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Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales

Inducted 1988

BOXING

Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales completed his amateur boxing career in 1947 with a 53-4 record, ended his profession career with a 65-9-1 record and was a World Boxing Conference champion.

Tickets to his fights were as scarce as Denver Broncos’ tickets are in the twenty-first century.

Gonzales spent the 1960’s and 1970’s as the leader of the Chicano Movement in Chicago, Illinois. In 1965, he established the Denver-based Crusade for Justice and was a leader of the Brown Berets faction. Crusade for justice was created to be mediators between the disputes of the police and the Hispanic community.

In 1967, he wrote the poem Yo Soy Joaquin (I am Joaquin)—a narrative about a boy’s experience during the Chicano movement. It was adapted to film by Teatro Campesino and is available in the San Antonio College Library. The narrative is also currently utilized in school curriculums to understand the history of the Chicano movement.

He built parks and playgrounds in West Denver neighborhoods and fought for the end of public and private discrimination against Hispanic communities.

Gonzales received the Humanitarian Award from the state of Colorado in 1990.

Gonzales passed away on April 12, 2005.

Rodolfo

Tickets to his fights were as scarce as Denver Broncos’ tickets are in the twenty-first century.