FOTW #13: Bobby Chacon Doubleheader (Limon IV & Boza-Edwards II)

It very well may be. I cant think of one that tops it

 

F’hell Bobby Chacon had a heart as big as a racehorse.

I reckon he gets a bit underrated at his peak as a young featherweight, he could really fight.

I didn’t bother scoring any of the fights as they were too bloody enjoyable to bother, apologies everyone.

 

I do have to agree with everyone who scored round one 10-9 to Boza as if someone loses a round big like Chacon did and then scores a controversial flash knockdown they don’t deserve to win the round 10-8.

It might be the best 12 round fight ever, it’s that good.

Cheers All.

 

I'll do my best to score it by Friday afternoon. Motivated very Motivated

 

the 10-8 mandatory for KD wasn't applicable in that fight but for the other fight WBC title vs Limon it was right ? can't remember

 

It's why I've never scored it before - I was scoring it this time and thinking 'I don't care who won the round, I just want to watch it!'

 

Will be getting round to rewatching Chacon-Limon 4 and attempting to score it hopefully before the weekend, but just a few thoughts on this classic mini era 1981-83 at super featherweight.

These are the WBC world title fights that took place involving the other Fab Four at 130lbs during that time:
Boza-Limon - March 81
Boza-Chacon 1 - May 81
Navarette-Boza - August 81
Limon-Navarette - May 82
Chacon-Limon 4 - Dec 82
Chacon-Boza 2 - May 83

All four fighters, Chacon, Limon, Boza and Navarette, had previously unsuccessfully challenged Alexis Arguello for the WBC title when he was champ between early 1978 and late 1980.

Only one possible matchup between these four didn't take place (Chacon-Navarette) and Chacon and Boza managed to meet twice. Oh... and Boza also somehow found time to engage in another FOTY contender during that time period, a non-title 10 rounder with Roberto Elizondo.

Two of the 6 fights listed above (this week's fights of the week, Chacon-Limon 4 and Chacon-Boza 2) were named Fight of The Year by The Ring. Bearing in mind 1982 alone had Sanchez-Nelson, Pryor-Arguello 1 and Gomez-Pintor, that's pretty remarkable!

 

Boza-Arguello was a non title 135 lb fight.

The WBC, to its infinite shame, did not sanction Chacon/Boza II

So, WBC favorite son Bazooka Limon got two more shots at the WBC 130 lb. title after losing to Boza. Boza got none after losing to Navarette.

Boza had to wait until 1986 to finally get a WBC 135 lb shot against Hector Camacho.

He did get an undeserved shot at Jose Luis Ramirez in 87 for the WBC 135 lb title. Too bad he was shot by then.

Mickey Duff was probably like, "Don, Jose, you owe us one after the Chacon/Boza II sanctioning fiasco."

 

Ah, yes, apologies. Chacon was stripped of the title for facing Boza.

 

Chacon-Limon 4

1 9-10
2 10-9 (wild round, great comeback from Chacon to take it)
3 8-10 (Chacon winning the round then Limon drops him and takes it)
4 10-9 (mental)
5 9-10
6 10-9
7 9-10 (bonkers back and forth action)
8 10-9
9 10-9 (more craziness! Huge finish by Chacon)
10 8-10 (unbelievable - after taking an unholy shellacking at the end of the previous round and on the verge of being stopped, Limon drops Chacon hard)
11 10-10 (could have gone either way so I scored it even - great action again)
12 10-9
13 10-9
14 10-9
15 10-8 (sensational finish, Limon makes it up to his feet to just survive)

Chacon 143-140 Limon

Thoughts to come... when I've got my breath back!

 

What a fight! huh .. Some close rounds. Phily and I scored 11 Even as well

 

After watching Chacon-Boza 2 last night, I thought this fight might disappoint slightly. It wasn't that I didn't know Chacon-Limon 4 was a great fight but it was just that Chacon-Boza 2 was even better than I had remembered it being and the action was so frenetic that it was hard to remember whether or not Chacon-Limon matched it.

I needn't have worried. Although the pace was not quite as fierce in this fight, the action and spectacular shifts in momentum, often within a single round, more than made up for it. And unlike Chacon-Boza which was a real challenge to score and left me very unsure in my scorecard, I feel confident I got the right score and winner in this one.

Chacon found himself behind on the scorecards for much of the fight due to badly timed knockdowns (kind of the reverse of what happened in the Boza fight) but he was hurting Limon more than Limon was hurting him and the 9th felt like a turning point, where Chacon kept Limon on the ropes and hammered him to a near standstill that I think would have probably meant a stoppage in the current era, but the ref let it go and Limon then dropped Chacon in the very next round. Still, Chacon seemed to wrestle the momentum back quickly and on my card reeled off three rounds in a row between 12 and 14 that swung the fight in his favour.

By the end of the 14th it was clear that Limon was fighting for survival after being repeatedly wobbled. And somehow he made it to his feet to hear the final bell sound after the last seconds knockdown in the 15th that sealed the fight for Chacon on the official scorecards (by 1 point on two of the cards and 2 points on the other). Limon deserved to finish the fight, but Chacon deserved the win.

Any number of rounds could have been round of the year and the best round of plenty of other great fights too, but rounds 2, 4, 7, 9 and 11 were all incredible. And round 15 provided the perfect punctuation mark to the incredible back and forth action.

Where does it place among the all-time great fights? There have been plenty of higher quality fights in terms of skill, including the three other all-time great matches that took place that same year (Sanchez-Nelson, Pryor-Arguello and Gomez-Pintor) but for heartstopping back and forth action and crazy shifts in momentum, it's hard to think of many (any?) better. Only Chacon's match with Boza seems to provide an appropriate reference point for such action and I'm now conflicted over which fight is better, but I've no doubt that along with that fight and the three aforementioned ones from 1982, this is one of the very greatest boxing matches I've ever seen.

 

What stood out to me was that Chacon was much smaller than CBE or Limon. Chacon was shorter, had less reach, and looked to be carrying excess weight compared to his opponents. In addition, he didn't seem to have any speed or quickness advantage in either fight. If Chacon fought today with the day before weigh in, he could probably fight at 118, he could definitely fight at 122. With his heart and determination it would be good to see him fight someone who wasn't so much bigger and stronger. He did well against physically superior opponents, against someone his size, he might have been a dominant champion.

 

Chacon-Boza II

1. Chacon 10-9 (can't call this a two-point round, despite the knockdown)
2. Chacon 10-8
3. Boza 10-8
4. Chacon 10-9
5. Boza 10-9
6. Boza 10-9
7. Even 10-10
8. Boza 10-9
9. Chacon 10-9
10. Chacon 10-9
11. Boza 10-9
12. Chacon 10-8

Chacon wins on my card 114-112. Very difficult fight to score, and one of the great 12-round bouts of all time.

 

Been busy, sorry for the delay.
7. Limon flicking jabs, walking after Chacon. Limon has Chacon in neutral corner an starts to unload but Chacon fights his way out. Both fighters take turns as the aggressor against each other, Chacon appears to be landing the more effective punches, and his body work appears to be starting to slow Limon. Limon seems to have less zing on those wide shots than earlier.
Chacon 10-9
8. Chacon slapping down a lot of Lemons flicking/pawing jabs. Limon land a nice left to the head. They take turns having each other on the ropes. In the last minute, Limon pins Chacon and unloads a barrage with some bad intent, landing a few nice shots, Chacon then turns him to the ropes and lands a number of hard blows, seems to get the better of the exchanges due to his more accurate and crisp punching. As Limon slows down a bit, his tendency to leave his arms extended after throwing a punch is really apparent, in a different situation, against a different style opponent, he would get clipped hard. Chacon seems more effective the last few rounds although their punch output is probably comparable and neither looks too hurt. Limon wastes a lot of energy.
Chacon 10-9