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.
