Hall of Famer Bobby Chacon, one of the great action fighters ever, dead at 64

Bobby Chacon, a former featherweight and super featherweight world champion who was one of the most popular fighters of his era, died Wednesday following a long battle with pugilistic dementia.

He was 64. No official cause of death was released. A powerful puncher, Chacon was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005.

Chacon’s battles with Ramon “Bazooka” Limon and Cornelius Boza-Edwards were the 1982 and 1983 Fights of the Year. He competed against the best of his era, facing Hall of Famers Alexis Arguello, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, Ruben Olivares and Danny “Little Red” Lopez. He also fought numerous champions and other well-known fighters, including Freddie Roach, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame as one of the sport’s greatest trainers.

Chacon was such an action-star that he was immortalized in the 1987 Warren Zevon song, “Boom Boom Mancini.”

“Hurry home early/Hurry on home/Boom Boom Mancini’s fighting Bobby Chacon,” the song began.

Chacon, who ended his career 58-7-1 with 47 knockouts, was knocked out by Mancini in 1984 in Reno in a bid for the lightweight title. That, like most Chacon fights in the 1970s and into the early 1980s, was a big event. He was such an entertainer in the ring that most of his most significant bouts were shown on network television.

Long-time boxing publicist Bill Caplan hung the nickname “Schoolboy” on him when he first met Chacon in the 1970s as Chacon, who was preparing to fight in an amateur tournament put on by the legendary promoter Don Chargin, was attending Cal State Northridge.

“He was a great boxer/puncher and he wasn’t a safety-first fighter,” Caplan said. “He was the opposite of a certain unnamed fellow who thinks he is the greatest fighter who ever lived. Bobby loved people and he loved to fight and he lived to put on a great show. He was always happy and smiling.”

Chargin said that Chacon changed his style in order to become crowd-pleasing.

“He had a great personality, and was always laughing and smiling, and he would make friends with everyone he met,” said Chargin, himself a Hall of Famer. “He was a promoter’s dream. He was a great, entertaining fighter, he was great at press conferences, and you could take him anywhere to meet people because he had that charisma.

“But what a lot of people don’t know about him is that when he started, he was one of the most beautiful boxers, I’d seen. He was so clever. You couldn’t hit him. I’d say ‘Keep that going, you’re doing great,’ but he loved hearing that crowd yell. He intentionally changed and he stood toe-to-toe and traded punches. It was great for the fans, great for the promoters, great for everyone but sadly, not so great for him.”

Despite his many memorable victories and popularity with the fans, he endured many tragedies in his life. In the early 1980s, his wife, Valorie, encouraged him to step away from boxing, but he was committed to the sport and refused.

Valerie Chacon flew to Hawaii and found a job for her husband, and urged him to retire and begin his post-fight career. He said no and so she flew home and committed suicide on March 15, 1982, the night before he was to face Salvador Ugade.

Bobby Chacon fought the next day, despite her death, and won by third-round knockout.

In 1991, his 17-year-old son, Bobby Chacon Jr., was murdered in what police believed a gang shooting.

But Caplan said Chacon remained the same, upbeat easy-going guy he was for the rest of his life.

“He was a happy guy who loved people and who loved to fight and who always had a smile on his face and a good thing to say,” Caplan said. “As he aged, he was very affected by his condition, but he still had that same attitude.”

Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler called Chacon “a colorful guy in and out of the ring.”

“He fought all of the major stars in his weight class and he was a beloved guy,” Trampler said. “He was a fun guy in and out of the ring.”

Services are pending.