38 years ago today: Richard Lockridge vs. Robert Mullins

6½ months before yours truly was born - and nearly two years before Rocky would dethrone Black Mamba.

A battle of former National AAU bantamweight champions (Mullins in 1970 and Lockridge in '77).

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Mullins was no bad egg. Good jab and mid-range defense. You arguably could have seen him up 20-18 after the first two, until a brutal uppercut & left hook combo from Rocky on the inside put him on spaghetti legs (that would remain al dente for the next 2+ rounds). His last stand in the 5th was actually quite a valiant effort - and that right hand he clipped Rocky with might have scored a come-from-behind KO against feebler opposition. Lockridge could take it as well as (if not better than he could dish it out, though. He would hang around in the sport for another decade and never be stopped again - proving throughout his career to have an iron chin save for that one night versus LaPorte.

Look at this crowd at the Sands in AC, btw. Just casually draping themselves over their chair-backs while seated around wedding-style banquet tables at ringside, quaffing booze from tall cups. No cellphone in sight, just everybody vibing in the moment. Those people went home smelling like cigars for a month.

 

Here's an informative but meandering (written at 4th grade level) word salad on Mullins, written by "our very own" "respected columnist" Ted Sares:

https://www.boxing247.com/weblog/archives/123336