Betulio González

Who is Betulio González?

Betulio Segundo González is a former boxer from Venezuela, who is considered a national hero in Venezuela. He is considered by many to be Venezuela's greatest world champion in boxing history. A combatant of 91 bouts, he fought until eleven months before he turned forty, the mandatory age for professional fighters to retire in Venezuela.

A native of Maracaibo, Zulia State he made his professional boxing debut on April 24 of 1968, knocking out Elio Monzat in the third round at Gonzalez's hometown. Gonzalez won his first ten fights, including his Caracas debut, on November 25 of that same year, with a ten round decision over Evencio Bruquillos.

On August 1, 1969, his winning streak came to a halt, when he was held to a ten round draw, by Juan José Brizuela in Caracas. He beat Brizuela by a ten round decision in a September 16 rematch, then challenged Hector Criollo for the Venezuelan Flyweight title on October 10. He won his first belt by knocking out Criollo in seven rounds to win the regional title.

On March 6 of 1970, he suffered a somewhat surprising defeat, at the hands of Felix Marquez, who had only one prior professional fight. He was knocked out by Marquez in six rounds. He followed this with a win over Nestor Jimenez and a loss to Ignacio Espinal; both Jimenez and Espinal would later go on to fight for world titles.