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 Closet Classic – Fidel Bassa vs. Dave McAuley I
By Lee Groves (June 26, 2006)
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In a strange way, boxing and books share similarities even though one is a physical pursuit and the other an intellectual one. To move the story forward, books are divided into chapters while fights use the division of rounds to tell its tale. Also, books are categorized by content – short stories, novels, nonfiction, etc. – and boxing can be partitioned the same way. Some fights read like haikus – three-line, 17-syllable poems that can be read in a matter of seconds. Others, like the cancelled rubber match between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo, resemble farce. If one watches enough fights, an endless variety of labels can be affixed to what he sees, whether it is action thriller, mystery novel, poetry or outright fiction.
Some fights, however, rise to a higher level and are regarded as being among the greatest pieces of work ever produced. The "Thrilla in Manila" was high drama, with the main characters clearly defined and the story told in three distinctive parts before an unexpected twist brought the tale to an unforgettable close.
But there are classic books that are only known and appreciated by the cognoscenti, books that aren't automatically mentioned when the greatest works are discussed. The same phenomenon applies to boxing, and one such fight took place at the King's Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on April 25, 1987 when WBA flyweight champion Fidel Bassa defended his belt against Irish hero Dave McAuley. It was a fight that pitted good versus evil (at least in the audience's mind) and featured more than its share of explosive plot twists. In the end, both combatants were elevated and the result was overshadowed by the raw courage and desire produced by victor and vanquished.
The 24-year-old Bassa dethroned Hilario Zapata under bizarre circumstances. During the eighth round of a fight held before thousands of Bassa partisans in Colombia, one of those spectators grabbed Zapata's leg and tried to pull him out of the ring while he was pinned in a corner. Zapata tried to fend off that fan when another struck him in the face. Instead of a disqualification victory, Zapata was given five minutes to recover and Bassa (17-0, 13 KOs) went on to win a 15-round decision. Bassa was a well-rounded boxer, able to move nimbly from side to side and pelt his opponents with well-placed and swift combinations. At just 5-2, it was difficult for a man his size to be a stick-and-move boxer, but his talent was such that he exited the ring the winner every time.
Bassa's first defense was against the 25-year-old McAuley (13-0, 8 KOs), who won the vacant British flyweight title six months before by knocking out Joe Kelly in nine rounds in Glasgow. At 5-7 ½, McAuley was an extraordinarily tall flyweight, but while he had the equipment of a skillful boxer he had the soul of a warrior that craved confrontation. His zealousness sometimes got him into trouble as he was decked several times in early rounds. He may not have had a rock-hard jaw, but his reservoir of courage and fortitude ran deep and because of that he always found a way to emerge victorious. McAuley may have carried the nickname "Boy," but he fought like a real "Man."
Because of the political tensions that convulsed Northern Ireland, no national anthems were played. The only song sung was "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," a tune that the last Irish flyweight champion Rinty Monaghan sang after every one of his victories. The audience at the King's Hall was in full throat and ready to propel McAuley toward what would be a most glorious victory.
As the fight began, Bassa, an incredibly light 109 ¾, was on the move while McAuley, 111 ¾, stalked, his left hand moving quickly and rhythmically up and down. Bassa blocked McAuley's jabs while firing in two of his own. The champion lunged in with a right that missed but the follow-up hook snapped McAuley's head straight back.
Just forty-three seconds into the fight, Bassa countered a McAuley jab to the body with a powerful overhand right to the jaw that sent the challenger to his knees. A sheepish McAuley arose at two, and Bassa roared in behind a volley to the body that forced McAuley to hold on. Bassa continued to fire rights under and over in pursuit of a shocking early-round knockout. A torrid right to the temple caused McAuley to sag into the ropes but the Irishman temporarily staved off further damage by unleashing a pair of hooks. Undeterred, Bassa backed McAuley into the ropes and unloaded a torrent of blows. McAuley was in danger of being run out of the ring, and his problems worsened when he emerged with a severe cut over his right eye.
It was a nightmarish start for the Irishman, and Bassa was fighting with confidence and poise as he pot-shotted the challenger, who spent most of the round on the retreat. McAuley threw his trademark hooks not to land but to keep Bassa at bay and give himself time to compose himself. He managed to ride out the final seconds of the first round, but if this trend continued much longer he would be lucky to see the fifth round, much less last 14 more.
"And that's a tragic three minutes for the British flyweight champion," intoned ringside commentator Harry Carpenter. "This is his first fight since becoming British champion and he couldn't have made a worse start. He dropped his left and he paid the penalty and he hasn't looked right since. He's been trying to get in the left hook – he's got a good left hook – and my word he does need it right now. But psychologically can be recover from this? It seems highly doubtful to me."
But as the second round was about to start, it was McAuley who was standing at ring center several seconds early and bouncing on his toes. The crowd sang "here we go, here we go, here we go" to spark their man and he answered them by landing a strong hook that caught Bassa coming in. It wasn't a hurtful punch, but it was an encouraging sign for a crowd that was hungry for any positive news. McAuley's jabs were starting to find the mark, but Bassa maintained his smooth boxing despite them.
A McAuley hook tenderized Bassa's ribs but the champion countered with a hook that forced McAuley back. Another McAuley hook under the elbow bent the champion over ever so slightly. McAuley snapped a hook to the body and a right to the jaw and another lead right caught Bassa charging in. After McAuley won an exchange of hooks, it appeared the challenger was warming to his task – and pulling himself past his early difficulties. Frustrated at McAuley's pluck, Bassa threw in a vicious head butt to close out an unexpectedly difficult second round.
McAuley again stood at ring center, but Bassa was still sitting in his corner with his legs extended outward a full 10 seconds after the third round bell sounded. It was obvious he couldn't hear the bell over the din of McAuley's fans. The champion, convinced his chance for the early knockout had passed, concentrated on piling up points. The surging McAuley missed with a winging right but his signature hook landed squarely on the jaw. Bassa dove inside to land a flurry of punches – and a head butt or two – while McAuley speared the champion's face with jabs and cranked hard hooks to the head and body.
It was clear that the Irishman was here to stay and because he had already overcome a bad beating in the first round he would prove to be a much tougher nut for Bassa to crack. The cut over the eye was under control and with every passing second McAuley was growing into his role of world title challenger, secure in the knowledge that he indeed belonged inside the ring with the best his division had to offer.
With 44 seconds left in the round, the fight took an extraordinary turn. McAuley winged a right that appeared to whiz over Bassa's head, but the champion fell to the canvas as if badly stricken. Up at two, Bassa wobbled around in a circle before facing referee Nick Morgan. His legs didn't look right at all as McAuley raced in behind a hook to the jaw. A cuffing hook to the face sent Bassa down a second time, but Morgan called this fall a slip. The champion's face wore a dazed look as Morgan wiped his gloves and his equilibrium appeared all but gone, but Bassa survived to the bell by staying close and firing blows to the body. After the bell sounded, Bassa's legs were so unsteady that his chief second raced across the ring and half-dragged his charge to the corner.
A close inspection of the replay revealed the source of Bassa's trouble: McAuley's head clipped Bassa's temple during his follow-through on the initial winging right. Though the boxers wore paper-thin six-ounce gloves, the impact of an unpadded head on a nerve center took its toll on the champion.
Still, the challenger had come all the way back from his horrific start and Carpenter, who all but wrote off his chances after round one, now marveled "the champion is hurt and McAuley's now got a golden opportunity to become the world flyweight champion here in Belfast." The crowd sensed that as well as they spent the rest period yelling, chanting and cheering themselves into a lather. They collectively floated on a wave of hope that their man was about to complete a most remarkable comeback.
Again, Bassa was late answering the bell for the fourth round, sitting placidly in his corner for five extra seconds. The rest period helped the champion, whose legs appeared strengthened as he circled the ring. But McAuley, his spirits riding high, appeared steeled to do whatever it took to complete his mission. McAuley banged a hook to the jaw and a second one several seconds later connected well. Bassa stayed on his bicycle, throwing two- and three-punch flurries while fielding occasional McAuley hook to the face. The men fought on even terms, which indicated a long, hard struggle was ahead.
As the fifth round began, Bassa's chief second immediately lifted him off the stool and this tactic solved the champion's chronic tardiness for the rest of the fight. One minute into the round, McAuley leaped in with a sharp one-two followed by a short hook that caught Bassa perfectly on the point of the chin. The blow snapped Bassa's head but the champion absorbed the bomb well. After staggering forward briefly, he roared back with three powerful punches. Though they missed, they sent the message that he was still dangerous.
Bassa, again frustrated by the challenger's tenacity, rubbed his head against McAuley's cut eye, drawing a complaint from the challenger and a caution from Morgan. McAuley won an exchange of rights and was drawing even in the jabbing contest. But McAuley was now damaged around both eyes and his nose trickled blood as well. Nevertheless, the challenger was pushing the fight and stringing together better combinations. As the round concluded, Bassa connected with a winging overhand right but McAuley responded with a hook to the body and head.
Bassa began the sixth by landing a neat right-left to the jaw while ducking under McAuley's counters. Another hook following a missed right was on target. A right to the temple and a right uppercut to the jaw landed flush but the champion stumbled off balance after avoiding a McAuley hook. The right-left combination was working well against the challenger, so he rushed in to try it again. But this time, McAuley fired a short, straight left to the jaw that caught Bassa charging in and dropped him to a knee. But though it appeared to be a clean knockdown, Morgan ruled the fall a slip.
"If that's not a knockdown, I'm a Dutchman," declared the very British Carpenter.
McAuley stayed on the attack, nailing Bassa with a hook. A second hook nearly put the champion on the floor officially, but Bassa mounted a brave counterattack, bulling McAuley to the ropes with short punches on the inside that stemmed the Irishman's rally. Bassa punctuated his mini-rally with a strong right to the jaw as the bell sounded.
A minute into a quiet seventh, McAuley awakened the crowd with a right to the jaw and beat Bassa to the punch with a second right. A third right followed by a hook tagged the champion, but Bassa fielded the blows without too much concern. Bassa jumped in with a hook to the face that propelled McAuley back a step and all of a sudden the challenger appeared winded, drawing a deep breath while his body sagged during a clinch. McAuley expended a lot of energy in mounting his comeback and the effects were starting to manifest themselves.
But in the closing seconds of the round, the previously unmarked Bassa sustained a cut over his left eye after both men clashed heads while simultaneously ducking in. Angered, Bassa roughed up McAuley with his head, drawing a stern warning from Morgan. The Chicago referee grabbed Bassa's head by the temples and shook it vigorously to drive home the message. Meanwhile, crimson was spotted near McAuley's ear and his face was starting to become a mask of blood, bumps, bruises and abrasions. It was a portrait in pain but McAuley's desire to stand atop his personal Everest overrode everything else.
Between rounds, Morgan instructed the judges to take a point from Bassa for the late-round head butt, aiding the challenger's effort to get back into contention on the scorecards. But with McAuley weakening, the math might be rendered moot.
The challenger arose from his stool slowly as the ninth began, as if the mere act were a great effort in itself. Bassa fired an overhand right to the jaw and cracked two hooks to the ribs. The champion maneuvered McAuley to the ropes and worked him over. The challenger's championship dreams appeared lost.
Then, with startling suddenness, the fight turned again.
McAuley, his back pinned to the ropes, uncorked a massive hook that caught Bassa as he was throwing his own right and the champion toppled to the floor. This time, there was no question of the knockdown's legitimacy and, remarkably, the Irishman had vaulted himself back into the fight. Up immediately, Bassa took the mandatory eight count. McAuley smacked Bassa with a wide hook to the jaw and three more crashed home. An overhand right connected flush and a hook that caught Bassa coming out of a clinch sent the champion stumbling back several steps.
A dream that had looked dead seconds before was resurrected and McAuley summoned up all his reserves to transform it from one man's wish to historical fact. It was an incredible demonstration of competitive courage seldom seen in a sport where courage is a prerequisite.
McAuley continued the assault by blasting away at Bassa's body. Back at ring center, McAuley produced an overhand right, a left uppercut to the pit of the stomach, a cuffing hook to the ear and an explosive inside right to the jaw that decked Bassa for the second time in the round and the third time in the fight. The champion was driven hard to the floor this time and as he sat on the canvas he shook his head in dejection before arising at six.
One more knockdown was all McAuley needed to end the fight, but the effects of his previous beating rose to the fore as he couldn't line up Bassa for the finisher. The Colombian, showing his own brand of championship bravery, bulled McAuley to the ropes and stayed inside the challenger's long arms. But McAuley managed to land one last big right hand as the bell ended a ninth round for the ages.
"Would you believe it!" Carpenter exclaimed from ringside. "Look at this crowd, listen to this crowd...and come to think, listen to me because I'm going berserk, too. I've never seen anything like it in all my life! It's unbelievable! It goes one way and then the other and (color commentator) Herol (Graham) is laughing his head off...what on earth is coming next?"
What happened next was a huge right that put Bassa on rubbery legs in the opening seconds of the 10th and, true to form, Bassa intentionally and unashamedly rammed his head into McAuley's face. This time, however, Morgan declined to take another point. Bassa was again on the verge of defeat, but McAuley, tired as he was, couldn't find the key that would unlock the championship for him. McAuley swung hard but Bassa slipped most of the blows and was slowly reassembling himself. His legs regained their spring as he nipped in and out. But McAuley stubbornly drove himself forward, stinging Bassa with a head-snapping hook and an overhand right to the jaw before clinching.
All this, and five more rounds remained in the fight.
"McAuley is the new hero of Northern Ireland," Carpenter declared. "There were great days with (Barry) McGuigan but those days seem to be over, and a new era dawns and here's a man who is going to be a hero for the rest of his life for the people of Belfast."
Despite the growing collection of swellings, cuts and other assorted injuries to his face, McAuley seemed fresher as he answered the bell for the 11th. Bassa, too, appeared stronger than before, and given what both men suffered through it was nothing short of miraculous that they could stand, much less fight with such a high level of skill.
The action finally slowed a bit in the first part of the 12th, but midway through Bassa called upon an extra reservoir and drove McAuley to the ropes behind a relentless series of hooks and hurtful rights. A searing left uppercut jerked McAuley's head and the Irishman no longer had the strength to extricate himself from the ropes. Only a referee's break enabled the challenger to escape to ring center. With less than five seconds remaining in the round, with McAuley again languishing on the ropes, Bassa nailed the challenger with a whistling overhand right to the jaw that caused McAuley to sag and his knees to dip. But McAuley's heart commanded him to stay upright and he rode out the storm until the bell saved him.
Breathing heavily in his corner, McAuley's face was a mess, and yet when one recalled that he easily could have been polished off in the first round, the fact that he made it to a 13th round was quite an achievement. Before this day, McAuley had never gone past 10 rounds, and he never absorbed this kind of beating in the process. It was the kind of mental and physical test that certified one's fortitude for a lifetime, no matter what the ultimate result.
But amazingly, the fight nearly turned again early in the 13th when a desperation overhand right to the forehead caused Bassa's legs to give way in a delayed reaction. But Morgan ruled it a slip and Bassa again banged his head against McAuley's. An overhand right caused McAuley to wince noticeably and another one a few seconds later signaled the beginning of the end. The ropes kept McAuley upright and as he sought the refuge of a clinch the strength that had carried him this far was nearly gone.
With McAuley trapped on the ropes, unable to move, Bassa launched a pair of right hands. The first blasted against his cheek and the second caused McAuley's head to sickeningly roll on his shoulders.
The challenger fell to his knees, rolled onto his back and stared up at the ring lights, his reserves bone dry.
"Oh, isn't that sad?" exclaimed Carpenter. "I think he's over and I think he's out. I don't think he has any more to give and in fact Barney Eastwood has thrown the towel in from the corner. It's all over in the 13th round and the desperately sad sight of McAuley, who so nearly became flyweight champion of the world...and Bassa and his camp celebrate a truly amazing victory."
The final right-left to the head that caught McAuley on the way down was unnecessary, and Morgan declared the fight over at 1:45 of the 13th round. This chapter in boxing history had closed in most dramatic fashion.
Both men gave everything they had, and for the Colombian champion it was a tremendous demonstration of championship bravery. Any questions about his worthiness were settled beyond doubt, as few fights would ever present such a severe test. Bassa simply would not lose, no matter what his Irish challenger threw at him.
According to the judges' scorecards, Bassa's 13th round rally saved his title. Harmodio Cedeno had McAuley up 115-112 while Ove Oveson and York Van Nixon had the Irishman up 114-112. The championship was within McAuley's grasp and the quality of the fight demanded that a second volume be written.
Epilogue: Bassa and McAuley met 11 months and one day later at the King’s Hall in Belfast but the rematch didn’t live up to the epic original. Still, it was a closely contest match that saw the Colombian retain his title with a 114-113, 115-113 and 116-112 decision. Before that, Bassa recorded defenses against Hilario Zapata (D 15) and Felix Marti (W 12).
Bassa would only fight three more times after defeating McAuley in the rematch. After beating Ray Medel (W 12) and Julio Gudino (KO 6), Bassa lost a split decision to Venezuelan Jesus "Kiki" Rojas in Baranquilla September 30, 1989. The 26-year-old Colombian never fought again and retired with a record of 22-1-1 (15 KOs).
After losing to Bassa the first time, McAuley took more than seven months off to recover from his injuries. A 10-round decision over Roy Thompson set up the rematch with Bassa, but though he lost it the championship dream was only delayed. Three months after defeating Thompson, McAuley dethroned IBF flyweight champion Duke McKenzie by decision at Wembley June 7, 1989.
McAuley would have an eventful reign, winning a curious split decision over Filipino Dodie Boy Penalosa in a fight two judges saw as 120-109 and 119-113 for McAuley while the other had it 117-112 for Penalosa. After pitching a virtual shutout over Louis Curtis, McAuley was the beneficiary of a most unique decision against Rodolfo Blanco. Despite suffering four knockdowns, McAuley managed to capture a unanimous decision, with the Irishman winning by five and four points on two cards. The nature of the decision led the IBF to order a rematch, but not until after McAuley notched wins over Pedro Feliciano (W 12) and Jake Matlala (KO 10).
The rematch, held June 11, 1992 in Bilbao, Spain, was another close affair but Blanco lifted the title by 114-113, 114-113, 115-112 decision. Just four days short of his 31st birthday, McAuley closed the book on his career, satisfied that he had become the hero of Belfast Harry Carpenter declared him more than five years before.
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