From heavyweight right on down to light flyweight, the decade that was the 1990s was absolutely chock full of great fights. Looking back, we fans really were spoiled quite rotten.
Let’s take a rewind:
We saw, over the course of January 1990 to December of 1999, the following classics:
- James Douglas KO Mike Tyson (also, of course, the biggest upset in boxing history)
- Ray Mercer W12 Bert Cooper
- Aaron Davis KO9 Mark Breland
- James Toney D12 Mike McCallum
- Azumah Nelson D12 Jeff Fenech
- Michael Moorer KO5 Bert Cooper
- Riddick Bowe W12 Evander Holyfield
- Michael Carbajal KO7 Humberto Gonzalez
- Marco Antonio Barrera KO 12 Kennedy McKinney
- Nigel Benn KO10 Gerald McClellan
- Naseem Hamed KO4 Kevin Kelley
- Ike Ibeabuchi W12 David Tua
- Ivan Robinson W10 Arturo Gatti
- Oscar De La Hoya W12 Ike Quartey
Phew. And I may well have missed a few.
In fact, I have missed one fight off the above list. On purpose. For in my opinion, THE distinction of the greatest fight from a decade that you must agree really was full of ’em, goes to the almost unrealistically thrilling, mesmerising, and controversial battle Julio Cesar Chavez and Meldrick Taylor engaged in.
It was March 17th of 1990, and while fight fans the world over were still in shock over what had happened in Tokyo, Japan a little over a month ago, yet more palpitations were to be experienced in Las Vegas on St. Patrick’s Day. The simply epic war Mexico’s finest and Philly’s finest gave us had nothing to do with the Irish celebrations, but this fight would be celebrated, and fiercely debated, by boxing fans everywhere.
The fight saw two at their peak, unbeaten champions, each with a wholly different style and personality, going at it. Chavez was a remarkable 68-0(56) and the 27 year old was the reigning WBC champ at 140 pounds. Taylor was 24-0-1(14) and the 23 year old was the reigning IBF champ. Together, in a fight that was dubbed ‘Thunder and Lightning,’ Chavez and Taylor gave a piece of themselves in order to fight the fight of their lives.
Taylor might have had the fastest pair of hands in boxing, and not just in 1990, perhaps of all-time – yeah, Taylor’s blazing hands were that fast! Chavez might have had the greatest chin in the sport at the time, as well as one of the very best in Mexican boxing history. And both champions had skills, heart, desire, they were each superbly conditioned, and both men had a great team around them.
The fight took place inside a crammed Las Vegas Hilton, and most of the people on hand were Mexican. But to the shock of the army of Chavez fans, Taylor, who was more than willing to mix it up, to stand in the pocket, to trade with “J.C Superstar,” was winning the fight. On the cards, he was winning the fight.
Stunned by Taylor’s brilliance as we were, many of us were guilty of failing to notice the damage, the physical damage, Chavez was slowly but surely inflicting on Taylor. Chavez, who picked up a slight injury to the bridge of his nose, was pounding Taylor’s body. His kidneys in particular. Chavez was also breaking bones in Taylor’s face, around his eye. Also, Taylor, who was cut inside the mouth, was, unbeknown to anyone, swallowing dangerous amounts of his own blood.
Still, Taylor was in front, he was – as the soon to be unforgettable words would say – “two seconds from glory.”
It was of course in the 12th round when Taylor, who was busted up, who was almost at a state of full exhaustion but was still forcing his fatigued body and brain to fight, fight, fight, got sloppy and got nailed. Cornered in a corner, and now trapped and functioning purely on instinct, Taylor was cracked by a Chavez right hand, the hard, tight and accurate shot exploding flush on his jaw.
Taylor, who really did show nothing short of superhuman fighting instinct on this night, not to forget raw courage, hauled himself up, with the stricken warrior using the ropes to help him do so. But then, in a move that sent the entire boxing world into a state of uproar, third man Richard Steele decided to wave the fight off. It was 2:58 on the clock.
Later, after looking at replays, we saw that Taylor, dazed beyond comprehension, was distracted at the crucial moment when Steele was looking deep into his eyes for signs of life. Taylor had seen his trainer/corner man Lou Duva climb onto the ropes, Duva having anticipated Steele’s decision to stop the fight, and the fighter looked away from Steele.
And that was it: Taylor, who had indeed been just two clicks from glory, was a beaten man. Taylor would never be the same again, while Chavez, who also gave his all, went on to dominate his opposition for years to come; in so doing proving that he himself may well have been fashioned from a superhuman set of substances.
To sum up: if this fight had not existed in the real world, if it had been written for a movie, not too many people, if any, would have bought it. But this episode from the theatre of the unexpected was all too real, all too savage and special, and all too painful for the loser. Yet at the same time, this super fight of super fights proved all too memorable, in fact unforgettable, for everyone and anyone who was there that day 35 years ago.
Way more than a penny would gladly go Taylor’s way to hear his thoughts on what he and Chavez went through all those years ago.
