This day in boxing history

2/11/1990: James (Buster) Douglas KO 10 Mike Tyson, Tokyo. Wins World Heavyweight Title. Douglas, a 43-1 underdog, scores the greatest upset in sports history. Everyone claims now they saw it coming…

Don King of course went postal, challenged the result, etc.

Douglas never successfully defended his title. He came in almost 15 ponds heavier in his next fight and lost the best to Evander.

 
Funny thought of the day. Discussing a real loss of Tyson gets no hits. Posting whether Tyson between 21-22 and three months could beat Holmes, Ali and Marciano in one night would get 500 replies of debate spiraling into insults.
 
Absolut said:
Funny thought of the day. Discussing a real loss of Tyson gets no hits. Posting whether Tyson between 21-22 and three months could beat Holmes, Ali and Marciano in one night would get 500 replies of debate spiraling into insults.
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Buster Douglas > Holmes + Ali + Marciano
 
Absolut said:
Funny thought of the day. Discussing a real loss of Tyson gets no hits. Posting whether Tyson between 21-22 and three months could beat Holmes, Ali and Marciano in one night would get 500 replies of debate spiraling into insults.
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and he still would've lost to the 2 biggest rivals of his time in Holyfield and Lewis
 
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February 12
1971: Ken Buchanan W 15 Ruben Navarro, Los Angeles. Retains World Lightweight Title.

The Scottish Fighting Carpenter against “The Maravilla Kid. Navarro took the fight on 3 days’ notice and had trouble making weight. Because he knew his cardio would be suspect he stormed out and scored a KD (although Arthur Mercante scored it a slip). Navarro controlled the action for the first three rounds, but his moment had escaped him. Buchanan went on to win a fairly easy decision.

Buchanan, an elusive fighter, finished with a fine record of 61-8. 6 of those losses after he came out of retirement- in fact, 5 in a row. He was elected to the HoF in 2000. Navarro, 33-8-2, fought out of East L.A. He would again challenge for the title a few years later, this time losing to Rodolfo Gonzalez by TKO.

Fun fact about Buchanan, Duran twice breached contracts to fight him. Not fun fact about Buchanan when they finally fought Duran mauled him. The fight ended on what was ruled a body shot. Replays show it was a low blow. "" Years later, Buchanan said the low blow "dented my protector and metal burst into my right ball. I was peeing blood for days."

 
2/13/ 1993: James (Lights Out) Toney KO 9 Iran Barkley, Las Vegas.

Here is a link to the LA Times write up. They also discuss a possible Jones-Toney fight. http://articles.latimes.com/1993-02-14/sports/sp-455_1_toney-dominates-barkley


I was shocked at how easily Toney really beat up Barkley. All the ‘experts’ picked Barkley. The first round is a sign of the entire fight- Toney landing a brutal combo ending in an uppercut.
 
February 14, 1951, Robinson and LaMotta met for the final time- The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Frickin LaMotta just kept coming forward despite how brutally he was being beaten.


This is the fight in Raging Bull that leads to “Hey, Ray, I never went down, man! You never got me down, Ray! You hear me, you never got me down.”


February 14, 1988 a 188 lbs Evander Holyfield destroyed Henry Tillman. Tillman decided he couldn’t stick and move for 15 rounds, worrying he’d tire by the late rounds so he decided to exchange. It proved a poor decision as Evander sent Tillman to the canvas 4x. Evander brutally worked the body and head. Back when he ‘worked’ for a living, Harold Lederman was the only judge to give Tillman a round.



 
February 15, 1992: Julian Jackson KO 1 Ismael Negron, Las Vegas. Retains WBC Middleweight Title.
The original walk off, Julian appears to be going low, Negron dips his right to guard against the body and Jackson crushes his chin with a brutal KO.


Man, Jackson could crack. Also, this fight is officially a TKO- demonstrating how often the distinction is meaningless.



Also, in 1978, Leon Spinks defeated Ali.
 
February 16 ,1985: Livingstone Bramble defeated Ray Mancini in their rematch in a fifteen round decision.

Bramble, and his voodoo, snakes and ability to play the villain scared me as a kid- pure Kamala WWF stuff. Bramble brought a witch doctor to the Mancini press conference called “Dr. Doo” who cast a spell on Mancini. He wore an African gown, a top hat and a cane.

Plus, he was brutal to Mancini in and out of the ring. But, lets be honest, there was talk of a Mancini Pryor super fight and that would not have ended well for Boom Boom.



 
2/16 2008: Cristian Mijares W 12 Jose Navarro, Las Vegas. Retains WBC Super Flyweight Title. Split decision, and the one card Navarro won had him winning every round ?!?!?!?!?!
 
2/17/1991: Michael Carbajal KO 2 Macario Santos, Las Vegas. Retains IBF Junior Flyweight Title.

Carbajal bringing back the rat tail with a brutal left hook.

 
Absolut said:
2/17/1991: Michael Carbajal KO 2 Macario Santos, Las Vegas. Retains IBF Junior Flyweight Title.

Carbajal bringing back the rat tail with a brutal left hook.

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Rat tail FTW !

Better keep your hands up against a puncher like Carbajal.
 
2/18/1989:

Pernell Whitaker W 12 Greg Haugen, Wins IBF Lightweight Title. Haugen’s 3rd defense didn’t go well- he hit the canvas for the first time and lost120-107 (x2) and 118-109. Whitaker was not too far from his robbery against Jose Luis Ramirez. Haugen fought for another decade, winning against Héctor Camacho and Ray Mancini, but losing to Pazienza and Chavez. He willingly took on all comers, amassing a record of more than 50 pro fights.

Years later, when asked who was the best boxer he ever faced, he didn’t hesitate for a second. “Hands down,” he said, “Pernell Whitaker.” Whitaker, never short on confidence, once said “If I don’t want God to hit me, He’s not going to hit me.”


Call me crazy, I’d pick Sweet Pea over Money at135.




2/18/2005 Sebastian Andres Lujan ear basically rips off his head—in hindsight perhaps due Margarito cheating with plaster in his gloves…
 
2/19/ 2000: Eric Morales W 12 Marco Antonio Barrera, Las Vegas. Retains WBC Super Bantamweight Title. Referee: Mitch Halpern | Judge: Carol Castellano 114-113 | Judge: Duane Ford 113-114 | Judge: Dalby Shirley 115-112. One of the top-10 greatest fights ever.



2/18/2005

In a prelude to their match, Hopkins and Taylor fight on the same card. I was in attendance.

Bernard Hopkins W 12 Howard Eastman, Los Angeles. Retains World Middleweight Title. Hopkins 20th Title defense.
Jermain Taylor KO KO 3 Daniel Edouard, Los Angeles.
 
2/20/ 1999: Felix (Tito) Trinidad W 12 Pernell (Sweet Pea) Whitaker, NYC. Retains IBF Welterweight Title. First time Pernell lost beyond dispute.



Whitaker, now 35, was coming off a forced 16 month exile from the sport, having twice failed drug tests in 1998. Trinidad, the younger, stronger, quicker, and more menacing fighter, had his own problems. Struggling to make the 147 lb. weight limit, Trinidad was forced to don a rubber suit and jog the MSG neighborhood before finally, and barely, making weight
 
2/21/87 Bobby Czyz Knocked out Willie Edwards in the 2nd round to retain his IBF LHW title. A back and forth tilt, Edwards almost dropped Czyz at the end of the first but the ropes held him up. How was that not a knock down, ref??? Rather impressively, Czyz slips a punch and moves around Edwards to get off the ropes and hold. How many fighters don’t have that ability when hurt and pay for it? He was a bit wobbly headed back to his corner.

Czyz came out for the second having recovered and landed a brutal right in the 2nd to stop the fight. The punch that started it looked like it just clipped Edwards. Getting stung in the first did nothing to make Czyz cautious, as his came out brawling and wild in the second.

Czyz would lose his belt a few fights later to Prince Charles Williams.

Czyz had a crazy career. In 1980 he was injured in a car crash and couldn’t travel with the US amateur team. The team died in a plane crash a week later.

He started as a middle and was lining up for a fight against Hagler, but those plans were derailed when Czyz lost to Hamsho in 1982. At the end of his career, Czyz would move up to HW, rather unsuccessfully. His last fight he was stopped early by Corrie Sanders, who of course also stopped Wlad.

I didn’t care for him as an announcer, but his fights were action packed. I think he gets overlooked now and is often only remembered for his fight against Holyfield.

Edwards was no slouch, sporting a record with only two losses, and having wins over Matthew Saad Muhammed and Donny Lalonde. After retirement, Edwards sadly was afflicted with Parkinson’s disease.


 
2/22/1998: Mark (Too Sharp) Johnson KO 1 Arthur Johnson, Washington, D.C. Retains IBF Flyweight Title

may the better Johnson win!

<Y2JSmirk>
 
2/23/ 1985: Michael Spinks KO 3 David Sears, Atlantic City. Retains World Light Heavyweight Title.

Spinks’ defenses

WBA title 9th, WBC 3rd. IBF 1st. He had taken the titles from Muhammad, Qawi, and Davis, and had gutted the LHW division. He was a monster of a LHW. But, he had’t fought in almost a year and came in light, barely cracking 170. Sears had a nice record at 16-0-1, and was ranked #2 by the WBA. However, this was a gigantic leap in competition.

Sears had good success the first two rounds, and was ahead. He was moving, circling away, and using his jab and combo well. The problem is, Spinks was learning his timing and then landed a thunderous right. Sears went down like a sack of bricks, but managed to beat the count. Clearly out of it, he was defenseless against Spinks and the fight was stopped.


Ironically, both men would not last long in the game after this fight. Spinks fought once more at LHW before jumping to HW and beating Holmes twice. He had one more fight at HW before getting mauled by Tyson.

Sears, took a year off, fought couple times and then got blitzed by Bobby Czyz in his final fight.


 
Absolut said:
2/23/ 1985: Michael Spinks KO 3 David Sears, Atlantic City. Retains World Light Heavyweight Title.

Spinks’ defenses

WBA title 9th, WBC 3rd. IBF 1st. He had taken the titles from Muhammad, Qawi, and Davis, and had gutted the LHW division. He was a monster of a LHW. But, he had’t fought in almost a year and came in light, barely cracking 170. Sears had a nice record at 16-0-1, and was ranked #2 by the WBA. However, this was a gigantic leap in competition.

Sears had good success the first two rounds, and was ahead. He was moving, circling away, and using his jab and combo well. The problem is, Spinks was learning his timing and then landed a thunderous right. Sears went down like a sack of bricks, but managed to beat the count. Clearly out of it, he was defenseless against Spinks and the fight was stopped.


Ironically, both men would not last long in the game after this fight. Spinks fought once more at LHW before jumping to HW and beating Holmes twice. He had one more fight at HW before getting mauled by Tyson.

Sears, took a year off, fought couple times and then got blitzed by Bobby Czyz in his final fight.


Click to expand...


That's a beauty of a right.
 
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