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Bobby Chacon (born 1951) is a former boxing|boxer
and two time world champion. A native of
California (where he campaigned most of his
career), he is a Mexican-United States|American.
Chacon's biography, it can be said, looks more
like the biography of a Rock & Roll star than that
of a boxer.

Chacon became a world champion in 1975, knocking
out defending world Featherweight champion Alfredo
Marcano in nine at Los Angeles, California|Los
Angeles. During his first period as a world
champion, Chacon got to meet, and like,  what many
refer to as the sweet life.  He became an
alcoholic and he loved partying. His clashes with
the law became matters of public knowledge, and
his life went on a wild downward spiral.

Chacon lost that title in his second defense
against arch-rival Ruben Olivares and almost
immediately, he fought the first of his four fight
rivalry with another world champion: Rafael
Bazooka Limon. They would engage in what some
boxing experts and historians have described as
one of the fiercest and most spectacular boxing
List of notable boxing rivalries|rivalries in
history. Limon beat him in their first bout by a
decision and they fought to a technical draw in
their second bout. 

This did not deter Chacon and he received a world
championship try at the World Boxing Council|WBC's
belt versus world champion Alexis Arguello, who
beat him by a knockout in seven to retain the
crown. 

In 1980, Chacon had only one fight, but it was a
significant one: He beat Limon in their third
bout, and the WBC once again made him their number
one challenger. 

In 1981, Arguello had left the title vacant and
gone up in weight to pursue the world's
Lightweight title, so Limon beat Idelphonso
Bethelmy by a knockout in 15 in Los Angeles to win
the world championship. In his first defense, he
lost it by a decision to Uganda's Cornelius Boza
Edwards, who, in turn, defended his title against
Chacon on his first defense. In a televised bout,
Edwards retained the world title by a knockout in
the thirteenth round.

Chacon put together a string of wins in 1982 that
kept him as the number one challenger, but a
dramatic development outside the ring which would
change his life forever also took place: Chacon's
wife, Valerie Chacon, flew to Hawaii on February
of that year, hoping to convince him to leave
boxing and move there if she found them good jobs.
She was able to find a job, but unable to convince
him to join her in Hawaii, so she flew back. She
pleaded for him to leave the sport but wasn't able
to convince him to do so, and one night before he
boxed Salvador Ugalde, she grabbed a rifle and
shot herself, dying instantly. Chacon felt guilty
about her death, and he grabbed a microphone after
that fight to tell the crowd he was dedicating his
victory to his late wife Valerie. 

After that, came his fourth and final bout with
Limon. Limon had regained the world's Jr.
Lightweight title by beating Rolando Navarrete by
a knockout in 12. Navarrete, by his part, had won
it by beating Edwards by a knockout in five in
Italy. Chacon-Limon IV became one of the fights of
the year and the decade, according to such
magazines as Ring Magazine, KO Magazine, and The
Ring En Espanol, and Chacon recovered from
knockdowns suffered in rounds three and 10 to drop
Limon in the closing seconds of round 15, and
secure a close decision and his second world title
in Sacramento. 

About one year and a half after Valerie's suicide,
Chacon remarried and bought a large farm with a
mansion and, according to what he said at a recent
interview, about 40 horses. He also acquired a
collection of Rolls Royce cars and some other
vehicles. In between, he and Boza Edwards met for
a second time, with his world title on the line,
in what Ring Magazine called the fight of the year
for 1983. Chacon rose from a knockdown in round 
one and recovered from a dangerous cut to drop
Boza Edwards in round twelve and avenge his
earlier defeat to the Ugandan former champion. He
was then stripped of the world title for refusing
to go to challenger Hector Camacho's home country
of Puerto Rico to defend against him. 

Chacon started 1984 with a move up in weight, to
the Lightweight division, where he tried to join
the exclusive club of boxing's three division
world champions, but was knocked out in three
during his challenge against world champion Ray
Mancini in Reno, Nevada|Reno. Chacon then beat
Carlton Sparrow by a decision in twelve and
announced his retirement. 

During this short retirement, Chacon had a serious
run in with the police when he tried to pick up a
fight with his second wife while in a drunken
state. It was said that Chacon had returned to
alcohol with abandon after retirement.

Chacon came back in 1985 and he won four fights,
including one against former world champion Arturo
Frias by a knockout in seven, and a knockout in
five over Rafael Solis, who had challenged Camacho
for the world Jr. Lightweight title that had
belonged to Chacon. 

In 1987 and 1989 he won one fight each year, and
then he retired for good. But Chacon's life was
once again marred by tragedy when his son was
murdered in 1991. In 1996, he was spotted at a
public appearance in Phoenix, Arizona to see the
Pay Per View fight between Oscar De La Hoya and
Julio Cesar Chavez together with fans at a public
fight viewing held at a plaza there. But by year
2000, he was living in a run down hotel, after
having lost his mansion, his farm and his cars. He
had, according to the hotel's manager, no way to
pay the rent, so the manager fixed a small room
with boxing equipment and a few photos of Chacon
in his heyday so that he could train street kids
there as a way of paying for the rent and to help
Chacon remember who he is to boxing fans.
Supposedly, Chacon and the manager later had
trouble, so Chacon currently stays with his
mother.

Chacon had a record of 59 wins, 7 losses and 1 no
contest, with 47 wins coming by knockout.

Some of his fights were broadcast by Home Box
Office|HBO's boxing show, HBO Boxing, and he was
also able to beat Olivares (by a ten round
decision in the third and final bout between them)
and the then undefeated future world champion
Danny Lopez, by a knockout in 9.

In January 2005, Chacon was elected into the
International Boxing Hall of Fame.

He is referenced in the Warren Zevon song "Boom
Boom Mancini."