The Best of the Rest: 175lbs Tier II Tournie - Round 1 - 4: Maura Mina MD15 Melio Bettina

What i've done is i've lifted top tiers out of my top fifty at the poundage, fiddled it a little bit to minimise guys with no footage and used the remaining 32 names plus some subs to develop a seeded tournament to uncover "the best of the rest" at the poundage, with you, the denizens of the world's greatest boxing history forum, casting the deciding vote.

Pick your man! Write however many details you like or don't in a post below. But maybe try to post, to keep things moving a little bit. You have three days.

And let's be nice. No reason for disagreeing over total fantasies after all!

15 rounds, 1950s rules and ref. Ten points must. Weigh in is 18 hours before the fight.

I'll only vote if it's tied, then I'll decide the result.

Round of Thirty-Two Fight 4: Melio Bettina vs Maura "El Expreso de Chincha" Mina

Melio Bettina (83-14-3)
Bettina was a solid boxer who stalked his man and when he cornered him, assaulted him with a barrage of punches; He was tough enough - and good enough - to battle this way and get the job done; He lost only 13 bouts in nearly 100 contests; During his career, Melio won the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World (as recognized by New York state)

During his career, he defeated such men as "Tiger" Jack Fox, Bob Godwin, Fred Apostoli, Solly Krieger, Booker Beckwith, Gus Dorazio, Pat Valentino, Steve Carr, Joe Knight, Jimmy Mendes, Gunnar Barlund, Clarence "Red" Burman, Charles "Buddy" Knox, Buck Everett, Swede Berglund, Jack "Buddy" Walker, Lou Brooks, Altus Allen, Harry Bobo, Eddie Blunt, Joe Muscato, Bill Weinberg and Curtis Sheppard. Bettina was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995.

So says Cyberboxing (hence the punctuation); my main bugbear is I can't find a nickname for Bettina, anyone know? If not, feel free to give him one please.


Mauro Mina (52-3-3)
When he was just 6-0 Peruvian Mauro Mina was defeated by future Brazilian national light-heavyweight champion Luis Ignacio. A year later, at 10-1-1, he lost to South-American light-heavyweight champion Dogomar Martinez over fifteen rounds. And that’s it. That’s all. Mina, who would never fight for the light-heavyweight championship, was never again defeated at the weight. His prime was an undefeated streak six years long interrupted only by a setback up at heavyweight.

Like all the great Central and South Americans (especially in this era), Mina’s first task was to place the massed banditry of his domestic scene under control. This was no small matter. Names like Huberto Loayza and Sixto Rodriguez may not call to mind famous faces, but they were serious men unaccustomed to letting local prospects escape their grasp without a fight. Mina beat out all comers, often in front of crowds of thousands, and eventually escaped to the United States where the veteran Henry Hank gave him a most unwelcome welcome. Already 11-0 versus American fighters paid to visit Peru, Mina included a victory over #1 contender Eddie Cotton on his ledger, but Hank pushed him hard in the early going. When the Peruvian got down off his toes however, he dominated, using his more traditional style to out-hit Hank with high pressure and some superb short-arm punching. A split decision win was his reward, to be followed by a shot at the light-heavyweight champion Harold Johnson.

Alas, it was not to be. Whether or not Mina would have tested Johnson with his crafty defence and his depth of style will never be known as an eye injury kept him from the championship ring. Hank, who met both men, certainly thought Mina’s chances were healthy claiming he was too strong for “anyone in the division.” The Peruvian continued to impress, climbing off the canvas to outpoint a green Bob Foster, defeating Cotton again and out-pointing the ranked Piero Del Papa in his very last fight, but when he retired there was a sense that his potential went unfulfilled.

 

A hot fight, a crazy fight, one might say the type of fight that would never be discussed on the forum were it not for this incredibly unpopular tournament!

Here is some footage for you not to watch:

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The real question: will more than eight people vote? That's the over/under that matters.

 

How about Melio "The Beacon" Bettina?

 

See post 2!

 

It's a weird, savage little fight, isn't it?

I didn't come up with it though, it was a seeded draw that was then turned into a strumash by some changes.

 

But vote you divot.

 

So close, one man can make a difference.

 

Maura Mina MD15 Melio Bettina

Maura Mina twice clambered off the canvas to take a narrow decision victory over Melio Bettina. Dropped by the summary of Bettina's swarming attack at the end of the second and the fourth, the fight seemed to be drifting away from Peruvian, but from the sixth onwards he drilled Bettina with a counter-right hand which the aggressor never fathomed. A short, hard punch, Mina used it repeatedly to set Bettina back on his heels and helped him to dominate the sixth through twelfth. The three final rounds were hotly contested, two of the three judges preferring Mina's cleaner work, the third finding a draw.