Undisputed welterweight champion of the world 1951-1954 is a member of the International Boxin Hall of Fame. He would split his time between the U.S. and Havana in 1947, a year in which he went 11-1-1 with 3 knockouts. However, by 1948 he had decided to stay in the United States indefinitely. After retiring from boxing Gavilán became a Jehovah’s Witness and was jailed under the Castro regime for preaching. In the 1980s he made a living selling sausages in Chicago.