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LOS ANGELES -- Mando Ramos, a two-time lightweight boxing champion beset by drug and alcohol abuse, has died. He was 59.
Ramos died Sunday at his home in San Pedro, according to his wife, Sylvia. She said her husband, a diabetic, went into respiratory arrest and paramedics were unable to revive him.
Ramos turned pro in 1965, three days after his 17th birthday. He retired a decade later with a record of 37-11-1 with 23 knockouts.
"I never really trained, not for a single fight," he once told the Los Angeles Times. "Oh, I went to the gym every day. But I drank every night. Fighters never beat me. But drugs and alcohol (did)."
Ramos stopped Carlos Teo Cruz in the 11th round in 1969 to win the lightweight title, then lost it in 1970 to Ismael Laguna. He regained the title in 1972 with a split decision over Pedro Carrasco, then lost it later in the year when Chango Carmona stopped him in the eighth round.
"By 1974, I was sleeping in cars," Ramos told the Times.
He checked into a rehab clinic in the early 1980s and remained sober the rest of his life. When he got out of rehab, he started Boxing Against Alcohol and Drugs, a program aimed at youngsters.
Ramos, born in Long Beach, was inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame on June 21.
"He was the complete fighter," said former champion Carlos Palomino, Ramos' presenter. "He could box, he could brawl, he could do it all."
In addition to his wife, Ramos' survivors include a son, brother and four grandchildren.
