![]() It was an odd stoppage as Steele first stepped in to end it, but then saw Chacon throw another punch and let things go for a few more moments before finally bringing the one-sided ordeal to a halt. The third was more of the same and at just over a minute into the round referee Richard Steele stopped the fight. Within a minute of round two, Bobby was cornered again and taking a beating from Mancini, ducking and slipping the best he could, but the blows were connecting for the champion, and even the Chacon fans in the stands could see their man was out-gunned and over-matched. But then Mancini shoved Chacon out of a clinch and onto the ropes and he then kept the challenger on the back foot for the rest of the frame. In fairness, Chacon had appeared the smaller man in many of his fights before going on to win, but that’s one thing when a boxer is in his ascendancy, and another when he’s on his way down.ĭespite his granite chin, everyone knew Bobby would have to stay off the ropes to have a chance against the powerful Mancini, and for much of the opening round that’s what he did. While Chacon looked narrow and had little tone in his upper body, Ray looked like he’d been carved from marble by a renaissance sculptor. On the night, Mancini was clearly the bigger man. While the in-ring action of Mancini vs Chacon was about what people expected, it actually marked the last time either man did what the boxing script said he should. ![]() It was a classic fight to cement Mancini as the new star, and to allow Chacon to leave the ranks with dignity.īut that is not what happened. Chacon, a decade older and the veteran of clashes against fellow Hall of Famers Ruben Olivares, Danny Lopez and Alexis Arguello, was moving up in weight after a series of brutal championship bouts at 130 pounds, and could do very little to tarnish his legacy at this point. Mancini was 22, already a champion, and ready to rule the lightweights for the rest of the decade. That’s what was supposed to happen when young superstar Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini faced former two time world champion Bobby Chacon, aka “The Schoolboy,” in 1984. Oscar De La Hoya battering Julio Caesar Chavez, and then, a decade later, Floyd Mayweather establishing his own dominance by outpointing “The Golden Boy.” In each case the loser soon retired with grace, legendary status intact, as the victor went on to cement his place in the pantheon of great fighters. Mike Tyson sending Larry Holmes to the canvas three times in a single round. Rocky Marciano knocking Joe Louis out of the ring and catapulting himself to heavyweight glory. Boxing is not an old man’s sport and over the decades there have been plenty of what we might call “passing-the-torch” fights, when age gives way to younger legs and faster fists.
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