Luis Villanueva Paramo, 89; Welterweight Titlist in Mexico for 17 Years

Luis “Kid Azteca” Villanueva Paramo, 89, whose crushing left hook helped him hold Mexico’s welterweight title from 1932 until 1949, died Saturday in Mexico City. The cause of death was not announced.

Villanueva Paramo began his professional career in 1930 and compiled a record of 199 wins, 39 losses and four draws before retiring from the sport in 1957.

He began his career fighting for prizes of 45 cents in pool halls and saloons in some of the Mexican capital’s poorest neighborhoods.

When he was 29, Villanueva Paramo won Mexico’s welterweight title. He successfully defended the title more than 60 times over the next 17 years, finally relinquishing it voluntarily when he began training to move up one classification and fight as a junior middleweight in 1949.

Villanueva Paramo last stepped into the ring on March 18, 1956, at age 51. He was knocked out in the fifth round. He retired the next day.

He was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.