10.12.05 – By Jim Amato: For me, the year 1972 marked some very important milestones, especially the magic month of June. In the first three weeks of that month, I became a candidate for the draft by turning eighteen, I graduated from High School and I took on my first bride. To be honest with you, the most exciting day of the month was the 26th. On that date in Madison Square Garden, Roberto Duran captured the lightweight championship of the world by stopping the vastly talented Ken Buchanan. At that moment, a star was born.
Later in the year, on October 18th, my first son was born. A month later, Duran suffered the first loss of his career, dropping a decision to the great but widely overlooked Esteban DeJesus.
Roberto would not lose another fight until the night he said “No Mas,” in 1980. That included two subsequent knockout victories over DeJesus. To me, Duran was without a doubt the greatest boxer of the 70’s.
In retrospect, 1972 stands out in regards to boxing for a variety of reasons. The quietest division was the heavyweights. There was a let down after the frenzy created from the March 8, 1971 classic between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, in which Joe emerged victorious. That was a gruelling affair and Frazier and his manager Yank Durham decided to take it easy and not just jump right back into the ring with Ali. Joe took on a couple of lower ranked white contenders. First, he blasted out the totally overmatched Terry Daniels. Then he cut up and halted the dead game Ron Stander. Joe would lose his title in early 1973, courtesy of the thumping fists of George Foreman. Two months later, Ali would suffer a fractured jaw in losing an upset decision to Ken Norton. The stage was now set for “The Rumble In The Jungle” and the “Thrilla In Manila,” that would later entertain us in the mid 70’s.
The light heavyweights were ruled by one of the greatest of all time, Bob Foster. Bob probably hit his peak in 72. First, he unified the title with a two round massacre of WBA pretender Vincente Rondon. Then, he landed one of the most brutal punches in boxing history when he nearly decapitated Mike Quarry. Next, he wore down and halted the very brave Chris Finnegan. Foster ended 1972 with an ill advised foray back into the heavyweight division and was halted by the now former champion, Muhammad Ali.
Carlos Monzon was the “King” of the middleweight division. 1972 was the year that proved his greatness. Carlos opened by halting veteran contender Denny Moyer. Next, he turned back the challenge of the very formidable Jean Claude Bouttier. Then he pummeled Denmark’s Tom Bogs. Carlos closed the year outscoring the feared “Bad” Bennie Briscoe.
He was one of the greatest welterweights of all time. Jose Napoles was coming of a very big year in 1971, when he regained the title from Billy Backus. He also turned back the challenge of top contender Hedgemon Lewis. He took it a little easy in 1972 fighting off the challenges of Ralph Charles and Adolph Pruitt. He closed the year with a non-title KO of Edmundo Leite.
It was in 1972 that the great Antonio Cervantes won the junior welterweight title. He had failed to dethrone the slick Nicolino Loche in 1971. Loche then lost his title to Alfonso Frazier and Cervantes got a second shot and defeated Frazier. Antonio would go on to have a legendary career.
The featherweight division was in a transition period. The great little southpaw, Vincente Saldivar, had retired champion in 1967. He returned in 1969 and reclaimed his crown in 1970 by beating Johnny Famechon. He would lose the title in his next fight to Kuniaki Shibata. In 1972, Clemente Sanchez blasted the crown from Shibata’s head. Soon after, Sanchez would lose his title to the scales. Jose Legra also halted him and no one was quite sure who the champ was as the year ended.
The bantamweight division was also in a state of transition. As 1972 was ushered in, the power punching Ruben Olivares was holding the crown. Rafael Herrera came along to upset him. Then Rafael was upset by the smooth boxing Enrique Pinder. The new champion would outscore former titleholder ChuChu Castillo in a non-title bout to close out the year.
The flyweight class was in a state of chaos in 1972. Erbito Salvarria was the rightful claimant based on his 1970 KO of the outstanding Chartchai Chionoi. In 1971, he would struggle but still remain champion. In five 1971 encounters, he went 3-1-1. He lost a non-title go on points to Halimi Gutierrez. He also drew with Betulio Gonzalez, thus keeping his crown. In 1972, the WBC withdrew its recognition of Salvarria as champion and matched Venice Borkorsor with Gonzalez for the vacant title. Borkorsor would win by a tenth round stoppage. Borkorsor and Salvarria would meet in 1973 to unify the title with Borkorsor winning a decision.
It was a simple time, then. There were a lot less weight divisions and fewer split titles. It was a time when in most cases, the champions ruled their respective divisions with an iron fist. Some of the most feared and respected boxers of all time reigned supreme, Foster, Monzon, Napoles, Cervantes, Olivares and Duran.
The class of 1972. What a wonderful year!