Now that we have some powerful African boxer like Efe Ajagba, Samuel Peter, and the Nigerian born Joshua, The Boxing world already witnessd this great fighter called Marcellino Cerdan who was from Sdi Bel Abbes in Algeria, He was a beast in the ring and very has very powerful left jab but wasn't Very popular amongst the boxing fans, sadly he passed away in Sao Miguel (Azores) Portuguese islands on October 28, 1949 at the age of 33 years.
Cerdan was of Spanish origin, his family came from Alicante, he lived until he was 8 years old in Algeria and in 1922 he and his family settled in Casablanca (Morocco). There he started boxing and 10 years later at the age of 28 he made his first professional fight in Meknes. He later he moved to Paris, where he made his debut in the Wagram room and in the 40s he earned the nickname of "The Moroccan Bomber".
I want to clarify that Cerdan was African and not french as I see in many pages of the US, at that time Algeria was a French colony and Morocco was also a French and a Spanish part.
Though, Cerdan was champion of France, Europe and the world and delivered a record of no less than [114 (65KO) -4] and I must say of the 4 defeats, 3 he won in the rematch and the fourth could not reach his destination, Unfortunately.
He had to do 110 fights to get his first shot at the world title at middleweight against the great Tony Zale (same as today, sic). After having faced great boxers like Holman Williams or Georgie Abrams and many more, he finally became world champion on September 21, 1948 at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City in front of 60,000 people.
He left on the night of the 27th on the plane "Constellation", a few hours later at 2:45 pm on October 28, the tragic accident occurs in the mountains of the Azores Islands, where 48 people between travelers and crew died. The fight is scheduled for December 2. Thus, a great champion died and a great legend was born.
Cerdan was a magnificent, very strong boxer of a height of 1.69mts. He boxed in a "crunch", a tight high guard with his jaw against his chest and his head between his shoulders. He dominated all distances, had a very good technique and great tactical intelligence. He commanded his combinations with great explosiveness and from all angles thanks to fast legs with tremendous support. He was a terrible knockout and without a doubt one of the greatest middleweights in history.
A pity that he could only box in the US in 1946, due to the second world war. In 1939 he was already champion of Africa/Europe and he was the first African in the XIX century, to be world champion in the USA.
His special combination was the forehand cross followed by the hook to the liver. I think that if the wound on his shoulder had not occurred, La Motta would never have beaten him, Cerdan had much more Boxing. He was nominated for the Hall of Fame in 1991 along with Tony Zale.
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