Kid Chocolate

CTL-E-7061 · Person · other · 1910–1988

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07933 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-7061.

Kid Chocolate was the ring name of Eligio Sardiñas Montalvo (the International Boxing Hall of Fame renders the birth name Eligio Sardinias-Montalbo; Britannica gives Sergio Eligio Sardiñias-Montalbo), an Afro-Cuban boxer born January 6, 1910 in Cerro, Havana, Cuba, who, Britannica states, held the world junior lightweight championship from 1931 to 1933. The Hall states he began fighting as a Havana newspaper boy defending his sales turf, never lost as an amateur, and won his first 21 professional bouts by knockout before arriving in New York in 1928. In July 1931 he took the junior lightweight title from Benny Bass by technical knockout — the victory BoxRec and Encyclopedia.com identify as making him the first Cuban to win a world title — and in 1932 he claimed New York's world featherweight title by stopping Lew Feldman, defending it twice. The Hall remembers a consummate ring artist — skillful, quick and powerful — whose career faded after 1933 losses to Tony Canzoneri and Frankie Klick; he fought until 1938 and retired to Cuba, where he operated a gym. He died August 8, 1988 in Havana. Career totals split by source (see notes) and are not stated as a single figure here.

The record

• Also known as: The Cuban Bon Bon, Eligio Sardiñas Montalvo

Notes

Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0445. Firsts disposition: 'first Cuban world champion / first Cuban to win a world title' ASSERTED only in the two-source-supported form — BoxRec (1931 Bass victory) and Encyclopedia.com/Gale both state it; the 1931 junior lightweight title is the anchor, not the 1932 New York featherweight recognition. Nationality/heritage: Afro-Cuban, born Cerro, Havana — stated as such. Vitals splits carried, never blended: birth name Eligio Sardiñas Montalvo (common/BoxRec) vs Eligio Sardinias-Montalbo (IBHOF) vs Sergio Eligio Sardiñias-Montalbo (Britannica); record totals split across sources (136-10-6, 135-10-6, 131-9-6 all in circulation) so no single total is asserted; IBHOF induction year splits 1991 (BoxRec class listing) vs 1994 (Britannica/Gale text) — flagged, unresolved. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Chocolate's style — the fancy, two-handed artistry the Hall describes — made him a template later admired by Sugar Ray Robinson (per the Miranda quote carried by Encyclopedia.com); Cuba's first champion was a Black Cuban, and the record should say so plainly. Photo: CLEARED — Los Angeles Times photograph, 1930s, CC BY 4.0, Commons/UCLA description identifies Kid Chocolate (Eligio Sardiñas Montalvo) by name.

Sources

• International Boxing Hall of Fame. "Kid Chocolate." IBHOF inductee biography (Old Timer). Accessed 2026-11-03. (primary source · build store)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Kid Chocolate." Britannica. Accessed 2026-11-03. (primary source · build store)
• Encyclopedia.com. "Sardiñas, Eligio: 1910-1988: Boxer." Contemporary Black Biography (Gale). Accessed 2026-11-03. (build store)
• BoxRec. "Kid Chocolate." BoxRec Wiki. Accessed 2026-11-03. (build store)

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Record CTL-E-7061 · Combined Graph record U-07933 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 4 sources.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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