Juan Francisco Rodríguez

Regarded as one of Almería’s finest sportsmen, boxer Juan Francisco Rodríguez was a two time Olympian, competing at bantamweight each time. He first competed at the 1972 München Olympics, when he controversially lost in the quarter-final. Four years later he was eliminated in the second round by the eventual silver medallist, Charlie Mooney of the United States.

Rodríguez won the European amateur flyweight title on home soil at Madrid in 1971, and was a bantamweight bronze medallist at the Mediterranean Games that same year. He turned professional after the Montréal Olympics, and in 33 contests had 20 wins. In December 1977 he challenged Mexico’s Carlos Zarate for the WBC bantamweight title but lost in five rounds to the champion, who had gone 47 bouts undefeated.

The following year, Rodríguez beat defending champion Franco Zurlo of Italy to win the European title. Rodríguez made two successful defences of the title before losing it to the “Merthyr Matchstick”, Johnny Owen of Wales, in February 1980. It was one of Owen’s last fights before his untimely death later that year following a world title fight. Rodríguez unsuccessfully fought Italian Valerio Nati for Owen’s vacant European title, and also had a second attempt at winning the Spanish title before hanging up his gloves in 1982. Rodríguez’s father, also Juan Francisco, was a professional boxer and, unlike his son, did manage to win the Spanish title.