i just rewatched Frankie Randall v. Juan Coggi I from Sept. 1994. It was the main undercard fight to JC Chavez/Meldrick Taylor II Randall pitched a near shutout, his only hiccup being he was briefly dropped by a left hand near the end of round 2. The Showtime announcers (Czyz, Pacheco and Steve Albert) heaped praise on Randall. Ferdie, who was by the way a big Chavez Fans, says if they fight a third time, Chavez will be in big trouble. Later he says, if they don't make the third fight if Chavez beats Taylor, something stinks in boxing. Czyz adds that Randall simply has Chavez's number. In the Coggi post fight interview (Randall had skipped any in ring interview after the second Chavez fight), Randall says the ending of the second Chavez fight was very dissapointing. He said he badly wanted a third fight, and said he would try to work with Don King to make it happen, but he added that regardless of those negotiations, he would fight whoever King put in front of him. He said his career would be nothing without Don King. It seems Frankie was already resigned that a third fight with Chavez may not happen. He probably understood Chavez was a gravy train for King Chavez was still King's number one meal ticket. It's just a shame the fight didn't happen, because the media and public wanted it. Randall would have most likely won. Instead, Randall had one more very good win, an easy demolition of Rodney Moore in Dec. 1994. In '95, he struggled with Jose Barboza and in Jan. '96 he lost a dubious TD in Coggi in a rematch Coggi didn't deserve as he was comprehensively defeated by Randall in their first fight. It was clear that by '96 Randall was starting to slip and Randall/Chavez III wouldn't happen. BTW the speed and power Randall showed in Coggi I was just outstanding. Coggi was past his best but he just absorbed a beating. He was one tough dude. They kept saying "Coggi has never been knocked out." I kept thinking, "Yeah, tell that to Eder Gonzales." Basically, Chavez and Coggi were two of the most politically well connected fighters of the last 30 yrs. - Chavez with the WBC and Coggi with the WBA.
I wouldn't lump Chavez and Coggi in the same nest. Chavez already had a Hall of Fame career before he ever heard of Randall. After losing Tyson, King hitched his wagon to Chavez in an attempt to get a greater portion of the Latin dollar... and it was a wise move. The whole run to 100 fghts tho was doomed by Chavez' eroding skills and his increasing idolatry and love of the easy life. Yeah, towards this time, he was more carefully moved but he had put a lot of legitimacy currency in the bank by then.
I agree Chavez was an ATG and much better than Coggi. But as he aged and passed his prime his political connections (Suliman/King) kept him going. It was a travesty he didn't fight Randall again and instead fought mediocre opposition building up to a superfight against Oscar De La Hoya. The second Randall fight was extremely controvesial. A third fight in late '94 or '95 was warranted. Ferdie Pacheco says so on the air. For all his faults, he was 100 percent on target there. Chavez was undoubetly protected after the second Randall Fight. Yes, I can understand why King and Suilman did what they did - $$$ But, that doesn't take away from the fact Randall was screwed.
