“That’s how I’ll remember you old man! With arms raised like a champion. Thank you for your teachings and for instilling your values in me. Rest in peace”, were the words towards the deceased Argentine boxer Horace Accavalloon behalf of his son, after the news of the death of the boxer who was 87 years old and was the victim of Alzheimer’s.
Accavallo got the WBA and WBC Flyweight World Championshipon March 1, 1966, in tokyoafter beating the Japanese on points Katsuyoshi Takayama. And he left his mark as the second Argentine boxer in history to win the belt in that category, after his pair Pascual Pérez in 1954.
The highlight is that the Argentine boxer did not choose any day to leave this world, since he left the “Argentine Boxing Day”. It happens that the September 14, 1923, Luis Angel “The Bull of the Pampas” Firpo and the american Jack Dempsey disputed the world heavyweight title and starred in what was called the “Fight of the Century” at the stadium Polo Grounds from New York. And, despite the fact that Firpo lost the fight, the date was chosen to celebrate the day of Argentine boxing.
Accavallo also had a recognition outside the ring, since he remained in popular memory thanks to the song “Pineapples go, pineapples come” from the punk band Two minutes, musical group from Lanus led by Walter «Mosca» Velázquez, who was inspired by boxers like Victor Galindez, Carlos Monzon, Nicolino Loche Y Accavallo himself.
“Thank you for the tribute to all the world champion boxers. Don’t lower your arms to me, asshole, let’s go still!”, shouted the boxer from Lanus. The story of his overcoming, his childhood as a bottle and carton maker, until his youth as a world champion, turned out to be the direct connection with that song. And that was explained by the singer: “For me, punk was like rebellion and being against something, something imposed, a law, government authority and things like that, and in favor of the working class, in favor of the people and of the fighting people.
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