José Torres

José 'Chegüi' Torres was a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who won the world light heavyweight title in 1965, becoming the first Latin American to hold the championship.

On March 30, 1965, at Madison Square Garden, José Torres knocked out champion Willie Pastrano in the ninth round to win the world light heavyweight title, becoming both the third Puerto Rican boxer in history to hold a world championship and the first Latin American ever to win the light heavyweight crown. He learned to box after joining the United States Army as a teenager, and as a soldier represented the United States — Puerto Ricans being U.S. citizens and, at the time, without an independent path to Olympic team selection through the Army — at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, where he won a silver medal in the light middleweight division, losing the final to Hungary's three-time Olympic champion László Papp. Torres turned professional in 1958 under legendary trainer Cus D'Amato, who would go on to train Mike Tyson, and built a strong record through the early 1960s, suffering only one loss — a knockout to Cuba's Florentino Fernández in 1963 — before earning his world title shot. On March 30, 1965, at Madison Square Garden, Torres knocked out champion Willie Pastrano in the ninth round to win the world light heavyweight title, becoming the third Puerto Rican boxer in history to win a world championship and the first Latin American ever to hold the light heavyweight crown. Torres made four successful defences through 1966 before losing his title on a fifteen-round decision to Nigeria's Dick Tiger in December 1966, then falling short in an immediate rematch the following year. He retired in 1969 with a record of 41 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw, and went on to a notable second career as a writer and public figure, serving as chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission from 1984 to 1988 and later as president of the WBO. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1997.

Sharp, powerful boxer-puncher trained in the disciplined style of Cus D'Amato

A trailblazer for Latin American boxers in the light heavyweight division and a respected public figure in boxing administration and writing after retirement

• World light heavyweight champion (1965-1966)
• Olympic silver medal, light middleweight (1956, representing the United States)
• First Latin American world light heavyweight champion
• International Boxing Hall of Fame (1997)