After Canelo Alvarez’s loss to Dmitry Bivol over the weekend, IBHOF host Graham Houston recalls the night another Mexican megastar was suddenly trumped.
Dmitry Bivol’s upset win over Canelo Alvarez at the weekend brought back memories of a match with some similarities, in Frankie Randall’s surprise win over Julio Cesar Chavez to claim the 140lbs WBC title in Las Vegas. on January 29, 1994.
The similarities are first and foremost: Chavez is a Mexican superstar, much like Canelo.
Then we have the odds: Canelo is something like a 1/5 favorite, while Chavez is overvalued at 1/15.
We’ve got the evaluation elements. Before the Canelo vs Bivol game, you saw doubts expressed all over social media about the bottom team getting a fair change on the scorecard. It was the same way before Chavez vs Randall. There was no social media at the time but the widespread view was that Chavez, a long-reigning and much-admired champion, promoted by the then-powerful Don King, would not lose a fight. about the Las Vegas scorecard.
Yet another similarity: The underdog equalized but needed a strong finish to do so. Bivol scanned the last two rounds on the referee’s card to win against Canelo; Randall didn’t win the last two innings on the scoreboard but he had a great 11th round, knocking out Chavez. (And Chavez also scored a point for a low hit in the 11th round, which was his second-lowest deduction in the competition.)
Oh, yes, something else. There is a feeling in the boxing community that Canelo benefited from a generous goal last Saturday even though he did not get a decision. The same applies in the game Chavez vs Randall. It was just a split decision in favor of smart ring technician Randall, the 32-year-old “Surgeon” from Tennessee who entered the ring in an operating room outfit, but most onlookers were not. assumed he was a bigger winner than the judges saw.
Overall, the referees didn’t give Canelo the first four innings on the rotation. And in the dramatic 11th half Chavez vs Randall, the score was definitely set.
You’d think Randall would be rewarded with a 10-7 scoreline across the board, with a knockdown and demerit on warm-up. But, no, only one judge had a three-point difference.
At least, as with Bivol vs Canelo, the right man won. Mexican judge Abraham Chavarria gave Chavez a 114-113 win (a score booed) but Puerto Rico’s Angel Luis Guzman saw it 114-113 in favor of Randall while Las Vegas judge Chuck Giampa got the number widest point, 116-111 in favor of Randall.
For the sake of full disclosure, my own scorecard has had a fight close to this even though I made Randall the winner. Randall started well, scoring with dashes, punches, nice moves. He’s the faster, more polished boxer. But Chavez came in mid-round, wounding Randall – but Randall didn’t back down.
Chavez was deducted the first of two points when he hit a low left hook in the seventh inning. Randall was rested, and he rallied to land his right arm in the eighth round, a round in which the challenger scanned the judges’ cards.
To me, it looked like Chavez showed signs of fatigue in the 1/8th round. Randall’s coach, Aaron Snowell, thinks so too. “You’ve got him!” Snowell told Randall late on the eighth day. “He’s tired, Frankie – he’s where we want him!”
But there are twists and turns in the plot. Chavez was knocked down and came on in the 9th and 10th rounds, although Randall still boxed pretty well. Then came the crucial 11th half, with referee Richard Steele instructing the umpires to take the second point of the fight from Chavez when a left hook landed well south of the touchline.
Chavez, now cut on the bridge of his nose to add to his accident, expressed his displeasure to the referee and advanced again, only to be dropped on his back as Randall drilled him with a blow Perfect hit 1-2 – followed by a right hand.
We rarely see Chavez kicking backwards after counting eight. Randall raised his hands in a general signal of victory as he headed for his corner. But the final round was closely contested. Chavez firmly pursued, Randall boxing unconventional.
Judge Chuck Giampa scored the final round for Randall but judges Chavarria and Guzman each counted round 12 as 10-10, a score you don’t see in the big games in America.
If Judge Guzman awarded the final round to Chavez, the match would end in a split tie.
Randall was as polite as he could be in his post-battle interviews. He said Chavez injured him every time he hit him. And Randall won’t be drawn into whether he thinks the umpires have scored too close. “I’m not a judge, I’m a fighter,” Randall said. “I will accept whatever is offered [in the scoring]. ”
It can be said that Don King has put on a star card with some inappropriate points. The undefeated Felix Trinidad defended his welterweight title with an unsuccessful decisive win over Hector “Macho” Camacho in the main assist round. Simon Brown defended his 154lbs title with a decisive majority win over Troy Waters of Australia. We saw Thomas Hearns in a cruiser duel against Dan Ward, of Arkansas. Hearns, who received a great reception, won the first round. Razor Ruddock, Meldrick Taylor, Italian Olympic gold medalist Giovanni Parisi and future bantam champion Tim Austin (with a fifth match) all won by KO.
Christy Martin, appearing in a women’s lightweight “special draw”, dashed out of her corner to win the 40-second TKO.
Invincible prospects Terron Millett (future 140lbs champion) and Puerto Rican Andy Agosto (who will challenge Johnny Tapia for the bantam title) each won the short six sets , each scoring their seventh consecutive professional win.
It was quite a night. But the great annoyance makes it memorable. It was a fun evening. Randall had contemplated retiring after a second-round KO loss to Primo Ramos of Mexico in 1987. But Randall has racked up 17 straight wins. A seventh round TKO win over former lightweight champion Edwin Rosario, who avenged the previous loss, earned Randall the title alongside Chavez. There were chants of “America!” when the crowd realizes an upset is going on.
“I always knew I had talent,” Randall said afterward. “I just didn’t stand a chance.
After an 11-year career, with just two losses in 51 teamfights, Randall finally had his chance, and he made the most of it.
