Good Fight: Kid Gavilan vs. Ralph Jones I

Expectation: Fairly high. I'm not exactly expecting this to rival Gavilan's wars with Gil Turner and Johnny Bratton, but this should still be a great fight. I've seen Jones a few times before; he does good work and it should produce what I would consider a semi-classic.

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1. Gavilan stayed away, but Jones was ever going forward, trying to get closer to Gavilan, although he was not trying very hard to press the issue; he is pretty patient. He got inside now and then, but Gavilan would douse it with clinches normally. Jones closed with some stiff work, but had quite a bit of trouble landing cleanly on Gavilan, forever on the move. Jones.
2. Materialized just as a typical Gavilan round does. It slowly unravels, but after about a minute, both fighters progressively start increasing the action, in this case they stayed in close and both landed damaging blows in one another in a close scrap. The goings-on of the inside were clearly Jones' game and not Gavilan's. Gavilan did land a few really nice shots right before the bell though. Jones.
3. Got off to a turbulent start. Jones drove Gavilan back into a corner with several hard left jabs. Jones obviously was attempting to invest in some body blows, but Gavilan dodged most or at least made them glancing blows as he jumped from side to side, even while in the corner. Gavilan was quickly out of the corner however, and fighting like a maniac. It was brief and the fight subsided to a moderate gait. I don't know if they just needed a break or what, but eventually they got down into the trenches for some fantastic stuff. What followed were two very extensive exchanges: Gavilan wobbled Jones in the first exchange, and in the second Jones had Gavilan on the receiving end of a respectable fusillade. Tough round to judge. Even.
4. Once again we have here a very deceptive round. It starts out at a very slow, cautious pace, but in a minute or so the two are slamming away at each other without quarter, and as steadily as programmed machines. And another close round. Gavilan.
5. The highlight of the round came when Gavilan hurt Jones a little with some leaping left hooks. And again, no rest for either boy until the bell rings. Gavilan.
6. Gavilan keeps to the outside where he can rely on his jab and fancy footwork. A minimally-won round though. Gavilan.
7. Gavilan baited Jones with his back briefly to the ropes. The two exchanged terrifically for a moment, but it was Gavilan's left hook that stole the show. More good flurries followed; Jones landed a lot of uppercuts in the many exchanges. Gavilan.
8. Gavilan softened Jones up with 4-6 good left hooks. After that, he scored pretty well on Jones. Jones came back despite that to land considerable damaging punches of his own. The last 40 seconds was almost entirely non-stop slugging. Gavilan.
9. Gavilan launched his left hooks early and put lots of umph into them. I do believe Jones was exhausted by now. Gavilan kept throwing lots of left hooks and Jones was barely responding. He just has next to nothing to offer. Gavilan.
10. The finale was a war of attrition. Jones called out some hidden reserve and was fighting on equal terms with the Kid. And I even would of thought that he was going to take the round, but the Kid nailed him good in the final minute. He missed with a right, scored with a left hook, and a great right overhand staggered Jones; a lively exchange was to ensue immediately. Despite Jones' injury, the two continued to physically dispute who would own the round. The answer? Gavilan.

Final score: 7-2-1 for Gavilan.

Assessment:
Jones-He's always been fun and exciting I think; he reminded me of a laid-back Joe Frazier if that makes any sense. Maybe he reminds me a little more of Bennie Briscoe. I thought he had good fundamentals and all the tools to beat Gavilan, but he should have prepared his stamina better, even for a 10-rounder. After all, Gavilan was a veteran of 15-rounders, so going 10 would be relatively easy for Gavilan.
Gavilan-As in the Danny Womber fight, Gavilan looked slower to respond to me, and less sharp. That said, he really surprised me with how he swept the fight after round 4. It was a real shocker and I viewed it as a save the first time. Very classy win for Gavilan even though it's not his best.

This fight seemed like the Womber fight for Gavilan at first. Jones seemed to me to have the fight in his pocket after four rounds, but Gavilan really came on. I was really expecting another Danny Womber for Gavilan. But, as we know, that would come on another day.

Verdict: It's a fine, fine fight. Never was there a dull moment, and there were several excellent rounds.

 

It could use a bump. Many are missing out on a great fight.

 

Jones himself just about reached top tier. He has a very impressive record with wins over champs Ray Robinson, Gavilan, and Giardello as well as other good fighters such as Danny Womber, Bobby Dykes, Wilf Greaves, Chico Vejar, Victor Zalazar, and Joe DeNucci. Jones could have been much greater I believe.

 

Yeah, I saw a full version of it once. I rewatched it a few months back but some of the last rounds were missing. I never was able to find the full version again.