Randall wins by split decision (116–111, 114–113, 113–114)
Julio César Chávez vs. Frankie Randall was a professional boxing match contested on January 29, 1994, for the WBC super lightweight title.[1] The fight was the featured bout on a Don King-promoted boxing card dubbed the Super Grand Slam of Boxing.
Background
In November 1993, promoter Don King announced the first boxing card for the soon-to-be-opened MGM Grand Las Vegas. Billed as the "Super Grand Slam of Boxing", the main event was announced to feature Julio César Chávez making the 14th defense of his WBC super lightweight title against Frankie Randall. Also featured on the card was Félix Trinidad vs. Héctor Camacho for Trinidad's IBF welterweight title, Simon Brown vs. Troy Waters for Brown's WBC Super Welterweight title, and Thomas Hearns taking on Dan Ward for the vacant NABF cruiserweight title. Originally, the card was to also feature a rematch between Azumah Nelson and Jesse James Leija for Nelson's WBC super featherweight title, but this was postponed until May and would take place on King's "Revenge: The Rematches" card.[2]
Chávez, whose last major fight had been a controversial draw four months prior against Pernell Whitaker, paid little attention to Randall, a little-known 32-year old journeyman fighter, who entered the fight as an overwhelming 16–1 underdog. Chávez instead focused much of his time during the pre-fight buildup discussing both the draw with Whitaker and a possible rematch with him that ultimately never came to be. Though given little chance of beating Chávez, who was undefeated in 90 professional fights, Randall remained confident he could earn the victory and used Chávez's perceived lacklustre performance against Whitaker as motivation stating "The Whitaker fight showed that movement is most effective against Chavez, and I’m going to use it to my advantage. Everybody says, ‘You’re past your prime.’ I'm at my prime. I'm strong, can do everything a young man can do. I still bang with the best."[3]
The first of the featured bouts saw former 4 division champion and WBC No. 2 ranked cruiserweight Thomas Hearns face Dan Ward for the NABF title vacated by Orlin Norris.[4][5]
Hearns would make light work of Ward knocking him down with just over a minute left in the opening round. Ward was able to get back on his feet, but he appeared wobbly, prompting referee Toby Gibson to wave off the bout. After the fight, Ward would describe Hearns as "one of the best fighters ever to walk the earth."[6]
WBC Super Welterweight Champion The Ring No. 1 Ranked Light Middleweight
WBC No. 2 Ranked Super Welterweight The Ring No. 10 Ranked Light Middleweight
Result
Brown defeated Waters via majority decision
The first of the three world bouts saw Simon Brown make the first defence of his WBC Super Welterweight belt against No.2 ranked contender Troy Waters, who had twice before fought for a world against Gianfranco Rosi and Terry Norris.[7]
Brown was able to out boxer Waters, scoring with left jabs, combinations and body punches. Despite controlling the tempo of the fight, Waters was able to cut Brown over the right eye in the final round. The fight went the distance, with Chung Dae-Eun having it a draw at 114–114, Jerry Roth scoring it 116–112 and Vince Delgado had it 118–111, both for Brown giving him a majority decision victory. The AP scored it 116–112 for Brown.[8]
Brown praised Waters as "as tough a guy as I've fought, he took everything I threw. I take my hat off to him, and I know I won the decision."
Ruddock would dominate journeyman Anthony Wade, dropping him in the first round en route to a wide unanimous decision, winning every round on all three scorecards.[9]
The penultimate bout saw Félix Trinidad make his third defence of his IBF welterweight belt against No. 8 ranked contender and former 2 division champion Héctor Camacho.[10]
Camacho spent much of the bout trying to clinch the younger champion, while Trinidad controlled the action with flurries of body shots and combinations. Referee Joe Cortez, penalized him one point for this repeatedly throwing Trinidad into the ropes. He also docked Trinidad a point for hitting Camacho after the command to break.
At the end of 12 rounds all three judges scored it for Trinidad, 116–110, 117–109 and 119–106. Speaking after the bout Camacho praised Trinidad saying, "He's pretty strong, I have to give him that. He shook me a couple times."[11]
The fight was a closely contested affair with Chávez aggressively attacking Randall body, while Randall proved to effectively counterpunch and landed big shots to Chávez's head throughout the fight. Chávez was penalized twice by referee Richard Steele for low blows, once in the seventh round and once in the eleventh, which would cost Chávez in the end, as without the lost points, Chávez would have earned a split decision victory himself as judge Abraham Chavarria's scorecard would have been in his favor 115–114. Randall would score the fights lone knockdown late in the eleventh round, catching Chávez with a right hand counterpunch that sent Chávez down on the seat of his pants though Chávez got back up at the count of three.
After 12 rounds, in a shocking upset, Randall would give Chávez the first loss of his professional career after being named the winner by split decision, having been named the winner on two scorecards with scores of 116–111 and 114–113, while Chávez was named the winner on the third scorecard 114–113.[12]
Aftermath
Angered by the loss, Chávez stated after the fight "I respect Frankie Randall. But, out of 12 rounds, he won three. I won nine rounds. He never hurt me. How could he win the fight? I'm very shocked. I have lost the battle but not the war. I'm out of here. I'm still champ!" Chávez also blamed Steele for his loss for deducting the two points during the fight, though when asked for comment after the fight simply commented "Look at the TV. That's all I've got to say." The Chávez–Randall was almost immediately announced to take place during the Cinco de Mayo weekend on May 7 four months later.[13]
^Note 1 For WBC Super Lightweight title ^Note 2 For IBF Welterweight title ^Note 3 For WBC Super Welterweight title ^Note 4 For vacant NABF Cruiserweight title
