjoyed wild success both in the boxing ring and in society life during a span of the 1930s.
Eligio, also nicknamed The Cuban Bon Bon, learned how to fight by watching old fight films in Cuba. He later sparred with boxers such as Benny Leonard and Jack Johnson, all world champions, before beginning an amateur boxing career. As an amateur, he allegedly won all 100 of his fights, 86 by knockout, but this record was apparently fabricated for publicity purposes.
His professional boxing debut, officially, occurred on December 8, 1927, when he beat Johnny Cruz in six rounds in Havana. Although it has been claimed that he had 100 amateur fights and 21 KO wins as a pro in Cuba, this was a fabrication by his manager, Pincho Gutierrez. Research by boxing historian Enrique Encinosa has uncovered 22 amateur bouts, verified through Cuban newspapers Diario de la Marina and La Noche, as well as various books published by biographers or the Cuban government.
His first 9 bouts, including a five round knockout win in a rematch with Cruz, were held in Cuba. In 1928, he moved to the United States and began campaigning in New York. He won his first nine bouts there, five by knockout, and 12 of his first 13 fights in his new hometown. The only person to escape the ring without a defeat against Chocolate during that span was Joey Scalfaro, who held him to a ten round draw.
After the Revolution in the early sixties professional boxing was prohibited by the Government. Dozens of professional boxers left Cuba for Miami Florida. The Cuban diaspora spread to Spain, Mexico and Jamaica but the most popular destination was Miami.
http://youtu.be/QSAGEh-08XU
Cuba has a long tradition of boxing sports , in the early thirties the famous Kid Chocolate was the first Cuban to hold a world boxing title. Among the Cuban boxers are famous names like Kid Chocolate and Kid Gavilan but also Luis Rodriguez, Ultimo Sugar Ramos, José Napoles, Kid Paret, Nino Valdez and Teofilo Stevenson. In Central Havana opposite the Capitolio on the Paseo del Prado between Brasil and San Martin streets, the Sala Polivalente Kid Chocolate ( the Kid Chocolate Sports Hall) is still used for boxing matches.
