Linares' teacher José Fuentes has died in Seville at the age of 79 after a long illness.

José Fuentes was born on February 16, 1944 and was taken over by El Pipo who, once disconnected from the career of El Cordobés, longed to conquer the top with a new value that emerged from Linares. He invented the slogan: "Linares took him; Linares gives it back to us" alluding to the death of Manolete.

A bullfighter of natural elegance, who swept in his early years and settled after reaching the top of bullfighting. Those who lived with enthusiasm his launch as a matador blamed him for lack of ambition once he achieved success. Classic, academic style and powerful technique.

José Fuentes debuted with picadores on April 19, 1963 in his hometown. He fought a total of 89 bullfights in two seasons with the summit of the ears to a steer of Gavira in Seville and a great solo performance in Aranjuez. He took the alternative in Malaga from Antonio Ordóñez in 1965 and as usual in the master of Ronda confirmed him in Madrid the following month with bulls of Pablo Romero in the afternoon in which he cut off an ear. In that same year he appeared in Seville achieving a trophy -like his teammates- in the Corrida de la Prensa with Antonio Bienvenida and Fermín Murillo.

The first five seasons as a bullfighter he was at the top of bullfighting thanks to resounding successes such as the one he achieved in Barcelona without getting rid of horns like the one he received in the same square and in Valencia at the end of the season. In those seasons he did not fall below 40 runs per year, adding 70 in 1966.

He was the alternative godfather of Curro Vázquez in Vista Alegre, a place he conquered on numerous occasions. The master of Linares gave him the alternative to the hope that had excited all bullfighting with his classicism and that came from the same place. He had to stoke the bullfight alone when he fell wounded in the first bull Vázquez.

In Madrid they demanded a lot from him because of the little effort it cost him to be in front of the bull. On one occasion the public did not stop reproaching him for using the beak. In a snatched gesture he went to the barrier and with a lace cut the peak of the crutch to return to the face of the bull. His responsibility and commitment to the profession led him to always show his face in Madrid. He cut off a weight ear to a bull of Amelia Pérez-Taberner on the day of San Isidro of 73 and the following year he obtained the same result with the bullfight of Palha. In 75 he was wounded in Madrid and Huesca, the latter seriously since it was in the neck -which caused a paralysis in the face that accompanied him forever-.

In Seville he made the paseíllo a dozen times where he curdled several relevant tasks, especially a task to the bull of Guardiola is remembered. He retired in Linares fighting six bulls alone cutting his ponytail in 1977. He reappeared only two years later, the best of his return was the solera that printed his bullfighting conquering the Puerta Grande of Madrid with bulls of Fraile. His balance in Las Ventas is 34 runs with 10 ears and a single exit on shoulders.

His first farewell was in the 1977 season, on October 12 in Linares, reappearing in 1979 and retiring definitively in 1994, although he returned to bullfighting in the Sevillian town of Écija on June 18, 1999 with Enrique Ponce and El Juli.

In the restaurant La Mezquita de Guarromán he used to spend the afternoons once retired waiting for the visit of his friends. With sour character for some and fully detached for others. Under the perfect thrust of Pamplona to a bull of César Moreno -he was a forceful stoker of great purity- he shared gatherings with his faithful as the subaltern Pepe Luis Díaz, Paco Haro -whom he helped in his beginnings as a bullfighter-, the cattle rancher Javier Moreno and the bullfighter Curro Díaz, among other friends.

A gesture that defines his bullfighting shame is that just a week ago, in the hospital in Seville where he was admitted, he shaved and put on a tie and asked the person who took care of him to take a picture of him to see if "he was presentable". He was always very conceited, very elegant inside and outside the arena.

...

  • Seville
  • Barcelona
  • The Juli
  • Enrique Ponce
  • Pamplona
  • Malaga
  • Bulls

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