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The Tragic Life of Alexis Arguello

I learned last night of the death of boxing legend Alexis Arguello.

Coming as it has in the wake of the equally tragic deaths of pop icon Micheal Jackson and TV and film star Farah Fawcett, it is an uneasy and sad time for anyone who lived through and enjoyed the amazing decade that was the '80s.

I am in my 40s, and these three people were a part of my life for very different reasons.

I remember Farah Fawcett, not just for the iconic Charlies Angels poster that apparently sold 12 million copies, but mainly because she surprised everyone who had dismissed her as talentless by proving she was actually a hell of an actress. First in the TV movie The Burning Bed, and then in the film Extremities, the latter earning her a Golden Globe best actress nomination.

Micheal Jackson was simply THE music phenomenon of my lifetime. And I´m a hard rock fan!

I was too young to remember the impact of The Beatles and Elvis, but I was very much aware of Jackson's all encompassing, record breaking achievements.

I know its a something of a cliché to say it, but some of his songs were genuinely soundtracks to parts of my life, as I would think they were to millions of others.

And then there was Alexis Arguello. "El Flaco Explosivo." The explosive thin man.

What a fighter. What a gentleman. His two wars with Aaron Pryor were cornerstones of '80s boxing; just unbelievable intense, incredibly exciting bouts.

The '80s was the most exciting decade of boxing that I have experienced as a fight fan so far in my lifetime.

Names like Leonard, Duran, Hearns, Hagler, Tyson, Holmes, Sanchez, Gomez, Saad Muhammad, Pryor all spring to mind. Alexis Arguello was of that ilk. He was a genuine superstar in boxing´s golden decade.

To any fight fan of the '80s with intellectual delusions, Alexis Arguello was the fighter we wanted to be.

He was pure class, both inside and outside the ring. He was intelligent and articulate. His boxing style was almost European with his upright stance, high defense, and steady jab.

Not for him the bobbing, rock-em sock-em style favored by the South Americans and Mexicans that were his contemporaries. He was like a chess player in the ring. Alexis´ style was almost dull in comparison.

I say almost, because Alexis Arguello had something else in his repertoire—he punched like a mule kicked. He could end a fight at any moment, with his vicious straight right, or with his lethal left hook.

He became a three-time world champion at feather, junior-light and lightweight. The list of fighters he defeated reads like a who´s who of the great '70s and '80s little men.

Legra, Olivares, Escalera, Limon, Chacon, Boza-Edwards, Watt, Mancini, to name just a few. The bout with American Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini was an exciting brawl that broke Arguello in the United States.

American audiences saw first hand the Nicaraguan's ruthless skills in the ring, and also his tremendous heart and compassion after his victory, when he embraced the battered Mancini and wished him all the best for the future, and all in perfect English.

Overnight, a superstar was born.

Ironically, he will be always best remembered for a defeat. His first fight with WBA junior-welterweight champion Aaron Pryor in 1982 was a huge event.

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