Mexican Joe Rivers

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Mexican Joe Rivers (Jose Ybarra) was a lightweight boxer who fought from 1910 to 1923. He was born March 19, 1892, in Los Angeles, to Andrew Ybarra and Mary Estrada. He was a fourth‑generation Californian with Indigenous Mexican roots.

Big fights
- February 22, 1911: Rivers beat Jimmy Reagan by technical knockout in the 13th round in Vernon Arena, California. Reagan had been knocked down several times before the 13th round.
- January 1, 1912: Rivers knocked out Frankie Conley, a former bantamweight world champion.
- He fought Johnny Kilbane twice in 1911–1912 and lost both times.
- July 4, 1912: He fought Ad Wolgast for the lightweight title. In the 13th round, both men landed punches and Wolgast knocked Rivers down. The referee counted Rivers out, giving Wolgast the win by technical knockout in a controversial decision.

Personal life
- Rivers’ father died of tuberculosis on January 23, 1913.
- He married Pauline Slert on March 1, 1913. She died in 1918. He remarried in 1924 to Opal Dean Case.
- Some stories said he died in 1918 after the sinking of the SS Tuscania, but that is not true; he served in World War I and survived.
- By 1955 he lived alone in a windowless room on West Second Street in Los Angeles. His only valuable possession was his father’s 200‑year‑old violin, which he played daily.
- He died June 26, 1957, in Inglewood, California. He was buried at Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles.