1985 Flashback: Lonnie Smith dusts Billy Costello...

i never saw the fight but read about it in the ring magazine, i believe the k.o. blow was on the cover. i did see when smith fought chavez though.:bbb

 

Bill, I think precious few outside NY saw the thing because unlike Costello's other three defenses, this wasn't on network TV. In fact, the promotion for this fight was said to have been a comedy of errors all the way around.

Costello was never known for his chin; Ronnie Shields floored him and shook him badly, and feather-fisted (not to mention very old) Leroy Haley actually knocked him down with, of all things, a seemingly incidental and none too dangerous headbuttbutt to the chin. Costello was very fragile and slow and wooden, and someone with the movement and fast hands like Smith could potshot him all night long. As it was, Smith had something like only 8 KO's in his 20 wins (or whatever it was) coming into that fight, and he looked like had Shavers-like power against Costello's chin.

 

I don't believe this fight was on ESPN. At least not in the east. I have this fight and my version is WOR Channel 9 New York. Announcers were Charley Steiner and Al Bernstein. Anyway, it wasn't on ESPN in my area. Lonnie Smith was kind of like a Nino Larocca to me. Physically gifted but not technically sound. He was too fast for Costello and potshotted him for most of the fight.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GynatUHsM0o[/ame]

 

Costello's 12-round decision against Shields was a real good fight as I recall. Don't know if it's on youtube or not, but it's worth finding, especially the first half of it. Good exchanges, and they trade knockdowns.

 

I remember this, I remember the actual fight clearly, if some of the surrounding factors, recent opponents, circumstances etc are a little hazy - it was 25-26 years ago!!!

Costello was a well respected, not great, but solid WBC champion & iirc Smith was considered a bit flaky going in. It was shown (delayed) on network tv (ITV) here in the UK, Reggie Gutteridge doing the commentary I think. I've still got it somewhere on VHS.

BC was the big fave going in but "Lightning" Lonnie looked spectacular, hitting Costello at all angles at will, LLS was moving off then striking suddenly and quickly from different angles. Iirc LLS floored BC early, BC's confidence plummeted, LLS's soared. BC fought on rails, with no confidence in his own punch resistance, and appeared flummoxed, bewildered and bamboozled by what was happening to him.

Prior to this, BC had appeared something of a warrior, an honest, workmanlike, good fighter with sound skills and a decent punch, looking solid and a good champion in fights against Saoul Mamby & Ronnie Shields (read Thomas Hauser's excellent "The Black Lights" for great coverage of Costello's reign prior to the Smith fight).

How did this uset happen? Without knowing the inside story or what was going on behind the scenes with BC, I suspect that maybe a combination of hard fights & LLS's maverick skill set and power combined to basmboozle, demoralise and eventually KO him.

I think this fight also made Smith look better than he actually was, see Smith's loss to (from what I remember) the solid but not outstanding Arredondo for confirmation.

Smith-Costello was an exciting fight at the time...thanks Mr Bill, you bringing this up has provided a good trip down memory lane...I'll have to try to locate this on the circa 250 old vhs tapes I have stored somewhere!

 

Good one Bill & fasthands jeezus thats a blast from the past, yeh i remember this fight clearly as i also saw it on Saturday "World of Sport" with Dickie Davies in the usual 2pm slot. Yeh what a shocker that was & what stuck in my mind was that was the first time i'd seen the "Walk away" move done by LLS, yeh big upset, like you fasthands i've about 250 fights still on tape from back then & i also had the luxury of getting my hands on a nicked VCR

Happy Days of boxing on free TV & thats why back then everyone knew who every champ was regardless of being a boxing fan or not. Every sat night in the boozer it would always start with "SEE THE FIGHT DID YER":yep

 

Happy days indeed - thanks for the props Duranimal:good

Hey...did you used to post on Boxing Banter and the old Beeb forums back in the day, with Dadgad and the rest of the old gang?

 

Lonnie had a nice run on ESPN, but as far as the big time, he was kind of a one hit wonder, with the Costello fight being his one great performance. And that may have been a bit misleading because Costello's flaws played right in to Lonnie's strenghts. Again, he definitely had some tools but just wasn't technically sound. I also think it shows that a great fighter needs "it" mentally as well as physically. Just don't think Lonnie had the mentality to be a great fighter. But he became World Champion and that's much more than most.
Here's a great story of Lonnie today. Take the time to watch this. It's a cool interview that probably deserves it's own thread:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwLt6CwsD-U[/ame]

 

I went to the fight .. it was a very strange night at the Garden. The place was mostly empty and for some reason the security as very lax .. I remember it was so easy to sneak all the way down to the floor .. it was a surprise as Costello was on a roll and had defended the title a number of times on TV from his hometown in Kingston. He was becoming a bit of a story in a blue collar champion type of way after beating Haley and Mamby but styles make fights and Shields had the combo of speed and power to expose Billy's shaky chin .. what I remember most about the night was an intoxicated, nutty Hector Camacho, still at the prime of his career, running around the Garden like a nut playing tough guy in a school yard bully attitude starting **** all over the arena ... it was a bizarre night ..