Alexis Arguello - who took Jim Watt's world title off him - has been found dead in Nicaragua in a suspected suicude.
Three-weight world champion reported to have committed suicide
Boxing legend Alexis Arguello has been found dead at the age of 57.
The three-weight world champion is reported to have committed suicide in the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, where he was also mayor.
Police are investigating his death from a single gunshot wound. Arguello has battled drug and alcohol abuse since quitting boxing and had also admitted to contemplating suicide.
He retired from the sport in 1995 with a record of 82(65KO)-8-0 and was anointed to the Hall of Fame in 1992.
Arguello will be best remembered on these shores for coming to London in 1981 and outpointing
Sky Sports' Jim Watt to take his WBC lightweight belt, becoming only the sixth fighter in history to win a world title in three different weight divisions.
Seventeen months - and six fights - later he was stopped in the 14th round of his infamous first meeting with Aaron Pryor. The American's trainer, Panama Lewis, was seen handing his man a mystery bottle before the decisive round and although no tests were conducted after the fight, Lewis was banned from the sport and a rematch ordered.
Challenge
Arguello, known as El Flaco Explosivo or the 'Explosive Thin Man', lost again in 10 and would only box four more times before retiring, after a comeback, in 1995.
His professional career began in 1968 and although he lost his first world-title challenge, he beat Mexican Ruben Olivares to become the WBA featherweight champion in 1974.
He then moved up to super feather and defended the WBC title eight times, including a trio of wins over Rafael Limon, Bobby Chacon and Ruben Castillo before stepping up again to beat Watt.
After Pryor effectively ended his career - the pair remained friends - Arguello became involved in Nicaraguan politics and joined the Sandinista National Liberation Front, who he had actually fought against in 1980.
He became deputy mayor of Managua in November 2004 and was elected mayor of the capital last year.
