As I perused various books and transferred videos from VHS to DVD, I’ve come across several examples of pugilistic preposterousness and this essay will be devoted to some of them. Jim Morrison, lead singer for The Doors, famously sang that "people are strange" and the following examples prove just how right he was.
* Asleep at the Switch – Or On the Stool: On December 4, 1912, middleweight title claimant Billy Papke defended the title he nebulously claimed after Stanley Ketchel’s death against local favorite George Bernard at the Cirque de Paris in Paris, France. The first six rounds of the scheduled 20 round contest proceeded evenly and uneventfully but when Bernard returned to the corner he promptly fell asleep. His cornermen couldn’t revive him in time to begin the seventh round and Papke was declared the TKO winner via corner retirement.
Bernard claimed afterward that he was drugged, and that explanation rings true given the rough-and-tumble times and lax oversight. One would think a world title challenger would be hyped to the max at the prospect of becoming a champion – and earning the perks that came with that status. Therefore, it would be unthinkable that someone fresh off six rounds of combat would suddenly drift off to dreamland. But drift off he did and to this day it remains the most unique ending to a world title contest.
* Speaking of strange endings, I recently came across this item in Steve Farhood’s "Fight Confidential" column in the July 1982 issue of "KO":
"No Mas, Italian Style: After Rocky Mattioli was easily turned aside in an effort to regain his WBC junior middleweight title from Mo Hope in July 1980, the Australian-born Italian slugger seemed to disappear from the boxing scene. Mattioli fought on, however, and last June in Milan, he underwent a frightening experience in the ring that made Roberto Duran’s celebrated No Mas incident seem insignificant in comparison.
"Mattioli had scored two knockdowns and was well ahead of Clemente Tshinza on points when he returned to his corner after the ninth round. With one round to go before a certain decision win, he said to his manager, Umberto Branchini ‘I quit. Are you crazy? I don’t want to die.’ And the 28-year-old former champion did indeed quit on his stool. The pro-Mattioli crowd, unaware that their favorite was suffering through the throes of an apparent nervous breakdown, did not react kindly to the bout’s abrupt conclusion.
"’In December he said he was ready to fight again,’ said Branchini, ‘he wanted to come back. I didn’t encourage him but I knew he was training. He didn’t need to go back for the money. He did it because he loves boxing.’
"Mattioli made his return in Las Vegas on February 9 and looked fairly sharp in kayoing trialhorse Rudy Barro in two rounds. ‘I’m not coming back, I was just laying off and taking a rest,’ he said. Whether Mattioli produces enough significant victories to again invade the 154-pound ratings or not, his comeback has already been deemed an unequivocal success."
In fact, Mattioli went on to win three more fights – all but knockout – but never again challenged for a title. He retired following a sixth round knockout of Pedro Guerrero in August 1982 at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. While he never regained the WBC junior middleweight belt he held proudly from August 1977 to March 1979 – he lost the title to Maurice Hope via corner retirement, this time due to a broken forearm – he nevertheless retired a winner.
* The Big Tease: The now-defunct Detroit-based PASS cable channel broadcast a May 23, 1990 card emanating from The Palace at Auburn Hills, Mich. that began with a scheduled 10 round heavyweight bout between former WBC champion Pinklon Thomas and journeyman Curtis Isaac. Thomas was coming off back-to-back stoppage losses to Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield and was looking for a soft touch in the 12-7 (8 KO) Isaac, who was in the midst of a four-fight losing streak.
Thomas knew plenty about Isaac because he was a onetime sparring partner and both entered the bout with a grudge. Isaac said in the pre-fight interview that he had knocked Thomas down in sparring and the former champ didn’t like that Isaac made that fact public.
The bad blood was evident as both men stalked in their corners and it exploded when the 37-year-old Isaac got right in Thomas’ face during the final instructions. They rubbed foreheads like rams preparing for battle and after affixing a hard stare Thomas lunged after Isaac when referee Bobby Watson ordered them to their respective corners. When Isaac lunged back it looked as if the roaring crowd was to be treated to an unsanctioned pre-fight brawl but both chief seconds and Watson managed to get between the battlers before the ruckus could escalate.
The fracas whipped the crowd – and the ringside announcers – into an anticipatory frenzy. One could almost hear blow-by-blow man Jim Brandstatter rubbing his hands together as he gleefully giggled but once the bell sounded Isaac instantly retreated into a defensive shell and allowed Thomas to pile up points with his ramrod jab. Within a minute the cheers turned to boos and soon the reaction disintegrated into disinterest.
In the final minute of the seventh round – moments after Thomas rolled away from an infrequent Isaac right – Thomas ducked his torso below Isaac’s waist. The ex-sparring partner couldn’t resist having a little fun with his former boss as he pulled in Thomas’ head and executed two quick hip thrusts before releasing him. The NC-17 move earned a non-verbal scolding from Thomas and an audible one from Watson while suddenly awakened ringsiders roared in laughter. Jorge Paez, dubbed "The Clown Prince of Boxing" later in his career, often did this to overmatched opponents but here was an example of the field mouse flipping off the eagle.
The levity proved short-lived as the sparring session ended up going the full 10, with Thomas winning a 98-92, 99-91, 100-89 decision. As the crowd showered them with robust boos, Thomas and Isaac patched things up at ring center.
Few fights ever promised so much but delivered so little but Isaac’s small act of frivolity added spice to an otherwise dreary contest.
* Boxers or SAG members: Last August in Montreal, I was ringside when super middleweight and "Contender" alum Anthony Bonsante unsuccessfully attempted to play possum against Adonis Stevenson in Montreal. For those who weren’t there (or who didn’t see it on ESPN, shame on you) here’s a synopsis. The undefeated Stevenson, a transplanted Haitian southpaw, decked the 37-year-old Bonsante with a sharp left to the jaw in the bout’s opening seconds. The American was left spread-eagled on his back, eyes closed and completely motionless, until referee Gerry Bolen reached six. At that point Bonsante suddenly leaped to his feet, clear-eyed and ready to go, but as he did so Bolen waved off the fight. A heated shouting match ensued but the result remained the same – Stevenson a TKO winner at 46 seconds of round one.
Bonsante’s convincing acting job spurred me to pass on a note to ESPN’s Joe Tessitore about another fight in which this happened – Georges Carpentier’s fourth round TKO loss to heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey. There, "The Manassa Mauler" put the French challenger on the floor with a right hand that left him curled and still on the canvas. But just before the referee tolled 10 Carpentier jumped up and successfully convinced the arbiter to let him continue. Dempsey then polished him off moments later.
But as we all know, boxing history tends to repeat itself again and again and while I was transferring an August 9, 1991 TVKO pay-per-view card topped by Riddick Bowe’s crossroads 10-rounder against Bruce Seldon, I found a third instance of this sly little game.
Four months earlier Seldon suffered his only loss to date when Oliver McCall stopped him in the ninth round, prompting questions about his stamina and chin. Meanwhile, Bowe was the third-ranked heavyweight in the IBF with a glittering 25-0 (22 KO) record and entered the ring with a boatload of confidence. He even had a date picked out as to when he would become heavyweight champion – September 21, 1992 (he was off by a little less than two months as he dethroned Evander Holyfield on November 13, 1992). Finally, as if the height, reach, talent and momentum weren’t enough of an omen, Bowe was to celebrate his 24th birthday the next day.
The shorter Seldon would have preferred to use his quick jab from long range but Bowe’s immense 6-5 build demanded he set the tone quickly, which he did by charging in and working off Bowe’s chest. But Bowe was that rare big man who was comfortable on the inside and his ripping right uppercuts allowed him to neutralize Seldon’s opening gambit.
Just 75 seconds into the fight Bowe ripped off a four-punch combination capped off by a hook to the ear that sent Seldon toppling to the floor. Lying face down with head nestled between his gloves, Seldon listened to Joe O’Neill’s count while almost completely still. At six he raised his head and at eight he bounded to his feet and jumped up and down as if he were a human pogo stick. O’Neill wryly smiled as he wiped off his gloves. Jose Ribalta did much the same thing against Mike Tyson several years before and unfortunately for Seldon he met a similar end as another jolting hook caused Seldon to fall in sections. With his equilibrium shattered, Seldon crawled on the canvas like a one-clawed crab as O’Neill counted him out. The time: 1:48 of round one.
Here are a few more tidbits of weirdness from the archives:
* I came across a couple of anomalies when transferring the world middleweight title bout between Rodrigo Valdez and Bennie Briscoe, which took place November 5, 1977 in Lombardia, Italy. First, the bout was for both the WBA and WBC versions of the title, unusual because under most circumstances these days each sanctioning body would have jumped at the chance to divide the belts. And second, because the undisputed title was on the line, judges Paul Tailayrach and Aime Lescot and referee Wally Thorn were instructed that if their cards indicated a draw they had to name a winner. This obviously was before the Alphabets figured out that split belts and draws in unification contests were prime methods to keep the cash spigot flowing.
For the record, Valdez won the belt with a close but unanimous decision and the title would remain united until Sugar Ray Leonard’s disputed victory over Marvelous Marvin Hagler a decade later. Can you imagine a single world champion in a given division for a decade these days? Now that would be weird – and welcome.
* Moments after former WBC flyweight champion Shoji Oguma was presented with a trophy signifying his win over Chan Yong Park, he handed the prize to one of his seconds. As the second lifted it over the top rope, the wooden base struck Oguma between his already gashed eyes. The fighter immediately felt for more blood but thankfully found none. Just as absurd was the judging, which saw the officials award a combined 17 even rounds out of a possible 30 (99-98, 98-97, 98-97).
* In the sixth round of the September 16, 1991 flyweight bout between Francisco Montiel and Jose Lagos, Montiel scored a knockdown, then lost a point for striking Lagos three times while kneeled in the neutral corner. Lagos then lost his own point near the end of the round for an intentional headbutt, thus the round went into the books as a rare 9-7 round. In an added touch of irony, this bout took place on the 10th anniversary of the first Sugar Ray Leonard-Thomas Hearns fight, regarded by many as a watershed fight in terms of scoring fights because Leonard received 10-9 scores in round six and seven despite issuing tremendous beatings.
* Just before the main event between Roger Arevalo and Maximino Llano at the famous Arena Coliseo in Mexico City on August 17, 1991, the venue’s longtime timekeeper was among several officials to receive tokens of appreciation. After being given plaques and a small trophy to acknowledge their achievement they proudly posed for photos. It isn’t often that a behind-the-scenes person is brought to center stage. So what happens? In the very first fight after being feted for his good work the timekeeper’s steady hand veered horribly off-line for three consecutive rounds. Rounds seven and eight each went four minutes while the ninth lasted just two minutes.
Thankfully for both the timekeeper and the fighters the final round timed out at three minutes. For the record, Arevalo won a hard-fought split decision.
* Remember that weighted vest joke Chris Arreola pulled at the weigh-in for the Vitali Klitschko fight? Well, Riddick Bowe did it first – and he did it heavier. Before his first fight with Elijah Tillery in October 1991, "Big Daddy" stepped on the scale and weighed a rotund 277 pounds. He then revealed the vest and instantly shed 50 pounds. Bowe could have used the vest around his protective cup because Tillery directed several kicks there before being dragged out of the ring by Rock Newman and suffering a first round disqualification.
* Finally, Ron Amundsen received an unwelcome surprise when he returned to this corner between the ninth and 10th rounds of his fight with Vinny Pazienza in June 1991. The "Stormin’ Mormon" sat on his stool, which instantly splintered and collapsed. With no spare stools available, Amundsen’s seconds improvised and used a plastic chair from the crowd for the remaining three rounds. He could have used it against Pazienza, who wrested Amundsen’s USBA junior middleweight title by unanimous decision.
