Urtain

From 1968-1970, Spain's Jose Manuel Ibar "Urtain" was the most feared heavyweight boxer in the world. He was the "Mike Tyson" of his time. His life-story was one of Hollywood fiction; only it was fact. Born to a modest, but slightly poor farming family, Jose Manuel spent his time tending animals on his family's farm and participating in the sport of "rock lifting". As he grew into his teens, his love of "rock lifting" helped him develop an extremely strong and muscular build. One day he was "discovered" by a boxing trainer who was awed by Jose's strength and powerful build. With no formal amateur boxing experience, Jose Manuel made his professional boxing debut on July 24, 1968 in Villafranca, Spain, knocking out Tony Rodri in one round. It was the beginning of an amazing run of 30 consecutive knockout victories which would propel this simple farmer into the most promising heavyweight prospect in 40 years. Dubbed "Urtain", he was considered a "superman". Words like unbeatable and invincible preceded his name in print. He made the cover of the internationally famous Ring Boxing Magazine in 1970. Spanish dictator, General Franco called him the new "El Cid". Pictures of him lifting cars or cattle were plastered in the sport's pages. He starred in a movie about his life. He was destined to be a world champion. And than suddenly, just as quickly as he rose to fame, the myth that was Jose Manuel Ibar Urtain crumbled. The invincible superman turned out to be human after all. Urtain was stopped in 9 rounds by England's Henry Cooper to lose his European Heavyweight Championshipon November 10, 1970. Though he continued to fight until 1977, he never again obtained the greatness or fame of his first two years. On March 12, 1977, he was knocked out in 4 rounds by Jean-Pierre Coopman in an attempt to recapture his European title. The fight marked the end of his career. His record was 56-11-4 with 42 knockouts. He dropped out of the public spotlight until July 21, 1992, when he "fell" out of a hotel window. His death at 49 brought a sad ending to the legend of "Urtain", the man once dubbed as "Boxing's Superman".