Esteban Gallard (January 1, 1901 – October 7, 1929) was a Cuban boxer who found international fame under the nickname Kid Charol. While Charol never won a world boxing title, he did obtain popularity, especially in Argentina where he lived for the last years of his life after moving there from his Cuban hometown of Sagua la Grande. He had a relatively short boxing career before dying at age 28, holding only 67 bouts in an era when many boxers logged more than 100 career fights.

Esteban Gallard
Kid Charol as seen on the cover of Argentine
sports magazine El Gráfico in 1927.
Born
Esteban Gallard

(1901-01-11)January 11, 1901
DiedOctober 7, 1929(1929-10-07) (aged 28)
Other namesKid Charol
Statistics
Weight(s)Middleweight
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Reach71 in (180 cm)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights67[1]
Wins54
Wins by KO34
Losses3
Draws10

Professional career

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Charol began his professional boxing career May 20, 1922, when he outpointed Fabio Lameida over eight rounds in Sagua, Cuba. For his third bout, November 1 of the same year, he faced a boxer named Kid Shadow. In his first professional bout abroad, Kid Charol knocked Kid Shadow out, apparently in the first round, at Panama. However, while most records point at this to be a first-round knockout, it remains unclear whether this knockout victory was actually achieved in the first round.

His next bout is said to have taken place on December 1, also in Panama. According to records, he beat Kid Brown in the first round that day, but, once again, the round in which the fight was over, and, in this case also, the actual date of the Charol-Brown bout, remain unclear. Kid Charol fought during an era when boxing records and the such were not always updated.

On January 1, 1923, Charol was held winless for the first time in his career, Enrique Ponce De Leon managing to fight to a ten-round draw (tie) with Charol.

Three more victories followed, and then, on August 25, he faced "Cuco Morales". Morales apparently insisted on fouling Kid Charol by hitting him low, and was disqualified in the second round.

Charol won three and drew one of his next four bouts, and then, on February 16, 1924, he was defeated for the first time, losing to Jimmy Finley by a fifteen-round decision in Havana. On his next fight, March 15 of the same year, Charol won the Cuban Middleweight title, when he knocked Rafael Fello Rodriguez in the fifth round of a rematch. Their first bout had ended in a fifteen-round draw.

Next, on April 1, he apparently fought a Homer Robertson. Whether this fight actually happened or not is also a mystery; some records show that Charol beat Robertson by a fifth-round knockout; other Kid Charol records do not list this fight as happening at all.

Kid Charol won four more fights, then headed to South America permanently. His first fight there, against Victor Alba, also has a mystery element, because, although it is believed that it took place on January 1, 1925, the date of the bout is not exactly known. Charol did defeat Alba by a first-round knockout in Lima, Peru.

On March 1, Kid Charol supposedly knocked out Alex Rely, also in Lima, in another fight whose exact date is not known.

After those two bouts, Charol moved on to Chile, fighting in Santiago three times. Once again, his first bout there, against Victor Contreras, happened without an exact date given on records, but it is generally believed that Charol outpointed Contreras over ten rounds in June 1925.

Charol returned to Cuba for one bout, defeating Abdel El Kebir by a fourth-round knockout on January 30, 1926. The very next day, he may have fought Jamaica's Peter Sung, winning by a ninth-round knockout. No proof exists that the fight with Sung ever happened, but a Jamaican newspaper published a story about it.

Charol won his next four fights, before moving to Argentina. On November 13, 1926, he made his Argentine debut by knocking Alejandro Trias out in five rounds at Buenos Aires.

On December 10, Charo dropped Luis Gaitieri ten times before stopping Gaitieri in the seventh round. Next came two fight trilogies that were sandwiched: Charol lost and drew with Michele Bonaglia before fighting three consecutive bouts with Eduardo Brissett. Having beaten Brissett once and drawn with him twice, Charol then faced Bonaglia for the third time, losing a twelve-round decision.

By then, Charol was starting to develop tuberculosis. It was during this time that his popularity among Argentine boxing fans rose even more, because, despite the fact that the public was aware of his illness, he fought on, winning three more bouts.

Charol's condition worsened, and by 1929, he started to spend a lot of time in a hospital. He managed, however, to keep training, and secured a fight with future International Boxing Hall of Fame member Dave Shade, who traveled to Argentina for the bout. Charol was hospitalized when he was asked if he wanted to fight with Chade. He was in critical condition when Chade arrived in Argentina. Despite these facts, Charol discharged himself from the hospital days before the bout, and he held Chade to a twelve-round draw, in a fight held on April 30 of that year.

This would turn out to be Charol's last fight, as his condition kept on worsening until he died five and a half months later, on October 7, in Buenos Aires.

Kid Charol had a record of 53 wins, 3 losses and 10 draws, with 34 wins by knockout.


Professional boxing record

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67 fights 54 wins 3 losses
By knockout 34 0
By decision 19 3
By disqualification 1 0
Draws 10
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
67 Draw 54–3–10 Dave Shade PTS 12 Apr 30, 1929 Parque Romano, Buenos Aires, Argentina
66 Win 54–3–9 Ted Moore PTS 12 Feb 7, 1929 Club Atletico River Plate, Buenos Aires, Argentina
65 Loss 53–3–9 Charley Hahn PTS 12 Dec 1, 1928 River Plate Club, Buenos Aires, Argentina
64 Win 53–2–9 Armando De Carolis TKO 7 (12) May 31, 1928 Teatro Coliseo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
63 Draw 52–2–9 Manuel K.O. Brissett PTS 12 Apr 7, 1928 River Plate Club, Buenos Aires, Argentina
62 Loss 52–2–8 Michele Bonaglia PTS 12 Mar 10, 1928 River Plate Club, Buenos Aires, Argentina
61 Win 52–1–8 Manuel K.O. Brissett PTS 10 Jan 2, 1928 Buenos Aires, Argentina
60 Draw 51–1–8 Guillermo Silva PTS 12 Nov 12, 1927 Club Atletico Boca Juniors, Buenos Aires, Argentina
59 Draw 51–1–7 Michele Bonaglia PTS 12 Mar 19, 1927 Estadio River Plate, Buenos Aires, Argentina
58 Win 51–1–6 Mario Bosisio KO 5 (12) Feb 12, 1927 Estadio River Plate, Buenos Aires, Argentina
57 Win 50–1–6 Luis Galtieri KO 7 (12) Dec 10, 1926 Parque Romano, Buenos Aires, Argentina
56 Win 49–1–6 Alejandro Trias KO 5 (12) Nov 13, 1926 Parque Romano, Buenos Aires, Argentina
55 Win 48–1–6 Jerome Vernier PTS 10 Oct 16, 1926 Buenos Aires, Argentina
54 Draw 47–1–6 Alberto Icochea PTS 12 Sep 26, 1926 Plaza de Toros de Acho, Lima, Peru
53 Win 47–1–5 Larry Estridge PTS 15 Jul 4, 1926 Havana, Cuba
52 Win 46–1–5 Ricardo Alis TKO 4 (10) Jun 5, 1926 Santos & Artigas, Havana, Cuba
51 Win 45–1–5 Panama Joe Gans PTS 12 Mar 6, 1926 Arena Colon, Havana, Cuba
50 Win 44–1–5 Jimmy Kelly KO 1 (10) Feb 20, 1926 Havana, Cuba
49 Win 43–1–5 Peter Sung KO 9 (?) Feb, 1926 Cuba Date and venue unknown
48 Win 42–1–5 Abd El Kebir KO 4 (10) Jan 30, 1926 Havana, Cuba
47 Win 41–1–5 Willie Murray PTS 12 Dec 26, 1925 Hippodrome Circo, Santiago de Chile, Chile
46 Win 40–1–5 Pablo Munoz KO 4 (12) Dec 12, 1925 Hippodrome Circo, Santiago de Chile, Chile
45 Draw 39–1–5 Victor Contreras PTS 12 Nov 7, 1925 Hippodrome Circo, Santiago de Chile, Chile
44 Win 39–1–4 Alex Rely TKO 8 (?) Aug 23, 1925 Lima, Peru
43 Draw 38–1–4 Manuel K.O. Brissett PTS 12 Jul 19, 1925 Lima, Peru
42 Win 38–1–3 Victor Alva KO 1 (10) Jan 1, 1925 Lima, Peru
41 Win 37–1–3 Kid Shadow KO 5 (12) Nov 9, 1924 Central American Stadium, Colon City, Panama
40 Win 36–1–3 Bearcat Reid KO 3 (12) Oct 25, 1924 Plaza de Toros Vista Alegre, Panama City, Panama
39 Win 35–1–3 Jimmy DeCapua KO 3 (10) Oct 18, 1924 Plaza de Toros Vista Alegre, Panama City, Panama
38 Win 34–1–3 Gunboat Skee KO 1 (12) Oct 11, 1924 Santa Ana Pavilion, Panama City, Panama
37 Win 33–1–3 Cabo Luis Guzman KO 2 (10) Sep 20, 1924 Arena Colon, Havana, Cuba
36 Win 32–1–3 Clemente Sanchez KO 9 (10) Sep 6, 1924 Havana, Cuba
35 Win 31–1–3 Homer Robertson KO 6 (10) Aug 23, 1924 Havana, Cuba
34 Win 30–1–3 Joe Mallin KO 3 (?) Jun 14, 1924 Havana, Cuba Round not certain
33 Win 29–1–3 Eladio Herrera KO 5 (?) Jun 7, 1924 Santos & Artigas, Havana, Cuba
32 Win 28–1–3 Fred Archer PTS 12 Apr 12, 1924 Havana, Cuba
31 Win 27–1–3 Rafael Fello Rodriguez KO 5 (?) Mar 15, 1924 Havana, Cuba Won Cuban middleweight title
30 Loss 26–1–3 Jimmy Finley PTS 15 Feb 16, 1924 Havana, Cuba
29 Win 26–0–3 Manuel Manso KO 8 (8) Dec 26, 1923 Santa Clara, Cuba
28 Win 25–0–3 Lester Lara KO 4 (?) Dec 16, 1923 Santos & Artigas, Havana, Cuba Exact round not known
27 Draw 24–0–3 Eladio Herrera PTS 10 Nov 15, 1923 Havana, Cuba
26 Win 24–0–2 Rafael Fello Rodriguez PTS 10 Nov, 1923 Havana, Cuba Exact date unknown
25 Win 23–0–2 Estanislao Frias PTS 12 Oct 28, 1923 Havana, Cuba
24 Win 22–0–2 Jesus Herrera KO 8 (8) Oct 15, 1923 Sagua, Cuba
23 Win 21–0–2 Alberto Dumois KO 2 (?) Oct 6, 1923 Havana, Cuba
22 Draw 20–0–2 Rafael Fello Rodriguez PTS 15 Sep 12, 1923 Havana, Cuba For Cuban middleweight title
21 Win 20–0–1 Cuco Morales DQ 2 (?) Aug 25, 1923 Arena Colon, Havana, Cuba Morales DQ'd for persistent low blows
20 Win 19–0–1 Carlos Lopez KO 5 (?) Aug 12, 1923 Playa de Marianao, Havana, Cuba
19 Win 18–0–1 Eladio Herrera PTS 10 Aug 2, 1923 Sagua, Cuba
18 Win 17–0–1 Eladio Herrera PTS 10 Jul 21, 1923 Arena Colon, Havana, Cuba
17 Win 16–0–1 Clemente Sánchez PTS 10 Jul 7, 1923 Havana, Cuba
16 Win 15–0–1 Enrique Ponce de Leon PTS 10 Jun, 1923 Havana, Cuba Exact date unknown
15 Win 14–0–1 Kid Campillo KO 1 (?) Jun 16, 1923 Havana, Cuba
14 Win 13–0–1 Eusebio Sole KO 3 (?) May 20, 1923 Sagua, Cuba
13 Win 12–0–1 Jesus Herrera PTS 10 May 10, 1923 Sagua, Cuba
12 Draw 11–0–1 Enrique Ponce de Leon PTS 10 Apr, 1923 Havana, Cuba Exact date unknown
11 Win 11–0 Rafael Perez PTS 6 Mar 4, 1923 Sagua, Cuba
10 Win 10–0 Carlos Lopez KO 9 (10) Feb 11, 1923 Sagua, Cuba
9 Win 9–0 Carlos Lopez KO 5 (?) Jan 8, 1923 Havana, Cuba
8 Win 8–0 Miguel Gonzalez PTS 10 Nov 25, 1922 Sagua, Cuba
7 Win 7–0 Manuel Manso KO 3 (?) Oct 4, 1922 Sagua, Cuba
6 Win 6–0 Emilio Rodriguez PTS 10 Sep 4, 1922 Sagua, Cuba
5 Win 5–0 JA Rios PTS 10 Jul 20, 1922 Sagua, Cuba
4 Win 4–0 Nestor Morejon KO 2 (?) Jun 26, 1922 Sagua, Cuba
3 Win 3–0 Miguel Medina PTS 8 Jun 18, 1922 Santa Clara, Cuba Month and day unknown
2 Win 2–0 MS McVea KO 3 (6) Jun 4, 1922 Sagua, Cuba
1 Win 1–0 Fabio Lameida KO 3 (6) May 20, 1922 Sagua, Cuba

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "BoxRec: Kid Charol".