Boxing's November ring classics

November Ring Moments: 

- by Brian Zelley.

The Fantastic Fifties:

*The month of November provided a few title fights around the globe.

For the west coast crowd, one of those bouts would feature one of 
their own ART "Golden Boy" ARAGON would face JIMMY CARTER
in a lightweight title fight in Los Angeles.  At the end of 15 rounds it
was the champion Carter who would get the decision in 1951.  In
November '53 Carter would go to another fighters home base, but
the results would be the same with Jimmy winning against the
Canadian ARMAND SAVOIE at Montreal.

On Nov. 1, '50, Islington's own TERRY ALLEN, the former world
flyweight champion would face the new champion DADO MARINO
for 15 rounds in Honolulu.  

*Then came a fight to remember when JOHNNY BRATTON faced
welterweight champion KID GAVILAN.  In  an earlier fight, Bratton
suffered a broken jaw, but that had no effect on his perfomance
on Friday the 13th , November '53 at the Chicago stadium.

*1/955 - CARMEN BASILIO, the new welterweight champion, would
give former champion TONY DEMARCO  a rematch in Boston
 and win by a stoppage in round 12.

1956 - FLOYD PATTERSON, the middleweight Olympic gold medalist
was now a heavyweight and would win the vacant title with a great
victory over light-heavyweight champion ARCHIE MOORE.

The Sizzling Sixties and the November happenings:

BANTAMWEIGHT BOXER from BRAZIL would set the stage

for the Sixties ring action when he held a piece of the 

bantamweight title with a victory over Eloy Sanchez in

November 22, 1960 in Los Angeles. And his name was

EDER JOFRE.  But, fast forward to 1964 and it was 
WILLIE PASTRANO winning big in Manchester, England
against TERRY DOWNES.  And, in November '65 the
old gave way to the new when heavyweight champion
MUHAMMAD (Cassius Clay) ALI defended his title
against fomrer two-time champ FLOYD PATTERSON.

There would be other good fights in that year with
Carols Ortiz over Ismael Laguna, and Fighting Harada
over Alan Rudkin. And in 1967, champion DICK TIGER
would stop ROGER ROUSE in a light=heavyweight bout.

November 1970:

Two important fights would kick-off November 1970:

CAROS MONZON stops NINO BENVENUTI and

JOE FRAZIER stops BOB FOSTER.

The Ground Level: the novice juniors.

*Far removed from the world champions such as 

MUHAMMAD ALI to EDER JOFRE,  are those 

amateur boxers at the ground level when many are

often in their first tournament such as that which took 

place on November 5th., 1983 at the Boxing BC

training centre in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

The tournament  was the 1983 Bronze Gloves for 

junior novice boxers.

Following the competition, the boxer to be selected as

the "Bronze Boy" was Queensborough Boxing club boxer

CLINT DUMAIS.  The runner-up as the best boxer was

from the Kingsway boxing club of Vancouver and his name

was MIKE MARRELLO, and the best bout was against

Daryl Dickson of Williams Lake vs David Slack of the

Langley/Aldergrove club.  One of the novice junior boxers

that 11 years later would be part of Canada's Commonwealth

Games boxing team would be ALLAN BAYNE.  Ringside officials

in that novice tournament would be:

Bert Lowes, Sid Knopp, Rudy Bianco, Larry Krangle, Brian Zelley,

Lindy Lindmoser, Jack Mellor, Vic Murdoch, Earl Vance and

Bob Necombe.

Back To The World Stage IN THE EIGHTIES:

It was just the previous month in October 1980 when a kegebd

fell and theat was when LARRY HOLMES stopped "The Greatest:

named MUHAMMAD ALI in 11 rounds.

But, for the champions and contenders, there would be many

interesting bouts throughout the eighties with the first big

name fight in November 1980 took place in New Orleans and

Sugar Ray Leonard would defeat Roberto Duran in a 

welterweight title fight and in a split title division of the

lightweights JIM WATT would stop SEAN O'GRADY and

HILMER KENTY would stop V. Fernandez. And, in 1981

MICHAEL SPINKS would stop VONZELL JOHNSON in the

light-heavyweight division. 

In November 1982, lightweight RAY MANCINI would stop

Duk Koo Kim in Les Vegas.  And has the decade continued

there would be others engaged such as MARVIN HAGLER  and

HECTOR CAMACHO.  And in the heavyweight division it was

LARRY HOLMES rolling along whn he stopped BONECRUSHER

SMITH in November 1984

BACK TO THE THIRTIES 

* But, we must travel back in time for see the legends of boxing in action.

In November 1930 TONY CANZONERI woudl defeat KID CHOCOLATE in

a lightweight bout in New York City while featherweight champion 

Bat Battalino was winning in Chicago.  An in 1933, it was light-heavyweight 

champion MAXIE ROSENBLOOM earning a victory over the aging 

MICKY WALKER.  To close out the thirties, it was 1939 when the great

BLLY CONN would outbox GUS LESNEVICH to retain the light-heavyweight

title

Boxing In The Good old Summer Time

SUMMER TIME FIGHTS:  by brian zelley


*One of the fights that I remember from the good old summer time
was the Middleweight title fight between champion EMILE GRIFFITH
and JOEY ARCHER that took place on July 13, 1966.  The fight went
the distance with Emile winning the decision, but there was plenty of 
excellent boxer by both Griffith and Archer for 15 rounds.  


Before and after that bout, there were plenty of other great and some
not so great summer time bouts.  


HEAVYWEIGHTS:
The year was 1949 in the early days of the summer when
EZZARD CHARLES would win the vacant heavyweight
title with a victory of JERSEY JOE WALCOTT.  But, in 
the summer time of '51, old Jersey Joe was a great underdog
but he would shock the world with a one punch knockout of
the champion to win the heavyweight title.


In 1957, the then heavyweight champion FLOYD PATTERSON
would score a pair of victories over Tommy Jackson and the
recent amateur PETE RADEMACHER.


There would be other heavyweight summer bouts, and also
many of the other divisions.


THE LAST 100 YEARS:
*Stepping back 100 years ago, there were two title fights of note
that took place in the summer of 1912 including:
*A July 4th. victory by heavyweight champion JACK JOHNSON
 over Fireman Jim Flynn, and
a July 4th victory by lightweight champion AD WOLGAST
over Joe Rivers.  One year later it would be the new 

lightweight champion WILLIE RITCHIE who would score
a knockout victory over Rivers in San Francisco, California.
and in 1914 during the month of July, FREDDIE WELSH
would earn a decision victory over Ritchie in London.


*It was in the summer of 1919, when JACK DEMPSEY
would begin his term as heavyweight champion when he
stopped Jess Willard in four rounds at Toledo, Ohio.


*** THE ROARING TWENTIES SUMMER MOMENTS***


*Welterweight champion JACK BRITTON would kick off
summer action with a 12 round draw with one Lou Bogash.
In July of 1921 champions Jack Dempsey would see Johnny Wilson.
Dempsey would stop George Carpentier  and middleweight Wilson
would earn a victory over William Bryan Downey in Cleveland.


*in the summer of 1922, JOHNNY DUNDEE would earn a 
two wins in the Jr. lightweight division and a victory in the
featherweight division.


*Fast forward to the summer of 1929 and some of the 
champions in action were:
Tommy Loughran, Jackie Fields, and Sammy Mandell. 


*** THE DAYS OF THE DEPRESSION ***
*It was the summer of 1932 and light-heavyweight champion
MAXIE ROSENBLOOM would slap and dance to a 15 round
victory over Lou Scozza in Buffalo, NY and TEDDY YAROSZ
would earn a piece of the middleweight title with a victory 
over Vince Dundee in Pittsburgh.  And, it was 1936 when
FREDDY  STEELE won a piece of the middleweight title
with a victory over Babe Risko in Seattle.


*But, it was the summer of 1937 when TOMMY FARR
went 15-rounds with heavyweight champion JOE LOUIS
in New York.  Louis had recently won the title from
JAMES J. BRADDOCK "The Cinderella Man" who 
had given hope to many during those days of the 
depression years.


*** beyond the war years ***
It was 1947, and one of the great fights took place in chicago
when the bout that triggered the movie 
"Somebody Up There Likes Me" was the victory by
ROCKY GRAZIANO over TONY ZALE for the
Middleweight championship of the world.  


*And it was 1948 in London, when FREDDY MILLS
won the light-heavyweight title from GUS LESNEVICH.
For England,  it was one of those historical moments when
Mills would become the first British boxer to win the 
light-heavyweight title since BOB FITZSIMMONS.


  

BOXING MOMENTS in JUNE

MOMENTS IN JUNE:  by Brian Zelley


As we step back in time, there have been many interesting moments
in June. As we step back there are some names that are likely forgotten
or unknown by the boxing fans of 2012 such as Tommy West, 
Willie Fitgerald, Johnny Reagan, Bill Squires and Tony Ross.
But, then again most of what happened in the distant past has long been
forgotten or overlooked.


The above named boxers all faced world champions, when there were
world champions in the sport of boxing. For instance, Tommy West
faced Joe Walcott in a welterweight title fight June 1902, and Bill Squires
faced heavyweight champion Tommy Burns in a title fight June 1908.


It was on June 9, 1914 when Kid Williams stopped Johnny Coulon
in a bantamweight title fight at Vernon, California.  But one of the 
great fights to take place was  June 18, 1923 when Pancho Villa 
defeated Jimmy Wilde.


Then there was MAX BAER who made history in 1937 and 1935
in the month of June when he defeated Primo Carnera for the 
heavyweight title and about one year later lost it all to the one
that became known as the "Cinderella Man" James J. Braddock.
Then fast forward to 1955, and it was ARCHIE MOORE victory
over JOEY MAXIM in the light-heavyweight division.

TELEVISION and BOXING

THE BEST YEARS OF TV BOXING: By Brian Zelley

Introduction:
It was 1964, and the end of my first year
of amateur boxing in Nanaimo, but on
August 21, as I waited for my second 
year of training in September '64 
that day would also be the the end of
another boxing journey 
weekly boxing on television.  


I was just a pre-teen back in 1955, 
when I first watched the black and white
boxing matches on a neighbor's house on
friday nights.  At that time, I had no real understanding of the sport
but it was interesting and then there were those Gillette razor ads
and the little jingles set to music.



BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN:
Looking back to past years of boxing on television, the golden years
would be 1944 to 1964 when Madison Square Gardens was the focal
point for the Friday Night fights with Gillette the sponsor.


The very first televised bout from the Gardens took place on 
September 29, 1944 and it featured a return match for the
featherweight champion Willie Pep and the former champ
Chalky Wright.   And the very last was a light-heavyweight
bout between Johnny Persol and Henry Hank. And for 
twenty great years the fights were popular events in many
homes and pubs across North America from New York City
to Nanaimo, B.C, Canada.  


Some of the folks involved in Professional boxing in the USA
expressed a positive note with the end of televised boxing,
but for many who could not afford to stage or attend regular
boxing matches it was a sad end to a great era.


GREAT BOUTS and FAMOUS BOXERS GALORE:
*The first major star was Willie Pep, and his bout against Wright
in the Gardens would not be his last.  Fast forward to 1949,
and Willie was the former champion but he would make a great
comeback when he defeated champion Sandy Saddler for the 
featherweight title on February 11, 1949.

SHORT TERM BOXING CHAMPIONS

LOOKING BEYOND THE TOP TEN CHAMPIONS:  by Brian Zelley

Much of the discussion about boxers of the past tends to get stuck on

 a select number of all-time greats such as Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali,

 Archie Moore, Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong and others.

But, there were some former champions that get overlooked in fan polls 

such as Max Baer, Rocky Graziano, Luis Rodriguez, Al Singer,
Harold Dade, and many others.

Regardless of the limited recognition, one thing that cannot be forgotten

 is in a brief  they were the best in the world for their weight division. 

THE FORGOTTEN OR OVERLOOKED CHAMPIONS"

*Over time this story will focus on some of those champions from 

heavyweight to flyweight champions of the world.

AL SINGER:

JIMMY BRADDOCK

MAX BAER

WILLIE PASTRANO

ROCKY GRAZIANO

MARTY SERVO
*In 1967, Lew Eskin of "Boxing Illustrated wrote and article
about Marty Servo titled: "Marty Servo - Fate Dealt Him
A Cruel Blow" - Boxing Illustrated, January 1967.



JOHNNY BRATTON: (1927 - 1993)
*Johnny won the NBA welterweight title with a victory
over Charley Fusari for the vacant title but several months
later he would lose the title to KID GAVILAN.

LUIS RODRUGUEZ

HAROLD DADE

SUGAR RAMOS

TERRY DOWNS

LEON SPINKS

InsideToronto Article: Boxing coach an Ontario trailblazer

InsideToronto Article: Boxing coach an Ontario trailblazer

1963 BOXING HISTORY: upsets, tragedy and magic scales win the day

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS:  By Brian Zelley

Introduction:
The year 1963 will always be important 
for me as that was the year I became involved
in boxing when I joined the newly formed club
in Nanaimo by George Nepper which 
was called the Newcastle Boxing Club. 
 But, beyond the local amateur world, the
 professional boxing scene was
an exciting sport to follow and watch.


(photo:  brian zelley in my early days of a boxing journey)


1963: UPSETS, MAGIC SCALES and TRAGEDY
==  Joey  Giardello  ==

*Joey Giardello had been fighting for
about 15 years and had one previous
title fight, but when he stepped into the
ring with middleweight champion
DICK TIGER, Joey was the underdog.
But, someone forgot to tell Giardello.
Joey used all his experience to box
Tiger and not get into a banging war.
At, the end of the bout, Joey reminded
us of Rocky Graziano when Rocky
was an underdog against the 
"Man of Steel" Tony Zale.  In 1963,
Joey would become the middleweight champion of the world.


== Willie Pastrano ==

In light-heavyweight division, champion
Harold Johnson had worked hard to 
get universal recognition after the 
great Archie Moore was ending his
last years as an active fighter.


That recognition for Harold came in
1962, but before the glory had 
evaporated to a regular role, it 
all was lost by a split-decision 
when the classy boxer 
Willie Pastrano edged the skilled
and experienced Johnson with the perfect combination of
speed and foot movement for one of the big upsets of 1963.


Another round of tragedy strikes in the featherweight division.
Sadly, champion Davey "the Springfield Rifle" Moore would
lose his title and his life in his bout with Sugar Ramos. Unlike
the Paret tragedy of 1962, the cause of the loss of Davey 
appeared to be one of those accidents that just happen.
Davey was knocked down but hit the base of his skull on a 
tight ring rope that caused the fatal blow.


==  Flash Elorde's magic scales at weigh-in ==
Johnny Bizzarro from the USA had his shot for
'the junior lightweight title held by the slick
Flash Elorde.  In that contest, the strangest
event was the weigh-in where the Flash did not make 
the weight, then faster than a flash when he jumped
on and off the scales for a second shot, there was
some sort of magic in the room when the watcher 
called out the right weight to allow the fight.  Johnny
lost the fight, but to some it wasn't only Elorde's
fists that won the day, it was those magic scales.  

1962 - boxing moments

1962 BOXING HISTORY:  by brian zelley


Beyond the tragedy of the Emile Griffith vs Benny Kid Paret,
the year 1962 produced a wide variety of interesting boxing
stories with new champions and a wide variety of challengers.


It was the year SONNY LISTON would stop FLOYD PATTERSON
in one round with his explosive power.  In other divisions there were
some suprises such as big underdog  flyweight FIGHTING HARADA
winning the title from PONE KINGPETCH.


EMILE GRIFFITH would bounce back from the tragedy when he
regained the welterweight tile from Paret and defend against
Ralph Dupas and Jorge Fernandez.  And, light-heavyweight champ 
HAROLD JOHNSON would get universal recognition after his
defeat of the young and capable Doug Jones.  And, the Pacific
Northwest would get a world champion when Portland's 
DENNY MOYER won the vacant jr. middleweight title
with a victory over Joey Giambra.


It should have come as no great shock, but a young CARLOS ORTIZ
won the lightweight title from JOE "Old Bones" BROWN.  And, 
bantamweight champion EDER JOFRE and featherweight champion
 DAVEY MOORE held onto the titles with  wins.  Moore travelled
to Helsinki to defeat one Olli Macki.


 Not to be overlooked was the
Jr. lighweight victory by FLASH ELORDE over Auburn Copeland.


In the middleweight division we had the two champions with
PAUL PENDER regaining the title from TERRY DOWNES
and DICK TIGER defeating GENE FULLMER.

Boxing Moments in April

APRIL HAPPENINGS in BOXING:  by Brian Zelley


As we flashback through the fistic past, there were many 
interesting moments and title fights in April beyond the
April Fool's time slot.


The Sizzling Sixties in the Ring:


It was April 1960 when Gene Fullmer faced Joey Giardello in the
middleweight division, but in the flyweight division some may 
remember th PONE KINGPETCCH vs PASCUAL PEREZ bout
that went the distant in April of '60.


1961:
*There would be  variety of action in April of 1961:
In the light-heavyweight division, HAROLD JOHNSON 
would stop Von Clay in two rounds to retain the title. And ,
in middleweight action PAUL PENDER would retain a 
piece of the crown with a victory over CARMEN BASILIO
in a bout at Boston.  Lightweight champion JOE BROWN
would travel to London to win a 15 round decision over
DAVE CHARNLEY.  In featherweight action in LA,
champuon Dave "the Springfield Rifle" Moore would
quicjly end the bout against Danny Valdez.


Over the decades before and after there would be many
other great and not so great moment in boxing in the
month of April.


THE FANTASTIC FIFTIES:
*It was Islington's own TERRY ALLAN who won the
vacant flyweight title in April 1950 to start a decade of
April moments in the Fantastic Fistic Fifties.


*Then there was SANDY SADDLER, the featherweight
champion who stopped Lauro Salas in a junor lghtweight 
bout while champion Willie Pep was rockng as the feeatherweight king.


*It would be in April 1952 when the geeat SUGAR RAY ROBINSON
would win another middleweight title fight against ex-champion 
ROCKY GRAZIANO, best known for his three wars with
the :Man of Steel" TONY ZALE.


The Super Seventies and spring time in April


*When one touches on the Seventies, one bout in the
month of April 1976 will stand out for controversy and
serve to measure or diminish the greatness of the
self-proclaimed greatest MUHAMMAD ALI/CASSIUS CLAY.


It was April 30th. 1976 and took place in Landover, Maryland.
Some say it was the day boxer JIMMY YOUNG was robbed of the
heavyweight title in his challenge for the title against Ali.  The
various news reports touched-on some of the issues such as the
following headline:
"ALI AT HIS WORST AGAINST YOUNG PRETENDER".
This headline was repeated in the Nineties when "The RING"
magazine published the book about boxing titled
"Chronicle of Boxing" by publisher Stanley Weston and
editor-in-chief Steven Farhood in 1993. Also, Jimmy Young had
much to say such as the following:
"I've had 25 fights up until tonight, and this was one of my easiest".


How the three judges scored it a unanimous decision for ALI
has many possibilities, but in one if his worst performances
supported by the post-fight comments by ANGELO DUNDEE
it would be reasonable to believe the fight was held on 
April 1st. (April Fool's Day) instead of April 30th.


There would be other April moments in the Seventes
such as the 1978 victory by Carlos Zarate over
Andre Fernandez in a bantamweight bout that took
place in San Juan on April 22, 1978.  In the closing
year of the Seventies, lightweight champion JIM WATTS
would close out the Seventies April moments with a 
victory over Alfredo Pitalua to win the vacant WBC
lightweight title but in 1981 he would lose to one of 
the all=time greats ALEX ARGUELLO by a 15-round
decision in London, England.  But, not to be fogotten
in the Seventies was the April 3rd., 1971 bout where
Bantamweight champion Reuben Olivares won a 
15-round decision over Chucho Castillo in California.


For those in the Pacific Northwest, it was April 1935
when BARNEY ROSS faced HARRY WOODS in 
Seattle for the Jr. welterweight title.


Fast forward from 1935 to 1946 and another 
Jr. welterweight title fight was the one that
had TIPPY LARKIN vs WILLIE JOYCE.

THE BOXER: BILLY FOX

BILLY FOX
A story about Billy Fox who is remembered for his fight with Jake LaMotta and
his title shot with Gus Lesnevich in 1948.  But in the story as reported in
"Sports Illustrated", there is much more about Fox.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1071514/3/index.htm

It Happened in March, Boxing moments

MARCH MOMENTS IN BOXING: by Brian Zelley


Headlines:  "Gus Gets Stronger As He Ages" (The RING)
1948:  The year was 1948 and there were many great fights including
two in March when light-heavyweight champion Gus Lesnevich 
stopped Billy Fox in one round in a New York fight.  Across the wild
Atlantic flyweight RINTY MONAGHAN stopped Jackie Patterson in 7.


But 1948 was not the only month to produce some excellent title fights.
In 1953 Bantamweight Jimmy Carruthers stopped Vic Toweel in a title
bout in Johannesburg and in 1954 lightweight Paddy DeMarco  won a
decision over Jimmy Carter.  Then there was 1956 and the welterweight
title fight that had Johnny Saxton win a 15 round decision over the
great Carmen Basilio.   In the close of the Fifties, it would be the boxer
known as the "Springfield Rifle" Davey Moore who would win the
featherweight title from Hogan "Kid" Bassey.


MARCH MOMENTS IN THE SIXTIES:


It All Begins With the Filipino Flash
1960: The Filipino Flash arrives in great form when Flash Elorde
won the junior lightweight title from Harold Gomes. Referee
was former champion Barney Ross who stopped the fight in
round seven.


Beyond The Flash
After the flash, during the Sixties there were other title fights
that took place in the month of March.  The year 1967 would
result in an important point in time for the one known as
"The Greatest" or the "Louisville Lip", it was Muhammad
Ali/Cassius Clay's last title fight before he was sent into some
sort of exile from boxing.  It was March 22, 1967 that Ali
would defend the heavyweight title against the old veteran
Zora Folley.  There was no expectation that Folley would win.
Zora Bell Folley was well past his prime, but the title shot
was well deserved for Folley's years of effort.


Back in 1965, it was another slice against Ali when 
on March 5 th.  Ernie Terrell would earn the WBA
heavyweight title with a victory over Eddie Machen
by a 15 round decision in Chicago.  In March 1966,
Muhammad Ali would defend his share of the title
against the Canuck Clouter George Chuvalo which
also went the distance.  


In 1963, one Luis Rodriguez  would win the 
welterweight tutle with a decision over Emile Griffith.
But,  Emile would bounce back and regain the title
on June 8 th. in New York.


March 1968 - Nino Benvenuti defeats Emile Griffith
in a middleweight title fight.  In the heavyweight arena 
Joe Frazier defeats Buster Mathis for  the New York
version of the heavyweight title left vacant by the
removal of Ali for his draft evasion issues.  And in
the featherweight division, Raul Rojas wins a piece
of the title with a victory over Enrique Higgins in
California on March 28, 1968.


March 1969:  Fred Little wins Jr. Middleweight title
with a victory over Stanley Haywood.  In bantamweight
action, Australia's Lionel Rose faced England's 
Alan Rudkin.  The bout went distance in Melbourne
with Rose winning the decision.


THE MARCH MOMENTS IN THE SEVENTIES


ISMAEL LAGUNA would kick-off the Seventies with
his March 3, 1970 lightweight title bout with a stoppage
of then champion 21-year old MANDO RAMOS with
a gifted left jab that sliced and diced Mando until 
referee LEE GROSSMAN  to stop the fight and
save the young ex-champion for future action.  


`BOB FOSTER would continue the parade of 
March moments on March 2, 1971 when he 
stopped HAL CARROLL in 4-rounds in
Scranton.


CAROLS MONZON, JOSE NAPOLES, ALFONSO FRAZER,
RAFAEL HERRERA and MASAO OHBA would make March
a merry month tor title fights in 1972.  For Pacific Northwest 
they would here that former Jr. middleweight champion DENNY MOYER
would knock middleweight champion Carlos Monzon out of the ring
in Rome, Italy, but Carlos would charge back to stop Denny.  and the
smooth as butter Jose Napoles would defeat RALPH CHARLES at
Wembley on March 28, 1972


ANTONIO CERVANTES would win a 15-round decision in a 
Junior Welterweight bout in San Juan on March 17. 1973.


GEORGE FOREMAN and ROBERTO DURAN score K0's 
in March 1974 title fights.  Foreman over KEN NORTON and
Duran over ESTEBAN DEJESUS.  Also, Cervantes defended
his title, and BEN VILAFLOR earned a piece of the Juniior
lightweight title.  


MARCH 1975 was a busy month for champions including 
newly crowned heavyweight champion MUHAMMAD ALI
takes on the old trial horse CHUCK WEPNER who knocked
Ali down in the ninth round.  Ali pulled off a win when the
referee Tony Perez stopped the bout with seconds to go.
Why Perez stopped the fight when Ali was not fighting
like a newly crowned champions is not known. 


1976 to 1979: There would be more title fights with the 
likes of John Conteh, Eddie Gazo, Pipino Cuevas,
Larry Holmes, Maurice Hope Danny Lopes and
Carlos Zarate.  It would be the March 23 rd. bout
where heavyweight champion LARRY HOLMES
would stop OSVALDO OCASIO at Las Vegas in 7-rds.