By Rick Farris
After a controversial loss to Reynaldo Zaragoza, Frankie Baltazar would win his next 26 fights in a row, sixteen of those wins by KO.
During that winning streak, Frankie would score thirteen consecutive knockouts including a 4th round stoppage of world ranked Shig Fukuyama, who many will remember as the guy who stopped Danny "Lil Red" Lopez and cut Sean O'Grady to ribbons in a WBA Lightweight title defense. Had that fight been held anywhere but Sean's hometown, the bout would have been stopped and the Japanese fighter would have become Lightweight Champion of the World.
The explosive Rafael "Bazooka" Limon, who would win the Jr. Lightweight title, ended Frankie's win streak at twenty-six, stopping Baltazar in four rounds.
Not one to lick his wounds, young Frankie jumped right back on track with another win streak of ten straight (7 by KO) before dropping a close decision to Eloy Montano in Las Vegas. After that, Frankie Baltazar Jr. would fight just two more times, winning both by knockout.
We in L.A. remember the Baltzar boys as winners, as they rarely lost in the amateurs or the pros. How appropriate that after more than twenty years in the ring, Frankie Jr. would leave the sport a knockout winner. How many boxers can make such a claim?
When it was all said and done, Frankie Jr. lost only three times in 44 pro fights, his final record 40-3-1 (27 KO's)
You had one helluva career, Fernie!
