Rubén Darío Palacio

Rubén Darío Palacio
Rubén Darío Palacio
Born	Rubén Darío Palacio Ceballos; 1 December 1962; La Sierra, Colombia
Died	14 November 2003 (aged 40); Medellín, Colombia
Other names	El Huracan ("The Hurricane")
	Statistics
Weight(s)	Bantamweight; Super bantamweight; Featherweight; Super featherweight;
Height	5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
	Boxing record
Total fights	58
Wins	45
Wins by KO	19
Losses	11
Draws	2

Ruben Darío "El Huracán" Palacio (1 December 1962 in Puerto Nare, Antioquia – 14 November 2003 in Medellín, Colombia) was a Colombian boxer.

Professional career

Palacio fought 11 years before surprisingly winning the WBO title in England with an eighth-round technical knockout of British star Colin McMillan after McMillan dislocated his shoulder on 26 September 1992.

Before that, Palacio had tried unsuccessfully to win a world title on 3 occasions and never gave up on his dream, even when he had very low points in his career (between 1984 and 1986, for example, he lost 4 out of 5 fights).

He was very much the underdog against the flashy 23-1 McMillan but Palacio had his night of glory that day in London.^[1] Ironically, he returned to England to defend his title and then he was diagnosed with the HIV virus by the British Boxing Board of Control. Palacio had to relinquish the belt he had waited so long to win and retired with a 45-11-2 (19 KO) record.^[2]

Professional boxing record

58 fights	45 wins	11 losses
By knockout	19	7
By decision	26	4
Draws	2

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
58	Win	45–11–2	Colin McMillan	TKO	8 (12)	1992-09-26	Olympia, London, England, U.K.	Won WBO featherweight title
57	Win	44–11–2	Dionisio Blanco	TKO	4 (10)	1992-07-03	Envigado, Colombia
56	Win	43–11–2	Alberto Zuluaga	PTS	10 (10)	1992-04-11	Bogotá, Colombia
55	Loss	42–11–2	Mario Fuentes	TKO	4 (10)	1991-11-22	Arena Naucalpan, Naucalpan, Mexico
54	Win	42–10–2	Omar Gonzalez	TKO	4 (12)	1991-07-31	Cartagena, Colombia	Won vacant Colombian super-featherweight title
53	Loss	41–10–2	Ever Beleno	PTS	10 (10)	1991-06-14	Cartagena, Colombia
52	Loss	41–9–2	Joon Huh	KO	2 (10)	1991-02-03	Geumho Citizen Gymnasium, Yeongcheon, South Korea
51	Win	41–8–2	Juan De la Cruz	TKO	7 (10)	1990-11-10	Puerto Nare, Colombia
50	Loss	40–8–2	Luis Mendoza	TKO	3 (12)	1990-09-11	Jai Alai Fronton, Miami, Florida, U.S.	For vacant WBA super-bantamweight title
49	Draw	40–7–2	Luis Mendoza	SD	12 (12)	1990-05-25	Plaza de toros de Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia	For vacant WBA super-bantamweight title
48	Win	40–7–1	Luis Navarro	KO	2 (?)	1990-02-17	Apartadó, Colombia
47	Win	39–7–1	Praphan Khamcha	UD	10 (10)	1989-11-18	Samut Sakhon, Thailand
46	Win	38–7–1	Deus James Pemberti	PTS	8 (8)	1989-07-15	Barranquilla, Colombia
45	Win	37–7–1	Angel Vargas	TKO	4 (?)	1989-04-29	Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan, Puerto Rico
44	Win	36–7–1	Daniel Blanco	KO	3 (?)	1989-03-03	Medellín, Colombia
43	Win	35–7–1	Gustavo Espitia	KO	3 (?)	1989-01-28	Apartadó, Colombia
42	Win	34–7–1	Luis Berrio	KO	4 (?)	1988-12-16	Barranquilla, Colombia
41	Win	33–7–1	Juan Gomez Polo	PTS	8 (8)	1988-12-02	Barranquilla, Colombia
40	Win	32–7–1	Alvaro Narvaez	PTS	12 (12)	1988-10-07	Bello, Colombia
39	Win	31–7–1	Gustavo Espitia	KO	1 (?)	1988-09-10	Colombia
38	Win	30–7–1	Jaime Castellon	TD	7 (12)	1988-05-21	Coliseo Vicente Díaz Romero, Bucaramanga, Colombia
37	Win	29–7–1	Pedro Arroyo	MD	10 (10)	1988-03-30	Holiday Beach Hotel, Willemstad, Curaçao
36	Win	28–7–1	Manuel Mejia	TKO	4 (12)	1988-02-05	Medellín, Colombia
35	Win	27–7–1	Luis Mendieta	KO	2 (?)	1987-12-19	Medellín, Colombia
34	Win	26–7–1	Alvaro Bohorquez	PTS	10 (10)	1987-10-30	Montería, Colombia	Won vacant Colombian featherweight title
33	Win	25–7–1	Eduardo Rodriguez	PTS	8 (8)	1987-08-25	Laredo, Colombia
32	Loss	24–7–1	Rafael Zuñiga	TKO	2 (10)	1987-05-25	Cartagena, Colombia
31	Win	24–6–1	Ley Umba Sengi	PTS	8 (8)	1986-10-10	Palazzo Dello Sport, Cesena, Italy
30	Win	23–6–1	Vicente Jorge	KO	4 (?)	1986-09-19	Lerici, Italy
29	Win	22–6–1	Faical Naifer	PTS	8 (8)	1986-07-04	Porlezza, Italy
28	Loss	21–6–1	Jim McDonnell	TKO	7 (10)	1986-05-07	Royal Albert Hall, London, England, U.K.
27	Loss	21–5–1	Valerio Nati	PTS	10 (10)	1985-10-12	Palazzo Dello Sport, Cesena, Italy
26	Loss	21–4–1	Kim Ji-won	UD	15 (15)	1985-03-30	Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon, South Korea	For IBF super-bantamweight title
25	Win	21–3–1	José Cervantes	KO	8 (10)	1984-12-14	Cartagena, Colombia
24	Loss	20–3–1	Tommy Valoy	KO	11 (12)	1984-09-03	Sentro Deportivo Korsou, Willemstad, Curaçao	For vacant WBC Continental Americas super-bantamweight title
23	Win	20–2–1	Jefferson Gomez	PTS	10 (10)	1984-06-29	Buenaventura, Colombia	Won vacant Colombian super-bantamweight title
22	Win	19–2–1	Hilario Diaz	PTS	10 (10)	1984-05-24	Caracas, Venezuela
21	Win	18–2–1	Mario Livingston	PTS	10 (10)	1984-05-11	San Andrés, Colombia
20	Win	17–2–1	Bernardino Rubio	PTS	8 (8)	1984-02-12	Medellín, Colombia
19	Draw	16–2–1	Pedro Barrera	PTS	10 (10)	1983-12-23	Barranquilla, Colombia
18	Win	16–2	Antonio Nisperuza	PTS	10 (10)	1983-10-05	Turbo, Colombia
17	Loss	15–2	José Cervantes	KO	4 (?)	1983-07-15	Cartagena, Colombia
16	Win	15–1	Carlos Garcia	KO	6 (10)	1983-06-06	Colombia
15	Loss	14–1	Miguel Lora	PTS	12 (12)	1983-05-12	Montería, Colombia	For vacant WBC Continental Americas bantamweight title
14	Win	14–0	Daniel Martinez	KO	2 (?)	1983-03-26	Plaza de toros de Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia
13	Win	13–0	Henry Diaz	KO	4 (?)	1983-03-06	Colombia
12	Win	12–0	Miguel Maturana	TKO	10 (10)	1982-12-18	Plaza Monumental, Cartagena, Colombia	Retained Colombian bantamweight title
11	Win	11–0	Homer Meza	PTS	12 (12)	1982-10-30	Medellín, Colombia	Won Colombian bantamweight title
10	Win	10–0	Wilson Salgado	KO	2 (?)	1982-06-15	Cartagena, Colombia
9	Win	9–0	Francisco Alvarez	PTS	10 (10)	1982-04-17	Cartagena, Colombia
8	Win	8–0	Jose Rodriguez	PTS	10 (10)	1982-03-05	Cartagena, Colombia
7	Win	7–0	Valerio Zea	PTS	10 (10)	1981-12-15	San Onofre, Colombia
6	Win	6–0	Pedro Rengifo	PTS	10 (10)	1981-09-18	Colombia
5	Win	5–0	Rafael Correa	PTS	8 (8)	1981-08-09	Colombia
4	Win	4–0	Antonio Galviz	PTS	8 (8)	1981-07-17	Coliseo Humberto Perea, Barranquilla, Colombia
3	Win	3–0	Hector Franklin	PTS	6 (6)	1981-06-21	Colombia
2	Win	2–0	Alexis Klinger	PTS	6 (6)	1981-05-05	Colombia
1	Win	1–0	Juan Mercado	PTS	6 (6)	1981-04-27	Colombia

Life after boxing

After relinquishing the belt, the former champion's life was a tragic downward spiral. He was arrested on drug trafficking charges in the US a year after and spent four years in jail.^[3]

Death

Palacio died of AIDS in a hospital in Medellín, Colombia on 14 November 2003. He was a few weeks short of his 41st birthday.

References

^ "RESULTS PLUS". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
^ "Palacio Tests Positive for HIV". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
^ "Soccer stars arrested in game-fixing scandal". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 6 August 2024.

External links

Boxing record for Rubén Darío Palacio from BoxRec (registration required)

Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Preceded by Homer Meza	Colombian bantamweight champion 30 October 1982 – 1983 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Francisco Álvarez
Vacant Title last held by Franklin Salas	Colombian super-bantamweight champion 29 June 1984 – 1985 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Moises Fuentes Rocha
Vacant Title last held by Felipe Angulo	Colombian featherweight champion 30 October 1987 – 1989 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Rafael Zuñiga
Vacant Title last held by Wilfrido Rocha	Colombian super-featherweight champion 31 July 1991 – 1989 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Jimmy Garcia
World boxing titles
Preceded by Colin McMillan	WBO featherweight champion 26 September 1992 – 16 April 1993 Stripped	Vacant Title next held by Steve Robinson

[1] "RESULTS PLUS". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2024.

[2] "Palacio Tests Positive for HIV". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 August 2024.

[3] "Soccer stars arrested in game-fixing scandal". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 6 August 2024.

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