Sixto Escobar

Escobar was born in La Boca in Barrio Palmas Altas, a sector of Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, to Jacinto Escobar and Adela Vargas. Early in his life, he moved to Tras Talleres in Santurce, a subsection of San Juan, Puerto Rico. There he received his elementary and secondary education, up until the seventh grade, when he decided to dedicate himself full-time to his sports career. In Tras Talleres, he began developing an interest in boxing and received instruction in said discipline. Although at this time, boxing was illegal in Puerto Rico; remote places such as a house's backyard or rooftops were used to organize clandestine fights without attracting attention from the local police. In 1928, a Puerto Rican boxer named Ángel "Sotito" Soto moved from New York to a house near the Escobar family's residence and established a gym in his backyard. There he gave boxing classes to Escobar and several other young athletes. After several months of instruction, Soto prepared a boxing card with included three-round fights, in which each round lasted two minutes. In this event, Escobar earned his first victory, defeating a pugilist identified as "Gombar" by knockout in the first round. After this match, Escobar continued fighting in clandestine gyms. He met and was received by Ignacio Peñagaricano, the owner of Victoria Gym. Escobar received his boxing license through Peñagaricano. On February 16, 1927, governor Horace Mann Towner legalized boxing and allowed the establishment of organized boxing matches. Professionals would fight Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays which, were considered the best days of the week, while amateurs could compete the remaining days of the week without limitations. As an amateur, he fought in 23 combats, gathering a record of 21 wins, one loss and a draw. His draw was against Ramón Rodríguez of San Lorenzo and his only loss was in the hands of Pedro Montañez from Cayey, in a fight that took place in March 1930. ==Professional career==

Escobar turned professional on September 1, 1930, in a fight card organized at the Victory Garden gym in San Juan. In this event, he defeated Luis "Kid Dominican" Pérez, who entered the fight as the Dominican Republic's champion, by knockout in the third round. In Puerto Rico, Escobar fought in 15 contests, before moving to Venezuela after the popularity of professional boxing declined in his home country. In this contest he was paired against Canadian bantamweight titleholder Bobby Leitham, defeating him by technical knockout in the seventh round. Escobar's manager, Lou Brix and his trainer recognized that Escobar could be close to a championship fight once the incumbent, Panamian Alfonso Teófilo Brown, refused to defend the championship against the first contender, which led to it being stripped by the National Boxing Association (NBA). He spent a month in inactivity while recovering, and in the winter he returned to Puerto Rico. However, Escobar still wasn't considered the division's Undisputed Champion because Balthazar Sangchili had defeated Panama Al Brown and was recognized by the IBU. Due to this, Sanstol sent a letter to the NYSAC noting that the fight was of eliminatory nature, even though it was recognized as a titular contest by the NBA and MAC. Wanting to be recognized as such, Escobar pursued a title unification fight against Tony Marino, who had defeated Sangchili by knockout in his previous fight. On April 2, 1939, Escobar defeated Kayo Morgan before a sold-out crowd of 15,000 at the Estadio Sixto Escobar, which had been inaugurated three years earlier. Later in 1939, Escobar received a draft notice from the United States Army, ordering him to take a physical exam for possible military service. He and his manager presented the issue to the Puerto Rico Boxing Commission, managing to receive a postponement of two months before surrendering his title. On April 6, 1940, Escobar fought Simón Chávez for ten rounds in what ended as a draw. Escobar then fought some short non-title fights, of which he lost four, all by points. On December 2, 1940, Escobar participated in his last professional fight, losing to a ten-round decision to Harry Jeffra. Throughout his career Escobar avoided being knocked down or out in any fight, all of his losses being by decision. In April 1941, he was drafted to the United States Army and participated in World War II obtaining the rank of Technician fifth grade. ==Retirement, death and legacy==

After his military service, Escobar confronted problems to meet the bantamweight's limit and retired. He became a spokesman for a liquor brand and relocated to New York temporally, with his family. Subsequently, he returned to Puerto Rico where he worked selling liquor in bars. In May 1947, Escobar and Jiménez Sicardó co-promoted a fight with the intention of bringing fans back to boxing. In the main event, Diego Sosa was matched against Francisco Colón García. Escobar was inducted into the Madison Square Garden's Boxing Hall of Fame in 1950. He became the fourth Puerto Rican to receive this distinction and the first to be included in the "Old Timers" section. During this date, an activity was presented by Puerto Rico's House of Boxing in the library of the Pabellón de la Fama del Deporte Puertorriqueño. ==Professional boxing record==

Major world titles • NYSAC bantamweight champion (118 lbs) (2×) • NBA (WBA) bantamweight champion (118 lbs) (3×) The Ring magazine titles • The Ring bantamweight champion (118 lbs) (2×) Regional/International titles • Montreal Athletic Commission bantamweight champion (118 lbs) Undisputed titles • Undisputed bantamweight champion (2×) ==Boxing Hall of Fame==