{"id":765642,"date":"2026-09-10T01:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T01:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/765642\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T01:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T01:34:10","slug":"two-time-undisputed-world-champion-and-boxing-hall-of-famer-dies-at-83","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/765642\/","title":{"rendered":"Two-time undisputed world champion and boxing hall of famer dies at 83"},"content":{"rendered":"

A two-time undisputed world champion boxer and an inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame has died at the age of 83<\/p>\n

19:49, 09 Sep 2026Updated 20:04, 09 Sep 2026<\/p>\n

\"Ismael<\/p>\n

Ismael Laguna has died aged 83(Image: Popperfoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Two-time undisputed world champion boxer Ismael Laguna has died at the age of 83.<\/p>\n

Laguna’s passing was announced on Wednesday<\/a> after the boxing hall of famer battled an undisclosed illness. The two-time lightweight world champion had been in hospital as he battled health issues.<\/p>\n

The Panama fighter, nicknamed ‘El Tigre Colonense’, was the World Lightweight champion in 1965 and later regained the belt<\/a> in 1970. He was later inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2001.<\/p>\n

\"Ismael<\/p>\n

Ismael Laguna was a two-time world champion<\/p>\n

JOIN US ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page<\/a><\/p>\n

Laguna’s death was announced by his countryman Roberto Duran and WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman. Duran wrote in an Instagram post: “It has deeply pained me to learn of the passing of my champion, the great Ismael Laguna, ‘El Tigre de Santa Isabel,’ idol and legend of Panamanian and world boxing, a figure who left an indelible mark on my life.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I was a kid, champion Laguna has always been my idol and my inspiration. I wanted to be a world champion like him. He made me believe that a Panamanian could reach the very top and earn respect anywhere in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sulaiman said: “I deeply regret the passing of our former champion Ismael Laguna, the WBC’s first Panamanian champion crowned in 1965 in the lightweight division. Rest in peace.”<\/p>\n

Laguna won his first 27 fights before tasting defeat for the first time against Antonio Herrera on a decision. But he enacted revenge months later with a sixth-round stoppage.<\/p>\n

In 1964, he fell short against future Hall of Famer Vincente Saldivar over 10 rounds in Tijuana, Mexico.<\/p>\n

But he bounced back a year later to claim The Ring and unified WBA\/WBC lightweight titles in a 15-round majority decision against Carlos Ortiz.<\/p>\n

Laguna later reclaimed the belts with a nine-round stoppage over Mando Ramos in 1970. He retired the following year after defeat against Scot Ken Buchanan in his bid to become a three-time world champion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A two-time undisputed world champion boxer and an inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame has died…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":765643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-765642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/765643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}