Orono, Raphael

Rafael Orono was born on August 30, 1958 in Sucre , Venezuela .

Amateur career

The first serious success at the adult international level was achieved in the 1977 season, when he joined the main team of the Venezuelan national team and attended the Pan American Central American and Caribbean Championships, from where he brought the silver dignity award won in the lightest weight category. In addition, he became the bronze medalist of the Giraldo Cordoba Cardin international tournament in Matanzas and won the Box-Am tournament in Zaragoza.

In 1978, he won a gold medal at the Games of Central America and the Caribbean in Medellin , received silver at the international Golden Belt tournament in Bucharest and at the King’s Cup in Bangkok. He took part in the world championship in Belgrade , but could not get into the number of winners here, at the stage of quarter finals he was stopped by the Cuban Hector Ramirez ^[1] .

Record in amateur boxing 49-8 ^[2] .

Professional career

Having left the location of the Venezuelan national team, in February 1979 Orono successfully made his debut on a professional level, having beaten his opponent in points in four rounds. Over the next months he won several more victories, including winning the Venezuelan champion title among professionals in the lightest weight category.

Thanks to a series of successful performances, in 1980 he was awarded the right to challenge the vacant world champion title in the second flyweight champion according to the World Boxing Council (WBC) and met with South Korean contender Lee Seung-hoon (11-2). The confrontation between them lasted all the allotted 15 rounds, as a result, the judges gave a separate decision to Orono's victory.

He managed to defend his championship belt three times, in particular, he defeated the undefeated compatriot Hovito Renghifo (25-0), a participant in the Olympic Games in Montreal (this was the first ever fight for the world title between two Venezuelans).

He lost his title in the fourth defense in January 1981, being knocked out in a duel with Korean Kim Chol Ho (14-1-1) and thus having suffered his first defeat in his professional career.

Despite the loss, Rafael Orono continued to actively enter the ring and, having made a series of 12 victories in a row, went to South Korea in November 1982, where he met again with Kim Chol Ho, who had already managed to defend his championship belt five times. This time the Venezuelan boxer turned out to be stronger, won by technical knockout in the sixth round and regained the world title.

Orono three times defended his WBC second bantamweight title, including defeating early enough Puerto Rican Orlando Maldonado (27-3-2), a bronze Olympic medalist. His winning streak was interrupted only in November 1983 after meeting with another bronze medalist of the Olympic Games, Thai Payao Pontarat (7-1), to whom he lost by a separate referee's decision.

Subsequently, Orono won several more rating fights and in 1985 made an attempt to get the world title in second flyweight champion according to the World Boxing Association (WBA). However, the current champion from Thailand, Khaosai Gelexi (26-1), defeated him by TKO in the fifth round.

He remained an active boxer until 1988, although he could no longer win a single match. In 1989, he was forced to end his sports career on the advice of doctors, due to the deterioration of physical and mental health. In total, he had 41 fights in the pro ring, 32 of them won (including 16 ahead of schedule), 7 lost, while in two cases a draw was recorded.

• Rafael Orono - professional boxing statistics for BoxRec