It's hard for me to believe it's been almost twenty-six years since the Julio Cesar Chavez vs Edwin Rosario fight. It's hard for me to wrap my head around the years that have gone by. Both men had stellar careers but this fight took Chavez to the next level. I was already a fan of Chavez but this fight made a believer out of me. Chavez was the real thing and his overall career was one for the ages.
Chavez defended his WBC Super Featherweight title with a 12 round unanimous decision victory against Danilo Cabrera, of the Dominican Republic, a couple of months earlier. He vacated the title to move up in weight. Rosario, for his part, defended his own WBA lightweight title with an 8th round stoppage of fellow Puerto Rican Juan Nazario.
The fight would take place on November 21, 1987 in the outdoor arena at the Las Vegas Hilton. The referee was Richard Steele. It was a battle between two iron willed fighters. This fight is just one in a long decades old and storied rivalry between Puerto Rican and Mexican fighters. It also took place in a decade (the 1980's) that produced such great champions as Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, Aaron Pryor, Alexis Arguello, Salvador Sanchez, Ray Mancini, Wilfredo Gomez, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson and Roberto Duran. I couldn't begin to list them all. Duran, along with Ali, was the fighter of the decade for the 1970's.
Chavez really showed his patience in this fight. From the very beginning Chavez's plan was to grind down Rosario round by round and that's exactly what he did. Rosario, owner of a huge fighting heart was always in the fight and his courage was never in question but in Chavez it soon became apparent that he was in over his head. Referee Richard Steele stopped the fight at 2:38 seconds of the 11th round.
I sw the fight at my friend Scott Gombrich's home in Pomona. My son Andrew was with me. He was five at the time. Still trying to wrap my head around that.
Enjoy the fight!!
Video Courtesy of GorkyWolf and Youtube.com
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