Tury “The Fury” Pineda: A rising star who burned out quickly

Young fighters who can punch, tickle the fancy of most boxing fans. Some are teenagers, like heavyweight Moses Ituana. The question becomes how far their talent will take them, and for how long.

In 1971, Arturo Pineda, 19, nicknamed “Tury the Fury,” was one of the hottest fighters in Southern California. Pineda threw punches in bunches – winning 13 successive fights, 11 by knockout.  He campaigned at the Olympic Auditorium, which showcased him and two other young hot shots, Danny “Little Red” Lopez and Bobby “Schoolboy” Chacon.

It was only a matter of time before they’d meet in the squared circle. He met Lopez in his 14th fight. The battle of teenyboppers was on. Lopez, built like a scarecrow, could punch like a middleweight. In 10 fights, he had knocked out 10 opponents.

The Olympic was buzzing as the seconds counted down for the fight to begin. At the bell for round one, Lopez wasted no time unloading two hooks that stunned Pineda, who fought back ferociously.

Pineda came out aggressively in the second heat, wobbling Lopez with stinging rights and lefts. The war was on, and the crowd was screaming itself hoarse. Lopez, lighter than Pineda, recovered, rallying in the next round. Lopez cracked Pineda with hooks to the chin, while the quicker Pineda fought back.

In round four, Pineda, bleeding from the nose and cut over his left eye, hurt Lopez with a wicked hook. He likely felt the redhead would fall.

Nope.

The string bean then did what he would do often during his career. He punched back. Hard. A perfect left hook and follow-up right dropped and folded Pineda onto the canvas. He couldn’t beat the count.

Pineda could only shrug after his first loss to Lopez. Internally, he was devastated. No matter, three months later, he was back in the ring, though without his trainer, former contender Jesus Pimental. Pineda’s training habits annoyed Pimental. Pineda knocked out Walter Naldo.

Three wins followed against marginal opposition.

A year later, he was back at the Olympic, matched against another hard-punching youngster. This one was slicker than Lopez. Bobby Chacon was undefeated in 15 fights, scoring 14 big knockouts. He could box but preferred to brawl. Chacon was fast, clever, and powerful.

Pineda had won 17 of 18. The odds slightly favored Chacon.

The two warriors went at it immediately. Each staggered the other. Chacon knocked Pineda down in the opening round and knocked him out in five. Pineda was quickly back in the ring after his second loss.

Three fights, all wins, followed. Another big fight was signed, this one against a former world champion making a comeback. The wildly popular Mando Ramos wanted one more crack at a title, but many wondered what he had left. His out-of-the-ring carousing and wars inside the squared circle had left him, at 24, faded.

Ramos was the youngest fighter ever to win the lightweight world title. He lost it and won it back. But in his most recent fight, underdog Chango Carmona butchered him. He had been inactive for a year when he faced Pineda. Early in the bout, Ramos looked like his old self. He popped his jab and kept the aggressive Pineda off balance – at least for a while.

Pineda got to him in round five and knocked him out.

Two months later, Pineda’s team matched him with undefeated lightweight Jimmy Heair. Pineda went toe-to-toe with Heair (again), but a combo put him down for the count in round five. Pineda had won 24 of 28 fights, his losses all by knockout.

He was 22 and still ranked in the top 10 in the lightweight division. Out of the blue, a world title shot materialized against champion Guts Ishimatsu in Japan.

Ishimatsu had defeated former champion Ken Buchannon in his last bout.

Pineda fought with urgency, though blood from cuts around both eyes affected his vision. He appeared to have outworked Ishimatsu over 15 hard rounds, but the Japanese officials judged the fight a draw. A rematch went down in 1975.

Again, controversially, Ishimatsu retained his title by decision.

Pineda had come mere points from being a world champion. His fire dimmed – training was a burden. There was only one place to go. Pineda lost his next fight as his star tumbled.

Many considered him nothing more than a gatekeeper. He was matched against several hard-punching veterans and prospects. He lost them all, the worst being against Rafael Nunez, who entered the fight with more losses (11) than wins (9).

At 25, Pineda was finished. He fought for the last time in 1980, losing by knockout. He found a job, but his drinking was out of control.

Soon, he was homeless, once a star, now on skid row. I

In 2001, he died.

He was 48 – memories of glory at the Olympic long gone.