47 years ago today: Robert Lloyd "The Deputy Sheriff" Foster vs. Jorge Victor “Aconcagua” Ahumada

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Yes, it picks up in media res halfway through round five. No, there isn't a more complete upload of it anywhere publicly available online. Yes, this is (by far) the highest resolution of all extant versions floating around; in fact this quality is practically 4k in comparison with some of the others. No, this isn't a prime Bob (that, for him, ended in 1972, a year that saw him ride in on triumphant form with early KO victories over Vicente Paúl "El Muchachote de Barlovento" Rondón and Michael Wayne "Rock-n-Roll" Quarry, before going to battle with Christopher Martin "The Golden Rivet" Finnegan over 14 grueling rounds in the Ring Magazine FOTY and then getting up from half a dozen knockdowns before succumbing to a knockout loss at the hands of The Greatest) - but worth watching anyhow, as IMO is most any encounter between an ATG on the downslide and a 'just okay' fighter doing his part to rise to the occasion and meet them halfway. Yes, the 82° heat in Albuquerque might've taken more of a toll on 35 year old Foster than his fresher 28 year old Argentinian foe - despite the older man being in his own home city (and bearing in mind that, for the visitor from Godoy Cruz, it was, in mid July, the dead of winter in his subtropic home). No, that didn't hinder the champion a bit a couple of title defenses earlier at the same outdoor venue the previous August in his first of consecutive UD wins over Pierre Fourie, in a near shutout, and on a day that almanacs have recorded as peaking at the sweltering 91.4°F! Yes, it follows that Ahumada simply brought more of a challenge - and brought more heat in the metapohorical sense, to go along with the literal - than did the South African Frenchman (Huguenot). No, it wasn't enough to convincingly dethrone the longtime 175lb king. Yes, referee Jim Cleary (himself from the ABQ, showing there was no hometown bias) scored it for him by three points - only to be offset by Tim Kelleher seeing it by five the other way, and Stan Gallup rendering the result a draw by dint of turning one in as his verdict. No, you're not going to get an official IB RBR for this, because on principle, I won't do incomplete bouts. Yes, I have an opinion on who won the 10½ rounds we have. No, you'll never make me spill the beans.

Just enjoy it with an open mind and unadulterated vision (unlike that of Jorge in the last third of the contest with all that swelling). Once you've done, answer this:

Spoiler

do you agree with Cleary docking a point from Ahumada for that low blow in R10? You'll get a very crisp slow motion replay of it at 22:12, from a good angle. Looks to be a fair play left hook on the body, with Foster's belt lined up with the center of Ahumada's glove, a bit of pinky side leather hanging below and just as much thumb lurking above). Very good round for the challenger, and getting it 10-9 on all three judges' cards would have meant he liberated the WBC and WBA belts instead of going in the books as yet another 'nearly man' from a decent era (he would get a second crack at the vacant WBC a few months later, but come up short on points versus a top form John Conteh)

 

How goddamn thrilling must it have been to sit ringside for a Foster match, btw? Even here, winding down (in both a micro and macro sense), round fifteen, gassed as hell and coming through a pretty rocky patch late, barely two minutes left until the final bell and he uncorks a daisy-cutter of an uppercut, one that could easily have knocked many a light heavyweight out cold, and would have spared him the ignonimity of a (somewhat controversial) draw to end his reign if not for Aconcagua having a hell of a set of whiskers on him. Yes, he did have four stoppage losses but three of those were against countryman Víctor Emilio Galíndez (a future 2x world champ) and the other while still a green novice less than a year after his debut. No, the lad had absolutely no business eating a shot like that and then remaining the aggressor for the final ninety seconds even as the University Arena crowd bayed for his blood and willing their man to power - but that's just what he did, and it was bad ass to watch.

 

Any friendly mod sees this, cross pollinate into Classic plz?

 

Nobody has a single thought, on the low blow, uppercut, ...?

Not asking to make an epic commitment here, yeah it's a 15 rounder but four and a half are missing. If you can spare time subjecting yourself to a Devin Haney twelve-rounder you can sit through (or at least skim through) some of this.

We're talking about the hardest puncher at the weight, arguably ever, and in the conversation for top 5 hardest p4p all time (lock for top 15), scoring 135 knockouts in 150 combined amateur/pro bouts - here in the only light heavyweight title defense he didn't win. That's gotta rate a speck of interest, no?

 

This was always going to be the Sentinel of White Stone's best chance to be crowned in that mid 70's landscape - with his number clearly had by Galíndez - based on styles and where Foster was in his career*. He was a game trier but got boxed dizzy by a great talent (but still well short of prime Foster's greatness) in Conteh:

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*incidentally, really curious, if anyone knows where, to look at Foster vs. Fourie I & II and determine if he still had a bit of fading spark left or if Ali had really pounded most of the best of him out already in that one night. I suspect more the latter, and his dominance in those fights relative to here is just down to Ahumada being a better fighter than what I've caught of Fourie, but want to see for myself.

 

Cheers.

 

That's why I'm keen to chart his decline more thoroughly with the pair of defenses over Pierre Fourie; the gradual decline of greatness is fascinating (if sad) to witness unfolding from one performance to another. I don't think it necessarily started with Ali, you're right, but it was more apparent than versus guys his own size he could bowl over quickly with raw power, and it almost certainly helped exacerbate and expedite his decline. And yeah, going 15 alone merits props.

I agree, with acknowledgement that we're saying quite a lot there, myself holding the Jinx in very high regard.

Crazy thing is that, in his day, it wasn't even a novel or revolutionary idea! He was just trodding down the trail blazed by Billy Conn et al (hoping obviously for a better outcome, alas). Can you imagine if he had done the unthinkable and shut the Louisville Lip up with even a flukey 'lucky shot' on the button KO?? It seems a quixotic quest in hindsight and went disastrously of course but I can sort of see the appeal from his POV. He's the unified and lineal overboss at 175lbs, there aren't many stiff tests, nor legacy opportunities, nor indeed paydays left...and you get to check your power against the icon himself? Bear in mind that only the year prior, Ali had been floored at the very end of Frazier I. You'd view that as maybe just a crack of daylight betwixt door & jamb, if you're Bob.

 

@George Crowcroft ..!

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You like Xplo's post about him uploading Conteh vs. Ahumada, then dip out without making any further contribution on the subject? Why I oughtta..

 

...AND you've been posting in other Foster related topics over the last couple of days? You slut!

 

^^ Oh, you cheeky little ******. (edit: wtf admin, really, that's still a word filter? Alright fine, cheeky little capuchin then)

Anyway, there's precious little footage of Ahumada to be found online, period, I've found. The incomplete Foster bout (again, in various states of quality, of which that in the OP is best), the loss to Conteh spread over multiple uploads, and then about half of Víctor Galíndez V (their fifth and last bout, and only title match, with Ahumada having actually beaten him once for a 1-4 record against the superior Argie overall) here:

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That's all, barring a couple of 1-2 minute HL clips.

Plenty more on Foster, of course. As you'd hope and expect of a Hall of Famer in the color TV era.