Misplaced Pages

Super Grand Slam of Boxing: Chávez vs. Randall

Date	January 29, 1994
Venue	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the line	WBC super lightweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Julio César Chávez Frankie Randall Nickname El Gran Campeón Mexicano ("The Great Mexican Champion") The Surgeon Hometown Culiacán, Mexico Morristown, Tennessee, U.S. Purse $1,200,000 $300,000 Pre-fight record 89–0–1 (77 KO) 48–2–1 (39 KO) Age 31 years, 6 months 32 years, 4 months Height 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) Weight 140 lb (64 kg) 140 lb (64 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBC Super Lightweight Champion The Ring No. 1 Ranked Junior Welterweight The Ring pound-for-pound No. 2 ranked fighter WBC No. 1 Ranked Super Lightweight
Result
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. 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.

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."

The fights

Undercard

The undercard featured wins for former 2 division champion Meldrick Taylor and future International Boxing Hall of Fame member Christy Martin.

Hearns vs. Ward

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.

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."

Brown vs. Waters

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.

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.

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 vs. Wade

The next bout saw Donovan Ruddock make his first appearance in the ring since his second round stoppage loss to Lennox Lewis in October 1992.

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.

Trinidad vs. Camacho

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.

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."

Main Event

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.

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.

Fight card

Confirmed bouts:

^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

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
United States	Showtime

References

1. "Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Frankie Randall (1st meeting)". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
2. Chavez, other to defend titles, UPI article, 1993-11-11 Retrieved on 2024-09-20
3. The Past Remains a Daunting Opponent for Chavez : Boxing: He will fight Randall tonight, but continues to talk of controversial draw against Whitaker., LA Times article, 1994-01-29 Retrieved on 2024-09-20
4. "Super Grand Slam of Boxing". Altus Times. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
5. Boxing Channel (8 February 2020). "Thomas Hearns vs Dan Ward". youtube.com. Youtube. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
6. "Thomas Hearns vs. Dan Ward". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
7. "Simon Brown vs. Troy Waters". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
8. "Brown pounds out win over Waters". Tampa Bay Times. Times Publishing Company. 30 January 1994. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
9. "Donovan Ruddock vs. Anthony Wade". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
10. "Felix Trinidad vs. Hector Camacho". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
11. Joe Lapointe (30 January 1994). "BOXING; 'Macho' No More: Camacho Looks More Like a Has-Been in His Loss to Trinidad". New York Times. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
12. Chavez pays, loses his title for low blows, Tampa Bay Times article, 1994-01-31 Retrieved on 2024-09-21
13. Randall, Chavez to Do It Again : Boxing: Ex-champion salutes conqueror, but refuses to concede defeat as May 7 rematch is set up., LA Times article, 1994-01-31 Retrieved on 2024-09-21
14. "BoxRec - event".

• 1994 in boxing
• 1994 in sports in Nevada
• January 1994 sports events in the United States
• Boxing matches at MGM Grand Garden Arena
• Boxing matches involving Julio César Chávez
• Boxing matches refereed by Richard Steele
• Boxing on Showtime
• Light welterweight championship matches