Titles: WBA featherweight champion 1987-1991

Record: 30-2-4

Born: September 2, 1959 Cumana, Sucre, Venezuela 

Years active: 1981-1991

Nickname: None 



Esparragoza was a poor man's Alexis Arguello. His long arms and intelligent 
ring movements made him a threat to any fighter and kept him a champion for 
4 years. Unlike other fighter coming out of Latin America Antonio did not 
live in poverty but still took up and loved the discipline of boxing from 
the age of 13. Esparragoza was a accomplished amateur and finished with a 
bronze medal at the 1978 world  championships in Belgrade. In 1981 he 
turned pro and quickly his smooth boxing style  won him fans in America and 
with the ranking bodies. Esparragoza often fought abroad and that was no 
different when he battled for the featherweight title. In the hometown of 
his opponent Steve Cruz the fast hands and long reach took the champion 
apart and the referee was forced to stop the one sided fight. That same 
summer Antonio returned to Texas where the fans accepted after his 
impressive win and demolished challenger Pascual Aranda in a brutal fashion. 
The next fight however proved more than challenging Esparragoza came away 
with a draw against future champion Marcos Villasana, a point deductions 
against Villasana for a low blow proved to be the difference as he could 
have won on points were it not for the violation. Because of political and 
economic problems Esparragoza traveled abroad to defend the title 4 more 
time and record knockout wins against good but not great opposition. In a 
5th and final successful defense against Chan-Mok Park he traveled to Korea. 
Traveling back to Korea proved to be his undoing as Yung-Kyun Park took a 
points over Esparragoza. It was by all accounts a close fight and Antonio 
was by no  means over hill but he finally gave in to the wishes of his 
mother and retired rather than campaign for another title shot.       

     1981

     Feb 24  Anthony Wanza           Cumana, Venezuela       KO 2
     Oct 1   Ramon Bolivar           Maracay, Venezuela      KO 2
     Oct 31  Luis Solorzano          Maracay, Venezuela      KO 2

     1982

     Jan 25  David Siso              Barquisimeto, Venezuela KO 3
     Feb 1   Angel Torres            Caracas                 KO by 6
     May 10  Francisco Leta          Cumana, Venezuela       KO 5
     May 24  Alejandro Garcia        Cumana, Venezuela       KO 2
     Jun 21  Tito Roque              Cumana, Venezuela       KO 2
     Jul 26  Angel Torres            Cumana, Venezuela       KO 9
     Oct 4   Bernardo Piñango        Caracas                 D 10
     Nov 6   Freddy Pitalua          Caracas                 W 10

     1983

     Feb 19  Antonio Rodriguez       Cumana, Venezuela       KO 3
     Mar 26  Jose Mosqueda           Catia La Mar, Venezuela KO 7
     May 13  Alberto Parra           Porlamar, Venezuela     KO 3
     Oct 1   Fabio Mosqueda          Caracas                 KO 3
     Dec 16  Ruben Veliz             Ciudad Bolivar, Ven.    KO 3

     1984

     May 15  Jose DeJesus            Oranjestad, Venezuela   KO 5
     Jul 7   Eduardo Laguna          Maracaibo, Venezuela    KO 4
     Aug 11  Jose Guerrero           Oranjestad, Venezuela   W 10
     Oct 10  Bernardo Checa          Isla Margarita, Ven.    D 10

     1985

     Feb 2   Jeff Roberts            San Juan                KO 7
     Feb 23  Joe Rivera              San Domingo, D.R.       KO 2
     Apr 21  Johnny De La Rosa       Oranjestad, Venezuela   KO 5

     1986

     Feb 17  Jose Ortiz              Turmero, Venezula       KO 2
     Mar 22  Bernardo Checa          Turmero, Venezuela      KO 2
     May 19  Nelson Rodriguez        San Juan                D 10

     1987

     Jan 16  Octavio Quinones        Phoenix                 KO 3
     Mar 6   Steve Cruz              Fort Worth, TX          KO 12
             (Wins WBA and World Featherweight Titles)
     Jul 26  Pascual Aranda          Houston                 KO 10
             (Retains World Featherweight Title)

     1988

     Jun 23  Marcos Villasana        Los Angeles             D 12
             (Retains World Featherweight Title)
     Nov 5   Jose Marmolejo          Marsala, Italy          KO 8
             (Retains World Featherweight Title)

     1989

     Mar 26  Mitsuru Sugiya          Kawasaki, Japan         KO 10
             (Retains World Featherweight Title)
     Jun 2   Jean-Marc Renard        Namur, Belgium          KO 6
             (Retains World Featherweight Title)
     Sep 22  Eduardo Fili Montoya    Mexicali, Mexico        KO 5
             (Retains World Featherweight Title)

     1990

     May 12  Chan-Mok Park           Seoul                   W 12
             (Retains World Featherweight Title)

     1991

     Mar 30  Yong-Kyun Park          Kwangju, South Korea    L 12
             (Loses World Featherweight Title)