FUNDAMENTALS Essential tools for the boxing deep dive By Lee Groves
FORGOTTEN CLASSIC: Antonio Avelar TKO 8 Wilfredo Vazquez » May 30, 1986, Tamiami Fairgrounds Auditorium, Miami This is a fight to be remembered because of the multiple storylines: It was Mexico (Avelar) versus Puerto Rico (Vazquez). It was a former flyweight champion (Avelar) versus a
MUST-READ: “In This Corner…!” 42 World Champions Tell Their Stories » By Peter Heller (Simon & Schuster, 1973) Heller, just 21 when he got the idea to write the book, interviewed champions and contenders whose careers ranged from the 1910s (Willie Ritchie, Gunboat Smith, Pete Herman and Jack Dempsey) through the 1960s (Paul Pender, Emile Griffith, Willie Pastrano, Joey Giardello and Jose Torres)
LOST FIGHT: Harry Greb UD 15 Gene Tunney I » May 23, 1922, Madison Square Garden, New York
with plenty of legends in-between (Mickey Walker, Tommy Loughran, Joe Louis, Henry Armstrong, Billy Conn, Willie Pep, Sugar Ray Robinson, Jake LaMotta, Sandy Saddler, Archie Moore, Carmen Basilio, etc.). But as special as this idea was, Heller, inspired by Lawrence Ritter’s The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball , chose not to summarize their remarks in his own prose but to print the fighters’ remarks verbatim. “I said to myself, ‘Nobody’s ever done this kind of a book, interviewing guys and letting them speak in the first person, with boxers,’” Heller said on the February 19, 2022, episode of In This Corner: The Podcast , which can be seen on TrillerTV. com. “I just looked at the old guys that I thought were still around and I realized they were getting on in years, and I said, ‘Somebody had better get out there and interview these guys before they’re gone.’” Rocky Marciano’s sudden death in a plane crash served as the catalyst to press forward, and despite having no publisher or having never written a book,
future three-division titleholder (Vazquez). And both men were on the comeback trail: Avelar was coming off a fourth-round TKO loss against 18-8 journeyman Arturo Mujica two and a half months earlier, while Vazquez was fighting for the second time since his failed first world title challenge against then-WBC bantamweight king Miguel Lora, who outpointed him
This may be the crown jewel of “lost classics” because (1) no footage of Greb in official action has surfaced, (2) it may have been the greatest single win of Greb’s 302-fight career, (3) it was the only loss of “The Fighting Marine’s” 67-fight record – a loss Tunney would avenge several times over – and (4) the fight showcased Greb’s ability to defeat men larger than himself as well as the gargantuan fighting heart that Tunney’s scholarly persona obscured. This fight for the American light heavyweight title remains memorable more than a century later not because it featured savage two-way action, but because it stretched the limits of one man’s ability to dish out punishment and the other man’s capacity to keep fighting through severe adversity. For the 174½-pound Tunney, that adversity began seconds into the fight when the 162¼-pound Greb broke Tunney’s nose in two places. Later in the round, Greb opened a four-inch gash over Tunney’s left eyebrow that had originally been caused in sparring, and that bleeding was worsened because an artery had been severed. Tunney’s right eye was cut in the third, and the gore was such that referee Billy “Kid” McPartland frequently stopped the action to towel off Tunney’s face. In all, six towels were used, and the sight of Tunney was so grim that even Greb, known for his animalistic remorselessness, asked McPartland to stop the fight. Tunney’s reported reply: “For God’s sake, don’t stop it!” Though blinded and suffering torturous pain, Tunney managed to last the entire 15 rounds, but only after spilling an estimated two quarts of crimson. After being declared the loser, Tunney had to be carried back to his dressing room. By going out on his shield, all questions about Tunney’s competitive spirit were forever extinguished, and by beating Tunney, Greb bolstered his case for being the best pound-for-pound fighter of all time.
after they had traded knockdowns. Vazquez was hoping to use Avelar as a stepping stone toward a potential rematch against Lora. The fight followed the anticipated script in the first four rounds as the younger Vazquez earned a slight edge in their exchanges of boulder-like power shots. It earned classic status in the fifth, one of the greatest single rounds this observer has seen in his 51 years of fandom. Avelar floored Vazquez with a scorching hook just eight seconds in, and Vazquez returned the favor shortly before the one-minute mark with a lead right that resulted in a belly flop into the ropes. Vazquez unleashed an all-out assault over the next 50 seconds, connecting with flush one- twos that repeatedly snapped Avelar’s head back, but, with 50 seconds left, Avelar reversed positions with Vazquez and nailed him with vicious hook-cross combos. In the final 35 seconds, they launched simultaneous left-rights, with Vazquez’s connecting forcefully and Avelar’s mostly missing. Meanwhile, the crowd, astonished at the brutality, yelled at full volume and gave the fighters a rousing ovation at round’s end. The sixth and seventh were merely excellent, and in the eighth, Avelar floored Vazquez with the straightest right hand he threw all night. Vazquez arose at four, but, seeing the vacant look in the Puerto Rican’s eyes, referee Harry Brennan stopped the fight.
Heller used his free time to track down the fighters, transcribe their words and convince Simon & Schuster to publish the final product. It’s a book that will never lose its freshness, and for those who love the sport’s rich history and its never-ending supply of characters, this is a must-get. Lee Groves is the winner of 22 writing awards from the BWAA and has been an elector for the International Boxing Hall of Fame since 2001. He is a panelist on In This Corner: The Podcast on YouTube and is the author of Tales from the Vault: A Celebration of 100 Boxing Closet Classics . Email him at l.groves@frontier.com or send him a message via Facebook or X (@leegrovesboxing).
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