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already won and lost the lightweight crown in two memorable bouts with the great Carlos Ortiz. Their first fight took place on April 10, 1965, in Panama City, where Laguna won a 15-round majority decision over Ortiz. In 1998, I interviewed Ortiz and asked him about Laguna. “He is one of the greatest fighters that I ever fought,” he said. “He punched the heck out of me in that first fight in Panama. He looked three times faster than when I saw him in the gym. And he punched three times faster. He didn’t knock me out because of my experience.” Laguna’s first championship reign lasted seven months. Ortiz won back the title with a unanimous 15-round decision in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The rubber match took place on August 16, 1967, in New York’s Shea Stadium. In the greatest performance of his storied career, Ortiz gave an “old school” master class on the art of boxing. Having already fought 30 rounds with Laguna, he was well prepared. Ortiz’s not-so-secret weapon was his boxing intellect combined with an amalgam of experience. Ortiz explained that trying to knock out Laguna was futile: “You’re never going to hit him, because you are not going to ever be in position to put your punches together, because he’s always moving, and by the time you get set, he’s gone. So you have to have a different style…It’s a three-way combination. It’s the intelligence, the movement and the punching. You have to combine them together.” Ortiz’s educated jab worked to break Laguna’s rhythm. “You can’t beat any good fighter without a left jab,” he said. Ortiz also found that he was able to reach Laguna with his right cross: “Laguna used to have the same problem that I had. He used to step back with his left hand down. I had the same habit of pulling back with my head up and my left hand down. That’s how Sugar Ramos knocked me down. Every time I would crowd Laguna a little bit, he used to go back with his head high, and I’d throw my overhand right and clip him right away every time. I would say that was one of the best fights that I ever had.” The third Ortiz-Laguna bout is available on YouTube and I encourage every fighter, trainer and fan to watch and study one of the greatest demonstrations of the finer points of boxing technique. After his second loss to Ortiz, Laguna kept to a busy schedule. He was only 24 years old and was confident he still had it in him to win back the title. Over the next two years, he won a dozen fights and retained his top contender status. In the meantime, Ortiz had remained idle for 10 months and was contemplating retirement. When he finally returned to the ring on June 29, 1968, he lost a 15-round split decision – and his title – to the Dominican Republic’s Carlos Teo Cruz. Ortiz announced his retirement after the loss. After outpointing Mando Ramos in the first defense of his title, Cruz lost the rematch via 11th-round TKO due to a severe cut over his left eye. On March 3, 1970, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, Laguna was given the opportunity to win back the lightweight
Remembering former undisputed lightweight champion Ismael Laguna 1943-2026 By Mike Silver
T here are some boxers whose talent is so unique and so special they leave an indelible impression that stays with you for the rest of your life. If there is a trait that defines these special athletes, it is their ability to create an electric mood of excitement that is felt by every person in the arena. Let’s call it athletic charisma. Panama’s Ismael Laguna, a former two-time undisputed lightweight champion of the world (1965, 1970), had it in spades. Laguna passed away on September 8, 2026, at the age of 83. Many years ago, as a young and enthusiastic boxing fan, I had read about Laguna in The Ring magazine but had yet to see him fight. When newspapers announced that the former lightweight champion of the world was finally going to fight in New York on March 10, 1967, I rushed to buy a ticket and see for myself if he was the real goods. His opponent was Frankie Narvaez, of Puerto Rico, the No. 4-ranked lightweight contender. Laguna was ranked No. 3. The winner of the 12-round bout was promised a title shot. What I remember about Laguna’s Madison Square Garden debut was his lightning speed of hand and foot combined with a rhythmic back-and-forth movement that kept his upper body in perpetual motion. I had never seen anything like it before. In interviews, Laguna called his unique style “the swim.” Perhaps because a swimmer’s entire body – arms, legs, torso – are engaged in simultaneous motion when racing to the finish line. Laguna, who stood 5-foot-9 and weighed 135 pounds, was built along the lines of a ballet dancer and was just as graceful. Narvaez, a very tough and aggressive swarmer, was certainly no pushover, and their contrasting styles made for an exciting fight. Narvaez had his moments but was stymied by Laguna’s ability to quickly dart in, land a flurry of punches and then quickly dart out and escape unscathed. Laguna’s speed also prevented Narvaez from closing the distance to land body punches and slow his elusive opponent down. Most observers agreed that Laguna had won nine of the 12 rounds. New York’s boxing fans were duly impressed. The Panamanian speed demon had passed the test. He was the real goods. Unfortunately, the ending of the fight was marred by a senseless bottle-throwing riot instigated by Narvaez’s rabid fans after the unanimous decision in favor of Laguna was announced. The melee left 12 people injured. By the time he made his New York debut, Laguna had
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