Richie Sandoval, a former lineal bantamweight champion who lost his opportunity to compete in the Olympics when the United States boycotted the 1980 Games in Moscow, died Monday of an apparent heart attack at his son's Southern California home. He was 63.
Sandoval won the WBA bantamweight title on April 7, 1984, at the Sands in Atlantic City, N.J., when he stopped Jeff Chandler in the 15th round. He made successful title defenses against Edgar Roman and Cardenio Ulloa. He won four non-title fights to raise his record to 29-0 with 17 knockouts before taking an ill-fated title bout against Gaby Canizales on March 10, 1986, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The bout was held on the undercard of Marvelous Marvin Hagler's epic middleweight title defense over John Mugabi.
Canizales won the bout by seventh-round technical knockout in a bout in which Sandoval suffered career-ending brain injuries. Long-time ringside physician Dr. Flip Homansky told the Los Angeles Times in 1988 that Sandoval's brain injury was the worst he'd seen to that point.
“I’ve worked over 1,000 pro bouts, and that’s still the worst thing I’ve seen in a ring," Homansky told The Times' Earl Gutskey in a story published on Aug. 27, 1988. "When I got to Richie, he wasn’t breathing. He was having a seizure, and anyone having a seizure stops breathing at least momentarily. We cleared his airway (with a plastic breathing tube), and he resumed breathing. He was put into the ambulance quickly, and we had him at the hospital within four or five minutes.
“His brain was swelling, so we gave him anti-inflammatory drugs through his IV in the ambulance.”
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum promoted that fight. He told Sandoval that he'd give him a job for life if he never boxed again, and Arum was good to his word. Sandoval did various jobs for Top Rank and worked as both a site coordinator and the manager of the Top Rank Gym in Las Vegas.
Sandoval, who was known among those in the sport as a genial and good-natured man who was always quick to offer help, finished his professional career at 29-1 with 17 KOs. As an amateur, he made the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, won two national Golden Gloves championships and won a bronze medal at light flyweight in the 1978 amateur world championships in Belgrade, in what was known as Yugoslavia.
"Richie was just a great guy, upbeat, always laughing," said Hall of Famer Bruce Trampler, Top Rank's matchmaker and a long-time friend of Sandoval's. "He was a terrific guy. He had some great stories about his amateur days and we'd always be laughing. He was an easy guy to make laugh."
Sandoval was a solid fighter who lacked elite power but was very offensive-minded, Trampler said.
"He wasn't a big banger; he was a guy who just kept coming and coming and would wear you down," Trampler said. "He had a good work rate and a good punch rate. He wasn't a cutie. He was a very strong and determined fighter."