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Five indelible boxing
memories |
By TED SARES
Staff Writer FightNightNews
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1)
Tracking all the way back to 1945. I
have watched literally thousands of
fights during my 69 years of life
and consider myself something of an
aficionado. I have seen some things,
I'll tell you. The unpredictable
excitement that was Bob Satterfield,
the fights between Charles, Louis
and Walcott. LaMotta-Robinson, Ward-Gatti,
Ward-Green, Ward-Augustus,
Zale-Graziano, Corrales-Castillo,
Ali-Frazier, Patterson-Johansson,
and Barrera-Morales. |
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I was confused by the illogic of
Hearns putting Duran away with a
lethal straight right, and then
Duran beating Barkley and then
Barkley knocking out Hearns. I guess
styles make fights.
I watched Leotis Martin send Sonny
Liston to dreamland, Bruce Curry and
Monroe Brooks go to the brink, and
Kid Paret take 17 unanswered
uppercuts. I witnessed the
mind-numbing, sudden fury of the
Mesa-Garza fight and the shoot-outs
between Moorer-Cooper and
Lyle-Foreman. The savage battle
between "Kid" Akeem and "Pikin"
Quiroga. The slow slide of Jerry
Quarry, Jimmy Young and many others.
I saw the epiphany of Foreman and
the "what if" that was Tyson. I pray
for Michael Watson, Gerald McClellan
and Greg Page and recall the courage
of Duk Koo Kim, Johnny Owens,
Leavander Johnson, Robert Wangila,
Pedro Alcazar, Bobby Tomasello and
too many others. Look, during the
fight between George Khalid Jones
and Beethoven Scottland, I heard Max
Kellerman tell the television
audience, "I don't like the way he
is getting hit.... Those are the
cumulative punches that lead to
things that you don't want to hear
about after the fight." I have seen
very good things, some not so good,
and some downright horrible, but
nothing even approaches what I saw
and felt during a period between
1978 and 1982 involving a warrior by
the name of Bobby Chacon and the
wars he waged with "Bazooka" Limon
and Cornelius Boza-Edwards.
That cluster of fights is my most
indelible boxing memory bar none.
2) The ebb and flow classic
between Archie Moore and Canada's
Yvonne Durelle in 1958 was one that
all hardcore boxing fans must see.
The rugged French Canadian decked
the Mongoose an incredible three
times in the first round and
appeared to be on his way to a
certain stoppage victory. But wait,
Archie somehow managed to weather
the storm and survive the round.
Then, incredibly, he began to work
his way back. But he was knocked
down again in the 5th round but
still would not fold. Durelle was no
only discouraged but was also
tiring. He had made a fatal mistake
by letting the Mongoose off the hook
and now it was Archie Moore who took
control and began to put some hurt
on the tough challenger. Durelle
finally went down in the seventh and
tenth rounds and then Moore settled
matters in the eleventh round of a
fight that had to be seen to be
believed. This classic gave new
meaning to the words "courage" and
"comeback," and thankfully I
remember it.
3) The fight between Georgie
Small and Laverne Roach on February
22, 1950, which I watched on small
screen television, was my first
experience with a ring death and it
has stayed with me ever since. On
March 12, 1948 the great Marcel
Cerdan had given Laverne Roach (21-1
coming in) a brutal beating. Roach
went down three times in the 2nd,
and four times in the 8th before the
slaughter was stopped. Roach would
lose two more fights in 1948. In his
fight with Small, he was knocked out
in the tenth round and was removed
to a hospital where he died the
following day from a sub-dural
hemorrhage. Even as a 13 year old, I
could tell something was wrong with
the way Roach looked and fought.
Something did not seem right, and to
this day, I cannot help but believe
the real damage was not done by
Georgie Small but rather by someone
else back in 1948.
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4)
Buster Douglas' 10th round KO of
Mike Tyson in Tokyo on February 10,
1990. I recall Buster's fabulous
conditioning. Tyson, a 40-1
favorite, was overconfident and in
relatively poor shape. But what made
this the perfect storm was Buster's
almost spiritual motivation inspired
by the recent death of his mother,
Lula Pearl. Buster’s jab was perfect
as was his resilience. Hell, Buster
was the perfect fight on that
memorable night and no man alive
could have beaten him except perhaps
Don King who gave it a try. |
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5) The ninth and tenth rounds
of the Ernie Shavers-Roy "Tiger"
Williams fight in December 1976. The
Tiger started strong in the ninth
and landed a number of solid shots
He seemed in charge but then tired
midway though the round and Ernie
came on, bombing away. Roy had to
hold on and regroup. With about a
minute to go, it happened. Roy
snapped off one of the hardest left
hooks I have ever seen and staggered
Ernie who was now in big trouble.
After some follow-up shots, Shavers
looked ready to go as Tiger mixed
short left hooks with two or three
short right leads on top of Shaver's
shaven head. Ernie had no answer and
likely was saved by the bell. He
staggered back to his corner a very
tired boxer. The crowd, which
included Joe Louis, was up and
roaring; they were anticipating the
kill. Clearly, this was the Tiger's
time.
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The last
round began
and Shavers
came out
visibly
exhausted
while
Williams
appeared
confident
and ready to
end matters
and finally
emerge as a
serious
heavyweight
contender.
He quickly
moved Ernie
into a
corner and
applied
brutal, non-
stop
punishment
until the
Referee
called a
standing 8
count.
Tiger,
thinking the
fight had
been
stopped,
turned
around and
raised his
hands in
victory but
when he
turned back
to see a
determined
Shavers
still
standing,
his spirit
visibly
sagged.
Still, he
came on and
hit Shavers
with blows
that would
surely have
knocked out
anybody
else. |
Then,
all of a sudden, Ernie started to
connect with some medium hard blows
to Roy's body which slowed him down.
But then he connected with one of
his deadly uppercuts with Tiger on
the ropes and it straightened him
up. He was now hurt and Ernie sensed
it. He moved the Tiger into a corner
and began throwing his own bombs.
Roy Williams could not withstand the
ferocious onslaught and the Referee
now gave him a standing eight,
incredibly the second in the round!
Ernie stood poised, albeit
exhausted, and ready to move in. As
the referee ordered Roy to begin
fighting, he took a step forward,
hesitated, and then collapsed in the
corner a beaten man. Ernie sagged
over the ropes too tired to
celebrate. The fight was over. Ernie
had won, but the Tiger had indeed
roared and I'll never forget it.
To be continued...
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