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10/06/2003 Archived Entry: "McCline, Casamayor and Toney Win"
McCline, Casamayor and Toney Win
By Tom Donelson
This past weekend, drama permeated Vegas. It began on Friday, October 3, as a 34-year-old prospect tried to prove that he was ready for the big stage. On Saturday, a veteran bantamweight with 11 defeats showed the world that he was indeed a world champion. This was followed by a dramatic fight of survival between two great former 130-pound champions. The weekend concluded with with a brilliant performance by a Cruiserweight over an old great former Heavyweight champion.
For 26 minutes and 40 seconds, Cedric Boswell was fighting the fight of his life and showing the world that indeed, he could be top ten material. In the boxing world, a top ten is an automatic shot at a title with at least four titles out for the grabbing. Then at the end of the 9th round, Jameel McCline nailed Boswell with a left hook. Boswell went staggering into the rope and only the rope kept him standing and the bell saved him as he barely staggered to the corner. McCline, behind on point and his career in jeopardy, went for the kill and for the next two minutes of the tenth round, pummeled Boswell. Boswell went down early in the round and spent the next minute and half, hanging on to McCline for dear life. With a minute left and Boswell out of his feet and grabbing for McCline, the referee stopped the fight. For the first 26 minutes, Boswell consistently beat McCline to the punch and looked everything the press clippings portrayed him. Boxing beautifully, Boswell was in command of the fight. Going into the ninth, he had a comfortable lead and needed to take one of the last two rounds to secure victory. With one left hook, the dream ended and like many poor suckers in Vegas working the slot machines, Boswell's night came up lemons. As for McCline, he will fight another day and still stay in the championship mix.
Saturday night began as Cruz Carbajal pummeled Gerardo Espinoza. Carbajal is one of those fighters that after you see him; you have to ask yourself, how did 11 other fighters beat him? Carbajal is a pressure fighter with a long arm for a small man. As Gerardo Espinoza discovered, there was no way to deter Carbajal. Espinoza won the first round but that was his highlight. Every round from this point till the end, Carbajal closed the distance against the slick counterpunching boxer and nailed Espinoza with left hooks to the body and head as well devastating upper cuts and beautifully right hand. For the first three rounds Espinoza countered effectively but by the fourth, the legs were gone. Espinoza merely retreated and was in a clear survival mode. At the end of the fifth round, Espinoza merely sat in his corner with eyes closed and wondering, "what do I do now?" The end came when Carbajal nailed Espinoza with the perfect left hook to the body in the eight round. The body shot was the last of several hard shots to the head and body. Carbajal in the past has been a victim of bad managing as much as anything as he found himself taking many fights on short notice but now, he has reached his potential. He is truly a world-class fighter.
Diego Corrales and Joel Casamayor would engage in what used to be the staple of boxing, great fighters fighting one another. This could have been a championship fight and the most intriguing match of the evening. Casamayor was the slick boxer but at the age of 32, the question remained- how much quickness was left. As for Corrales, he has only fought 12 rounds since his lost to Floyd Mayweather. This fight resembled the first Leonard-Hearns fight in which the smaller slick boxer faced the tall ranging slugger and just like the classic Leonard-Hearns, both fighters exchanged role. That night, Leonard became the slugger and Hearns the boxer. In this fight Casamayor, the slick boxer, would become the slugger and Corrales would become the counter puncher as the fight progressed. In the first round, both fighters felt each other but in the second round Casamayor started to take command as his quick left found a target on Corrales' face. Corrales ended on his butt in the opening seconds of the third round as the result of a Casamayor left. This enabled Casamayor to control the round but halfway in the round, Casamayor held Corrales head while punching. This foul resulted in a point deduction and Corrales managed to prevent a 10-8 round.
The fourth round provided the most sparks as both men showed their mettle. Casamayor nailed Corrales with another straight left and went for the kill after Corrales got up from the knockdown. Corrales, stunned and hurt, moved back as he was being nailed with one punch after another. Then halfway through round, Corrales nailed the Cuban with a short compact left hook and Casamayor went down. Casamayor retreated as Corrales turned the round around and now he was in control of the round. The round was his after nearly being knocked out. The fifth round was Casamayor as he retained controlled of the fight with his movement and quick hands. The sixth round began as Casamayor hit Corrales with a straight left and Corrales mouth bleed profusely. Casamayor foot movement puzzled Corrales and the blood streaming out his mouth, Corrales looked ready to go. Then with 15 seconds left, Corrales nailed Casamayor with a left hook and Casamayor staggered back to his stool. Corrales went back to his stool with blood in his mouth and a feeling that he finally found out the secret of beating Casamayor. Instead he found the fight was being stopped. Corrales begged for one more round and one more chance to win. Though he was behind on point and easily being out boxed, Corrales had a slugger chance and nearly ended it at the end of the sixth after being out fought for the first 2 minutes and 45 seconds of the round. Both men distinguished themselves and the winner has one more chance for a championship. Loser, however, will still remain a force in the division.
The final show was Holyfield and Toney. This fight was both exciting and tragic. Holyfield came out smoking, throwing jabs and left hook at Toney. He threw more punches in this round than any round in years. Toney tasted heavyweight power but he was still standing. This was Holyfield round and it seem as if Holyfield had manage to cheat father time. This proved illusionary. The second round saw Holyfield still winning the round but Toney started to connect more.
The fourth saw the beginning of the end; Toney finally hurt Holyfield with a solid combination. Holyfield started to fade and Toney was now getting off first. Holyfield looked every minute of his 41 years. Joe Louis remarked after Rocky Marciano beat him that he knew what to do but his body would not let him. There were moments that openings presented themselves to Holyfield but he could not pull the trigger. Toney was hitting Holyfield two or three times for every one shot that Holyfield would counter with.
Toney slipped many of Holyfield blows and by the eighth round, it was obvious Holyfield career was ending. Don Turner told Holyfield that he was going to end the fight if he continued to eat Toney's right hand. The ninth opened with Toney nailing Holyfield with left jabs, followed by right hands to the head and left hook to the body. After a culmination of punches, Holyfield merely collapsed to the canvas. He slowly got up and told the referee that he wanted to continue. As the referee was asking Holyfield, "do you want to continue," the towel came from Holyfield's corner.
For Toney, he showed once again that he is one of this generation-underestimated fighters. As for Holyfield, his career had to end this way. Holyfield is too much a warrior to quit but losing to Toney in this fashion should finally end Holyfield's hunt for a championship. Toney did to Holyfield what great heavyweights Lennox Lewis or George Foreman could not do - stop Holyfield. At the end of the fight, Holyfield was not even competitive and no matter how tragic the end; Holyfield went out on his shield. Most great fighter ends their career in this fashion. Holmes humiliated Ali, Marciano humiliated Louis, Tyson humiliated Holmes and Toney humiliated Holyfield. Only Marciano ended his career and refused to surrender to the hubris that is boxing -that a fighter can cheat father time. They can't. Ali couldn't, Holmes couldn't and Holyfield couldn't.
This weekend saw a prospect come crashing down and a legend lose. It saw two great fighters at their peak fighting one another and Mexican bantamweight champion that has been hidden from the world. It was drama and tragedy in one stretch of 24 hours.
It was a weekend that makes boxing the great sport that it is.
