Nobody expected Alfredo to walk out of his fight in Japan on July 5, 1975, as the world champion.
The Puerto Rican Super Featherweight was only 23 at the time and still early on in his career.
He had a mixed record, with 30 wins and seven losses already under his belt, and “El Salsero” was the clear underdog going into his fight with Kuniaki Shibata.
Walking into the champion’s home country, few gave Alfredo Escalera a chance. Luckily, it took him just two rounds to shut the doubters up in one of boxing’s biggest upsets.
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Alfredo Escalera knocked out Kuniaki Shibata in a shocking match
Shibata was a respected fighter who couldn’t be more different from Escalera. He was a two-weight champion, known for his speed and durability inside the boxing ring.
Meanwhile, his Puerto Rican opponent was young, brash, and with the talent to go right to the very top. However, at just 23, he had years ahead of him to mature and hone his craft, and there were doubts that this was his time to taste world title gold.
Those fears were dismissed almost immediately in this WBC Super Featherweight fight. Escalera defended well against Shibata’s series of jabs, dodging all he had in the opening minutes of the bout in a nervy beginning of the fight.
The first round provided little action and gave little indication of how the fight would go, with both men seeming apprehensive to get involved with one another.
This changed in the second round, when the taller Escalera used his height and reach advantage to go on the offense, attempting some huge hooks on the champion that threatened to end his night early.
That is exactly what happened later that round, as Escalera flung his fists wildly at the Japanese champion, connecting numerous times to send Shibata crashing to the mat, sprawled out like a starfish as the referee completed his ten count.
Escalera shocked the world by knocking out the world champion, winning the WBC Super Featherweight for the first time in his career.
However, he was not the only Puerto Rican celebrating that night.
Angel Espada became world champion at the same time as Alfredo Escalera
That victory propelled Escalera into superstardom in Puerto Rico, as he began featuring in TV shows and television commercials as a hero to the people.
However, he won the title just weeks after another Puerto Rican, Angel Espada, also won the world title for the first time.
Espada defeated Clyde Gray in a fight in Puerto Rico to win the vacant WBA Welterweight championship. Only two Puerto Ricans had ever held world title belts before, and now they were treated to two champions at the exact same time!
Espada would only hold the belt until the following July, while Escalera managed ten title defenses before finally dropping the belt to Alexis Arguello in 1978.