Vilomar Fernandez

Fernandez was a top amateur boxer in the United States. In 1970, when Fernandez was 18 years old, he and his brother, José, who was another top amateur competitor and who fought for a world title as a professional himself, reached the finals of the New York Golden Gloves competition at the 126 pounds division's open division tournament. Since the Golden Gloves rules prohibited brothers from fighting each other, the Fernandez brothers were declared co-champions. Early in his career, Fernandez was trained and managed by New York boxing trainer Pedro “Pete” Miranda, who worked with him during his rise in the lightweight division in the 1970s. Miranda was present in Fernandez’s corner during several of his notable fights, including the period surrounding his 1978 upset victory over Alexis Argüello. Miranda was quoted in both Sports Illustrated and The New York Times discussing Fernandez’s career and the difficulty of securing fights for him despite his status as a top lightweight contender. Gammon, Clive. "Beating a Triumphant Retreat." Sports Illustrated, Aug. 7, 1978. Katz, Michael. "Getting Himself a Fight; A Man to Be Avoided." The New York Times, Feb. 23, 1980. == Professional boxing career ==

On May 24, 1971, the still 18 years old Fernandez made his professional boxing debut, facing the also debuting, Salvador Ramirez. This contest took place at the Felt Forum in New York city, and Fernandez won by a second-round technical knockout. During the early stage of his professional career Fernandez was trained and managed by Bronx-based boxing trainer Pedro “Pete” Miranda, a Puerto Rican-born figure active in the New York boxing scene who had worked with Fernandez since his teenage amateur years and helped guide him through the early stages of his professional career. Fernandez won his first four bouts before meeting the debuting Dave Smith on Thursday, January 13, 1972, at the Sunnyside Garden in Sunnyside, Queens, New York, as part of a program headlined by his brother José versus Marion Thomas. Somewhat surprisingly, Fernandez lost his condition as an undefeated boxer when knocked out by Smith in round three of a scheduled 4 rounds contest. A series of consecutive setbacks followed the second fight with Eduardo Santiago, as Fernandez then lost three contests in a row: to 22 wins, 3 losses and 3 draws Walter Seeley by 10 rounds unanimous decision on October 23, 1973, for Duran's World Boxing Association's world Lightweight title on Saturday, January 29, 1977, at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. Duran was 58–1, with 49 wins by knockout coming in. Fernandez put serious resistance but was down by a considerable margin on the scorecards when Duran was finally able to stop him at 2 minutes and sixteen seconds of round thirteen to retain the championship. The Duran-Fernandez match featured a bizarre incident or blooper, when the fight's announcer asked the crowd present to stand up and face the American flag for the playing of the national anthems of Panama, the Dominican Republic and the United States, but there was no flag present and no singers to sing the anthems. Boxer Jerry Quarry, who was attending to cover the fight for CBS, stood up and sang the American anthem instead. First fight with Alexis Arguello The loss to Duran was followed by Fernandez with three wins in a row against more or less obscure opponents with combined records of 18 wins, 38 losses and 2 draws, then a draw against 16-6-2 Larry Stanton (in a contest scored by Sam Irom for Fernandez 5-4 but as a 5–5 tie by Joe Santarpia and 6-4 for Stanton by Harold Lederman) as part of a March 2, 1978, program at the Felt Forum which was headlined by a bout between Mike Rossman and Yaqui Lopez, Second fight with Alexis Arguello The usually durable Fernandez then faced Mexican boxer Rodolfo González, losing by second round knockout. but that fight was tainted by a controversy afterwards concerning a bottle given to Pryor between rounds that energized him after he was in trouble during parts of the fight. An investigation was launched by the WBA as to the contents of that bottle. Meanwhile, Arguello remained a viable contender for Pryor's belt, and so a series of fights were programmed for him while the WBA investigation took place. One of those was a rematch with Fernandez, which took place on Saturday, February 26, 1983 at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas. Arguello had 72 wins and 6 losses by this time. Fernandez was floored in round four and lost by unanimous decision, with a decisive disadvantage on the scorecards, as he was deemed a loser by scores of 98-92 twice and of 100-91. Arguello-Fernandez II was televised nationwide in the United States and to Puerto Rico. Rest of career On his next fight, October 25 of 1983, Fernandez scored a rare knockout victory, in the second round, over former WBC world Junior Welterweight championship challenger, the 50 wins, 7 losses and 3 draws (34 wins by knockout), Monroe Brooks, at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, California, sending Brooks into retirement. This contest had been scheduled for ten rounds. Victories over Angel Cruz and prospect (24-3-4) Billy Parks followed but on Friday, June 28, 1985, Fernandez lost to 13-1 prospect Ricky Young, at the Felt Forum, in what constituted Fernandez's last contest as a professional boxer. == See also ==