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Francisco Rodríguez

Rodríguez in 1968
Personal information
Full name	Francisco Antonio Rodríguez Brito
Nickname	Morochito
Born	(1945-09-20)20 September 1945 Cumaná, Sucre, Venezuela
Died	23 April 2024(2024-04-23) (aged 78)
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	132 lb (60 kg)
Sport
Sport	Boxing
Weight class	Light Flyweight and Flyweight
Medal record Representing  Venezuela Olympic Games 1968 Mexico City Light flyweight Pan American Games 1967 Winnipeg Flyweight 1971 Cali Flyweight

Francisco Antonio Rodríguez Brito (20 September 1945 – 23 April 2024) was a Venezuelan boxer. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City he won the gold medal in the inaugural men's light flyweight (– 48 kg) division, in addition to claiming the gold at the 1967 and 1971 Pan American Games. He carried the flag for his native country at the opening ceremony at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. Rodríguez died on 23 April 2024, at the age of 78.

Amateur career

Rodriguez, nicknamed "Morochito", was Venezuela's first Olympic gold medalist, winning gold in the light flyweight division in its inaugural year of competition, 1968. His amateur record stood at 266 wins, 4 losses.

After the Olympics, Rodríguez signed a professional contract. Before fighting he took his mother to a pro bout. At one point, one of the boxers' bloody mouthpieces landed in Rodriguez's mother's lap. She begged Rodriguez to give up fighting and he cancelled his contract.

Olympic results

Mexico City – 1968

• Round of 32: bye
• Round of 16: Defeated Rafael Carbonell (Cuba) on points, 5-0
• Quarterfinal: Defeated Hatha Karunaratne (Ceylon) by a second-round TKO
• Semifinal: Defeated Harlan Marbley (United States) on points, 4-1
• Final: Defeated Jee Yong-Ju (South Korea) on points, 3-2 (won gold medal)

Munich – 1972

• Lost to Dennis Talbot (Australia) KO 2

Honors

Rodríguez was inducted into the Venezuelan Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.

References

1. Falleció “Morochito” Rodríguez (in Spanish)

• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Francisco Rodríguez". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 23 December 2008.

v t e Venezuela medal winners at the Olympic Games
Gold	Francisco Rodriguez 1968 Boxing Rubén Limardo 2012 Fencing Yulimar Rojas 2020 Athletics
Silver	Pedro Gamarro 1976 Boxing Bernardo Piñango 1980 Boxing Yulimar Rojas 2016 Athletics Julio Mayora 2020 Weightlifting Keydomar Vallenilla 2020 Weightlifting Daniel Dhers 2020 Cycling
Bronze	Asnoldo Devonish 1952 Athletics Enrico Forcella 1960 Shooting Marcelino Bolívar 1984 Boxing Omar Catarí 1984 Boxing Rafael Vidal 1984 Swimming Adriana Carmona 2004 Taekwondo Israel José Rubio 2004 Weightlifting Dalia Contreras 2008 Taekwondo Yoel Finol 2016 Boxing Stefany Hernández 2016 Cycling

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• 1945 births
• 2024 deaths
• Sportspeople from Cumaná
• Boxers at the 1967 Pan American Games
• Boxers at the 1971 Pan American Games
• Pan American Games gold medalists for Venezuela
• Boxers at the 1968 Summer Olympics
• Boxers at the 1972 Summer Olympics
• Olympic boxers for Venezuela
• Olympic gold medalists for Venezuela
• Olympic medalists in boxing
• Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics
• Venezuelan male boxers
• Pan American Games medalists in boxing
• Flyweight boxers
• Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games
• Medalists at the 1971 Pan American Games
• Venezuelan boxing biography stubs
• South American Olympic medalist stubs
• Venezuelan sportspeople stubs