Raul MACIAS

Raúl Macías' amateur career was brief but included the winning of a bronze medal at the 1951 Pan American Games as well as his appearance at the Helsinki Olympics. He was still only eighteen when he turned professional in 1953 and had the good fortune to start his career as televised boxing began in Mexico. Macías collected the national bantamweight in his first year as a professional and soon became one of Mexico's favourite sportsmen.

His victory over 1948 Olympic champion Nate Brooks for the North American title propelled him into world title contention and when France's Robert Cohen was stripped of the NBA version of the world title he was an obvious contender to fight for the vacant title. He became world champion in 1955 when he defeated Chamroen Songkitrat in eleven one-sided rounds in San Francisco. Three fights later he suffered a broken jaw when lost his unbeaten record to the American Billy Peacock in a non-title fight. His reign as world champion came to an end at the hands of French-Algerian Alphonse Halimi in November 1957 and he retired two years later although he made a one fight comeback in 1962.

After his retirement from boxing he turned to acting and appeared in a number of popular Mexican "telenovelas" though he maintained his links to boxing by acting as a trainer to young fighters.