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Chavez wasted no time in tearing Haugen aside. (Photograph by Holly Stein/Allsport)
It was purported to be a historic combat for a lot of causes.
It ended up being a private affair within the ring, and the culminating level of a love affair outdoors of it.
The mere thought of packing greater than 100.000 individuals in a single place to observe a stay boxing match was fairly insane anyplace on this planet. But when there was one place on this planet the place this might occur, it might be Mexico throughout the reign of their biggest fighter ever.
Having fun with one of many longest unbeaten streaks in boxing historical past, an extended and illustrious run as a champion highlighted by high-profile wins over a choose group of arch enemies, and being two years faraway from his Ring Combat of the Yr efficiency in opposition to Meldrick Taylor, the nice Julio Cesar Chavez was driving the most important wave of his life.
He was paraded round as the final word instance of what a boxer ought to be: ferocious, expert, disciplined, decided, and immensely proud. If something, he was the epitome of Mexican manhood, a champion revered by his individuals and admired by each boxing fan across the globe.
The time was proper for a homecoming, and never simply any homecoming. Already boasting one of many greatest stadiums on this planet, Mexico Metropolis was craving to obtain its hero in an explosive show of nationwide pleasure, they usually obtained it when Chavez’s handler Don King booked the legendary Estadio Azteca to host the biggest crowd to ever witness a boxing match.
Some 134.000 individuals paid admission to the occasion, which might place the whole quantity of individuals contained in the stadium at 150.000 on the very least. Just a few thousand had already skipped faculty or work to see Chavez work out on the stadium’s car parking zone a couple of days earlier, and to witness Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari drop in (actually) in a helicopter to climb by way of the ropes and need success to the nation’s biggest athlete.
A win was anticipated by your complete nation. A grudge match is what they obtained.
Tijuana cab drivers are not any completely different to every other kind of cab drivers on this planet, however they had been elevated to superstar standing when Greg Haugen, former champ and sacrificial lamb picked to be Chavez’s challenger on that date, determined that it might be a good suggestion to say that Chavez had feasted on nothing however Tijuana cab drivers as his major supply of opponents.
Haugen, a talented fighter and a artful trash-talker, clearly meant this as a provocation. The extent of this provocation, nevertheless, was way more damaging (to himself, particularly) that what he had envisioned.
Taking this remark as each a private insult and an affront to his nation’s character, Chavez determined to topic Haugen to the form of punishment ideally reserved for larger functions.
Unleashing a two-fisted assault for the reason that very starting, Chavez executed a progressive demolition job on a largely helpless Haugen to the delight of his roaring followers, who obtained their first probability to blow up in a screaming frenzy of affection to their idol when Haugen hit the deck solely 20 seconds into the combat.
That was the start of a slippery slope in direction of defeat for Haugen. Unable to seek out his rhythm in opposition to a drive of nature in his prime, Haugen discovered himself on the receiving finish of dozens of numbing hooks to the liver, which at this level ought to have been declared Mexico’s intangible nationwide treasure.
“I’ll don’t have any compassion,” stated Chavez within the build-up of the combat. “I’ll meet you within the ring and minimize your head off, prepare.”
Prepared or not, that’s what Haugen obtained. It took referee Joe Cortez 4 extra rounds to cease the combat, however he lastly did, declaring the competition over at 2:02 of the fifth episode to unleash what must stay the biggest sports activities celebration in Mexico’s historical past till the (unlikely) day wherein they might elevate up the FIFA World Cup.
The loss was the start of the top for Haugen, a former light-weight champ who confronted a few of the greatest names of his period, however whose last decline in direction of his retirement (which passed off six years later in 1999) started on the evening he came upon that disrespecting Chavez earlier than a record-breaking homecoming combat was simply not the perfect thought.
Chavez retained the WBC junior welterweight belt, and obtained prepared to maneuver on to a few of the greatest fights in his profession. However his evening of glory beneath the celebrities of his nation’s capital stays, to this present day, considered one of his most memorable performances in a profession that has had loads of them.
Diego M. Morilla writes for The Ring since 2013. He has additionally written for HBO.com, ESPN.com and plenty of different magazines, web sites, newspapers and shops since 1993. He’s a full member of the Boxing Writers Affiliation of America and an elector for the Worldwide Boxing Corridor of Fame. He has received two first-place awards within the BWAA’s annual writing contest, and he’s the moderator of The Ring’s Ladies’s Rankings Panel. He served as copy editor for the second period of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is presently a author and editor for RingTV.com.
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