I was a kid staying with my grandmother that night. I was tired and fell asleep before the 10:00 news came on. She stayed up so she could catch the result and tell me. The next morning I asked if she caught who won - "Sanchez." I was like, "What? Sanchez, really?" I has a huge Sanchez fan, but I didn't think he'd beat the mighty Gomez. Nice way to wake up.
Watched the fight on closed circuit tv in the old Felt Forum (now the Theater) at MSG. I went with a friend from El Salvador and it seemed we were the only ones on for Chava. The sound commentary malfunctioned and went out but we didn't care as long as we could see it. When Chava dropped Bazooka early, we knew what was inevitable. As the end came, my buddy and I were jumping for joy and cheering at the top of our lungs. It appeared like we were the only ones, because besides us, it seemed you could hear a pin drop. It remains to this day, my single greatest boxing experience.
