Roberto Clemente Coliseum
The
Roberto Clemente Coliseum (or
Coliseo Roberto Clemente in
Spanish) is a
sporting events and
concert arena in
San Juan,
Puerto Rico. It was, for many years, Puerto Rico's largest event facility, and it continues being one of the largest.
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Roberto Clemente Coliseum |
The Coliseum is named after
baseball hall of famer
Roberto Clemente, who died in a plane crash off
Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in
Carolina in
1972, while flying with relief articles to be given to earthquake victims in
Nicaragua. Construction of the facility began in the early 1970's, it was finished in January
1973, and inaugurated in February of that year.
The coliseum has been host to a variety of events, including world championship
boxing, business expos, circus, concerts and other things. Many
Puerto Rican and international performers have been there, including
Antonio Aguilar,
Menudo,
Marco Antonio Solis,
Wilkins,
Whitesnake,
Duran Duran and others. It has been the home of three different
BSN professional
basketball teams and the BSN has also used it as a neutral site for their most important games, including game 7 of the championship finals, several times.
The Coliseum has also been used by religious leaders for conferences and religious services.
Most of the world championship boxing bouts fought in Puerto Rico during the late
1970s and early
1980s were fought at the Roberto Clemente coliseum, including
Roberto Duran's world title defense versus
Mexican Leoncio Ortiz,
Wilfredo Gomez's knockout win against
Carlos Zarate, many of
Samuel Serrano's title defenses, and the fight where
Muhammad Ali defended his title against
Jean Pierre Coopman, the only time a world Heavyweight championship fight has been held in Puerto Rico.
George Foreman had his last fight before announcing his first retirement there, and
Julio César Chávez had one of his first important fights there, on the undercard of
Edwin Rosario's world Lightweight championship win against
Jose Luis Ramirez. Because of all the boxing action going on during that era, many observers call the period from the middle '70s to the middle '80s as the
golden age of boxing in Puerto Rico.
The Clemente coliseum has also been the place of large political rallies, and Puerto Rico's
electoral commission uses its facilities to count votes after each election.
*
List of notable Puerto Rican buildings and structures.
