Anyone ever see Mercado ice Berbick?

Never saw it ...

 

Berbick said after being KO'd..."I proved I could take his best shot" :rofl

 

Leon Spinks defeat of Mercado on the Holmes /Ali undercard was actually a very good performance by Leon in n exciting fight ...

 

There's a possibility that it may not even have been televised... The match took place in Halifax Nova Scotia, and as someone who has been there myself, its not exactly a " happening " town.. Especially in April, before the tourist season begins, and the weather is still in arctic proportions... I have also been there very recently, and it has actually increased in popularity, whereas I can't even imagine how dead it must have been in the 70's...In addition, I don't recall it as ever being a major boxing venue.. On top of everything else, it was a low profile bout as Mercado was not viewed by many as a top attraction, especially after losing in such easy fashion to Tate and Weaver, while Berbick was still basically nobody with only a handful of fights..

 

Well, given the fact that I'm from Halfiax, NS, as was around in the 70's, I must inform you that you are somewhat mistaken. Boxing was , if not at its apex, then still one of the more popular sports in Halfax in the 70's, with fighters like Clyde Gray and Chris Clarke selling out the Metro Centre for their two fight series. Roddy MacDonald from Cape Breton had a big local following, and so did Ralph Hollet. It wasn't a major venue in the way that say Montreal was, but it was still the biggest venue east of that city by a long way, and used to regular host cards that were well attended up until the mid-80's.

Still, the fight probably wasn't televised, because Berbick was still pretty green, and not that big of a local attraction (probably because he wasn't native to the area and was still pretty green). Mercado really only became better known following his victory over Shavers that vaulted him into contention.

 

Forgive the inaccuracy, but with all due respect I meant on a WORLD level, and not just in Eastern Canada. Still a very nice city though..

Agreed.. Although we both seem to be speculating, it seems suspicious of a bout that didn't get much media coverage.

 

As Berbick had beaten Mercado in the amateurs, this was something of an upset. However, the fact remains that neither were stars at the time. How significant was the WBC Continental Americas heavyweight title anyways?

Maybe there's footage out there, but that was not a card with compelling names and results, and the main event was a starching, not an extended war.

 

Understood, and no offense taken on my part Halifax did host a couple of world title fights in the past (Saad against Perguad and Camel against MacDonald), but it's been a while since they've hosted a fight that would receive significant coverage in the national media, let alone be televised. And until the city produces another contender, it might be some time before that takes place.

Still, this fight was an interesting little footnote in heavyweight history

 

I don't even see it written anywhere as to who else was on that card..I'm assuming it was probably mostly locals, but have nothing to explain or back up my reasoning. On a sidenote, I'm wondering that if Berbick had some how beaten Mercado, if John Tate would have taken a chance on facing him in 1980.... Tate was recovering from a devastating loss, and Berbick was chosen as a low risk opponent to get him back on track.. If I'm not mistaken, that bout was on the undercard of Ray Leonard vs Roberto Duran, assuming that I don't have my dates mixed up..

 

Here's that card in Halifax:

http://boxrec.com/show_display.php?show_id=120950

Berbick-Tate was indeed on the under card in Montreal, along with the Gaeton Hart-Cleveland Denny tragedy. Taken within the context of Trevor's own career, this would normally have been a safe comeback for a prepared Tate. Weaver just took it out of Big John, reinforcing the image of vulnerability Stevenson stamped him with in the 1976 Olympics.

 

After viewing that card, I must agree that it was probably not a crowd pleaser. In fact, by the time Berbick and Mercado had appeared on the stage, the audience was likely starving for a good heavyweight bout... Unfortunately for them, the event was too short lived to have been satisfying....