School me on Frankie Randall!

Frankie Randall could not only fight, he not only was the first man to beat and floor Chavez but he was ribbed of his title in a hideous maneuver by Don King that revolts me to this day .. the rematch was an all out war with Randall move than holding his own when it was called .. Chavez was the happiest guy in the arena when the technical decision went to him in flat out robbery and he never gave Frankie a rematch till many years later when the man was an out and out drug fiend ..

Chavez was an amazing fighter as a 130 to 140 pound champion but later in his career he showed a very ugly side of his personality , completely buying King's poison and pulling **** like he did to Randall and Whitaker ( another man he wanted no part of giving a rematch too ) .

 

Randall was an excellent fighter, very good boxer puncher. As said the first man to beat Chavez. He kind of reminds of Buster Douglas, highly talented, but didnt take his craft seriously enough, put it all together against Chavez, and went back to a roller coaster career after. Randall had a lot of drug problems, and thats probably what kept him from reaching his potential, but I always enjoyed watching him fight. Nice guy too in person.

 

He was well known as an amatuer and was a pedigreed guy at a young age. He kept those hands up high and brought those hands back high after throwing those combos. that's about all he ever did was throw combos.

Those traits alone are problematic for lots of fighters who seem to thrive against matches with the sloppy defense guys. Randall certainly was not that and was going to be a tough night's work.

Big big loss when he got starched early by that hitter Sammy Fuentes, if memory serves. Randall got starched in 2 and whomever it was, caused a pretty big setback but Frankie recovered well.

 

His two fights with Edwin Rosario were classics. Look em' up.

 

It was Primo Ramos

 

Frankie was robbed in the Chavez rematch .. by that time he was over 33 years old .. before that he had a highly successful career with only the decision loss to Rosario and the KO loss where he simply got caught in a big upset .. he was not any sort of hot and cold fighter till his mid thirties when he was robbed and then ducked ..

 

Randall was a rare talent

He was a great ameteur, losing to Joe Manley in the 1980 Olympic Trials. He turned pro in late 1980 had had one fight, then disapeared until early '83. I am not sure what happened there. He built up a good record over the next two years against modest opposition. His first break was a 10 round lightweight fight on NBC against former champion Edwin Rosario. He gave Rosario a very tough fight, losing the decision by only .5 point (The Brits had a weird scoring system).
It was pretty clear from the Rosario fight, that Randall was top 10 material. About a year later, he fought a 12 round draw against Freddie Pendleton in a USBA title fight. In retrospect, that wasn't really a bad result, as Pendleton proved to be world class, and had ko'd Roger Mayweather a few months earlier. I watched the Pendleton-Randall fight on ESPN, and I remember thinking both guys could win World titles someday. I was right, but it took both guys until the '90s to do it.

After a few more wins, Randall was ranked near the top of the division by the WBC. But, he couldn't seem to get a title shot. Then, he got stopped in 2 rounds in late '87 by journeyman Primo Ramos. it was a huge upset and it set Randall way back. He fought often in the next two years, but didn't look that great. There were rumors of drug problems. Indeed, he was jailed in late '89 for drug offenses.

It appeared Randall was done.

He finally returned to the ring in '91 after 1.5 yrs off, this time with Don King as his promoter.

He fought often and slowly rebuilt his confidence. In early '93, he beat a faded Rosario by stoppage. He also decisioned the competent Rodolfo Aguilar in '91.

King's conntections got Randall a shot at JC Chavez in early '94. Nobody thought Randall had a chance.

I watched this fight on PPV. It was part of a great card. King, for all his faults, put on some great cards while his meal ticket Tyson was in prison.

Randall seemed very down to earth, yet quietly confident, in the pre fight interview. Still, I didn't think he could beat Chavez.

Boy, was I wrong. Frankie fought a perfect fight. He jabbed well, moved well, tied Chavez up, broke his rythm. And when it came time to engage Chavez in toe to toe exchanges, he was up to the task, often beating Julio to the punch with pin point counters.

Still, going in to the late rounds, it was a pretty close fight, and I figured even if Randall kept it close, the WBC judges would favor Chavez.

Then, in the 11 th round, Chavez got a second pt deduction for a low blow. He had thrown countless low blows throughut the fight and, to his credit, Richard Steele wasn't afraid to take pts. away. Chavez, now desperate went all out and left himself wide open for a perfect counter right hand by Randall. Boom. Down went Chavez. It was shocking. Chavez was clearly hurt when he got up. But, the round was about over and the bell soon rang. Randall knew he was ahead and boxed smartly in the final round. Pretty much everyone thought Randall had won the fight.

The two Latin Judges had it closer that it was, the Mexican judge, in a travesty, even gave the fight to Chavez despite the knock down and two point deductions.

But, Randall was the winner

In the post fight interview, Randall was about as classy as I've seen a guy be after winning a Championship. He thanked all the people who helped get him there. He showed respect for Chavez. And, he said if Chavez wanted a rematch, he'd gladly give him one.

The rematch occured only a little over 3 months later. Its seemed a little soon. It was kind of like Leonard getting one so soon after losing to Duran.

Still, Randall was well prepared for the rematch. He staggered Chavez in the second round with a huge right hand. Chavez changed his game plan after getting hurt, and attempted to move and box. It worked pretty well for a few rounds. But, this seemed to cause Chavez to gas out a bit, and Randal reassumed command. In the 8th round, there were some fierce exchanges, with Randall seeming to get the better of Chavez. Then, with 10 seconds left in the round, there was an accidential clash of head. Between rounds, Chavez essentially quit. The cut didn't seem that bad. Instead of awarding Randall a TKO, they went to the cards. A point was deducted from Randall, and they scored the 8th round, even though it was not completed. Taking a point away from Randall seemed bogus, but Mills lane announced there was a WBC rule that the guy who instigates the butt, even if it is unintentional, gets a point taken away. It seemed like they both came together. So, this still seemed bogus. However scoring the 8th round seemed it would help Randall, as he seemed to clearly be winning it when the butt occured.

It was a close fight, but I felt Randall pulled it out by a point or two. Two judges gave it to Chavez and he was again the WBC champ.

At this point, fans wanted a third fight since the first two were split. Don King, however, had other ideas. He got Randall a shot at WBA champ. Juan Coggi. Randall won, and a third fight with Chavez would be even more attractive, as it would be a unification. But, it never happened. King clearly wanted to milk Chavez as long as possible and didn't risk a third fight with Randall.

Eventually, Randall started to fade, and lost the WBA title to the average Khalid Rhalou in early '97. He fought on for years, but was done as a force in boxing. Eventally, Chavez and Randall fought a meaningless third fight when they were both past 40 yrs old.

In sum, Randall was a top talent who eventually earned a place at the top. It took much longer than expected, but through perseverance and talent, he got there. He can always tell his grandchildren he was the first to knockdown and the first to beat (officially) JC Chavez.

 

Thanks!

I am glad to offer some knowledge now and then. It is fun to get the chance to write a post such as the above, where I can just say what I think about a fighter I really liked.

I was moved by Randall's performance in the first Chavez fight. I wrote a letter to KO days later, and they printed it in the issue where they covered the fight. I remember I wrote it on a Typewriter, not even a Word Processor. I had no Email and there were no PDF attachments at the time. LOLLLL.

Oh yeah, I was also hung over when I wrote it, because my 25th B day was the weakend of the fight.

 

Randall was a terrific Jr. Welterweight in his prime. His win and his robbery loss to Chavez were the peak of his run.

 

He was thought to be past it. Chavez was thought of as still fairly prime.

But, Randall was only a year older than Chavez, and had had many less big, tough fights. That was key. Not fighting for a few years, then working back slowly meant Randall was actually more prime than Chavez in terms of reflexes.

Randall had only had two or three really tough fights in his whole career leading up to the first Chavez fight - Rosario I, Pendleton, maybe Rosario II could be seen as tough. Many of his fights had ended early or were easy decision where he took few shots, and the KO loss to Ramos, while devastating, was an early round one punch loss. So, he didn't take a beating in that loss.

Randall fought more like a 27 or 28 yr old. and Chavez fought like the almost 32 yr old he was.

 

Always liked his talent but his win over Chavez is a bit overrated as Julio was toast. Still, someone had to do it. Glad the surgeon got the honor.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the WBC made the deduction rule to reward the cut guy for fighting with a disadvantage but if the fight is stopped there isnt a disadvantage because the fight is over? Does the rule to take the point still apply? Am I wrong or do you guys see what I see? Anyone know any other fights where the stoppage was made on the spot and the point was not taken?

-posted in the what fight did you score today thread in regards to the taking of the point