By Janne Romppainen

05.08 - You knew it would be a classic fight. How could it not have been? The battle had everything needed for a great drama: from the red corner, weighing in at 139½ pounds, with a professional record of 68-0, 56 knockouts, the longest unblemished streak of a fighter in 78 years, the reigning WBC light-welterweight titlist, the living legend, the pride of Mexico, Julio Cesar Chavez. And from the blue corner, weighing in at 139¾ pounds the Olympic champion, with a professional record of 25-0-1, 14 knockouts the IBF light-welterweight boss Meldrick Taylor. The juxtaposition was so evident: Chavez’ aggression, punching power, toughness, body punching, experience and the Mexican pride versus the astonishing hand-speed, slick movement, great reflexes and boxing technique of the young American. The 12-round bout would decide who would be the leader of the division and regarded as one of the best fighters pound-for-pound in the world. The crowd, heavily behind Chavez, could not wait for the opening bell.

Chavez was the favourite of the bettors. He was known as a slow starter but many expected his body attack to take its toll and wear the flashy Taylor down after middle rounds as it had done for so many opponents in the past. There was another view too though. The ones who favoured Taylor pointed to his unnatural talent and boxing ability and seemingly great stamina and picked him to outbox the 27-year-old legend. The date was 17th March 1990, the place was Hilton Center in Las Vegas, USA. The first mega-fight of the nineties that would turn out to be perhaps the best and the most talked-about of the whole decade.

The first surprise of the fight was seen in the very first round. The confident, pumped-up Taylor did not avoid close exchanges against his heavy-handed foe. He started the fight brilliantly, moving side to side, flicking out a snappy jab and firing combinations. Chavez tried to start faster than usually was his style and forced his way inside landing some heavy shots early but Taylor stood right there and answered with lightning fast combos. For every shot that Chavez managed to land he had to take two or three in return. The first round was highly action-packed and exciting, which would mirror the rest of the fight more than well.

The same plot continued for the most part of the second round. Taylor was still in control with his movement and combinations. He also showed some interesting if questionable tactics punching at Chavez’ hips, trying to reduce the movement of Chavez. Taylor was still winning most of the exchanges but Chavez had just started to turn up the heat. Late in the round he caught Taylor with solid right hand leads and left hooks that seemed to stun the American slightly. Also Taylor’s left eye had already started to swell.

The rounds three and four continued to follow the same script. Taylor was clearly winning the fight but it was far from being one-sided. Whenever Chavez landed, he did so with authority and even though Taylor took the shots without wobbling, it seemed as Chavez was doing damage with them. Taylor compensated the quality of punches with quantity and continued outlanding Chavez in the exchanges. Chavez showed some marks of frustration as he wasn’t able to dictate the tempo of the fight and at the end of both rounds Taylor raised his hands, motioning that he was indeed winning.

The fifth round was revealing. The fighters battled for full three minutes shoulder to shoulder, in a phone boot fight, never clinching each other. This was supposed to be Chavez’ best game but he still wasn’t able to take over. Taylor seemed to have an answer to anything Chavez tried. Taylor’s chin which some thought was yet unproven held up easily for Chavez’ best bombs and he continued to outland the Mexican warrior. In the last minute of the round Chavez landed three solid shots and the round was a close one to score. In the next stanza Taylor added a bit more movement and he was in charge again. Chavez was not able to drive him to ropes or corners and in the middle of the ring Taylor more than held his own in the exchanges.

When the bout was at halfway stage after six rounds, things were not looking good for Chavez. In the eyes of many, he had lost every round so far. What was more alarming was that his punches did not seem to slow Taylor down enough for him to capitalize for it later. Taylor’s eyes were bruising and he was bleeding from a cut inside his mouth but his movement was still as slick, his punches still as sharp as in the beginning of the fight. Taylor had punched twice as much as Chavez according to the Combubox stas and even though his connection percentage was smaller that Chavez’, he had outlanded his foe in every round. Chavez was in no danger of going down himself though. Taylor had landed many very good, clean punches but Chavez’ granite chin held up.

The seventh round was a return to the phone booth war. The combatants stood chest to chest, working beautifully on the inside. The momentum had not changed, the pace was still tiring, Chavez landed the harder shots but Taylor landed more often. His face started to look worse to wear every second but it didn’t affect him. The eight round was more tactical but the ninth was breath-taking. It was another three-minute chapter of skilful inside action. Taylor controlled the round early but Chavez finished it stronger. In the last minute of the round it looked like Chavez’ bombing was finally taking its toll. Taylor did not wobble but his reflexes started to fade and he had to eat more shots than earlier. In the end of the ninth round the referee Richard Steele, almost invisible so far, gave Taylor his first severe warning from hitting below the belt. This was the first time Steele played some part in the action but it wouldn’t be the last.

Rounds ten and eleven were brutal. Chavez’ punches were finally taking their toll, he was now clearly hurting Taylor. Taylor still stood up for him and continued answering with combinations. Chavez won both of the rounds but it was not easy, Taylor wasn’t giving him anything for free. After the eleventh round a dramatic scene was seen: Meldrick Taylor followed Chavez and was on his way to a wrong corner until the referee Steele guided him. It was evident that Taylor didn’t have much left.

The last round was going to be high drama. Meldrick Taylor was way in front on nearly every onlookers scorecards but he was in bad shape. His face had bruised horribly, he was forced to swallow his own blood, he was exhausted. His trainer George Benton instructed him to go and fight in the last round with everything he had, he felt that Taylor still needed the round to seal his victory. In the other corner, bleeding, beaten, desperate but determined Chavez waited for the bell. He knew that he would need a knockout to pull it off. He was punished but still unbowed. “Do it for you family”, begged Chavez’ cornermen.

The round started. Chavez went at Taylor but he didn’t put up any furious attack. He was too tired himself to do that. Instead, he tried to take Taylor apart with well-placed hard shots. Taylor, who had fired over thousand punches during the fight still continued to put combinations together. After one minute had gone, Taylor went down after his own punch. He was badly tired. Even so, he seemed to make it to the final bell. Chavez was landing but Taylor was still standing without even buckling. He still was able to punch back. The time was running out from Chavez’ clock.

When there was half a minute left in the fight, the fighters drifted to another inside situation. When there was 24 seconds left, Chavez landed a solid right cross right on Taylor’s chin. It froze Taylor’s legs for a split second and Chavez jumped on him. When he got his feet moving again, he came forwards stumbling, throwing punches more instinctively than deliberating. Chavez backed away and they drifted to a neutral corner. Chavez stepped to his right and fired a left-right-left-right combination. Only the last punch connected, but it was a thunderous shot clean on Taylor’s chin. When there were sixteen seconds left in the fight, Taylor’s back hit the floor.

Taylor knew immediately where he was. He held his right hand up, grabbed a rope and pulled himself on his when Richard Steele had reached five in his count. At this point there were ten seconds left. Steele completed his manadory eight count and, probably instinctively, counted also number nine. When there were seven seconds left, Steele took a hard, close look on Taylor and asked “Are you okay?” Taylor didn’t answer, he was watching to his right over Steele’s shoulder, apparently looking for instructions from his trainer Lou Duva who had climbed to the ring apron. Steele asks again “You okay?”. Taylor turns his head but too late. Richard Steele has made up his mind and waves the fight off when there are four seconds left in the clock. The official time of the stoppage would be 2.58 of the 12th round, Taylor was knocked out of time two seconds before the end. Chavez was the winner, held now two titles and was still undefeated, now in 69 fights

After the fight there was much to talk about for sure. Points have been made both to back up Steele’s decision and to criticize his actions. Here are some of the most often heard arguments:

Steele’s decision was wrong because:

- There was only seconds left in the fight. If he had let the fight continue, Chavez couldn’t have landed another punch. As the scorecards were later revealed, it turned out that Taylor would have won via split decision.

- Taylor was up and standing with seemingly sturdy legs. Many feel that a champion should have a chance to fight until the end

- After Steele asked Taylor “Are you okay” for the first time, Taylor nodded his head slightly. In the post-fight interview Taylor and his trainer Lou Duva claimed that it was a reaction to Steele’s question.

- After Steele asked him the second time “Are you okay?” he didn’t give Taylor a chance to answer, instead he waved the fight off immediately

- There were red lights in the ring corners that went on when there was ten seconds left in the round. During the eight count it seems like Steele looks right at the light and thusly he should have known that there was not much time left

- Behind Steele’s back, Chavez had left the neutral corner where the referee had instructed him during the count and after Steele had completed the count, Chavez was already almost in his own corner. Had Steele noticed this, he should have stopped the count and take Chjavez back to the corner before resuming with the count. Had he done so, the fight would have ended before he had completed the count and thusly Taylor had won.

Steele did the right thing because:

- The time left in the clock shouldn’t affect the referees ruling. There is no exception rule for this kind of instances. That is why the referee is supposed to rule the last twenty seconds just like he would rule any other twenty-second part of the fight.

- Taylor couldn’t give him an answer when he asked if he was all right. In those cases, the referee has no option but to stop the fight.

- Taylor had taken a bad beating during the fight. He was in bad shape and one more punch could have done him some serious damage. Steele was a very experienced referee and at the time most people thought that he was the best in his job. He took a close look on Taylor and felt that he had had enough.

The debate about the outcome will continue for years but the result stays. A rematch was made four years later but Taylor was no more the same man and Chavez stopped him easily in eight rounds. After this bout Chavez reached ninety fights without a loss before Frankie Randall was able to defeat him. Chavez retired in 2001 with an illustrious record of 104 victories, five defeats and two draws, 85 knockouts. Taylor went on to win another title but he had lost his peak forever. The last time he was seen in the ring was in 2002 when he dropped a decision against a fighter named Wayne Martell. Taylor’s final record read 38 wins, 8 losses and a draw with 20 knockouts. Today Taylor seems to suffer from medical problems that were mostly due to this memorable, outstanding war that will remain in our memories forever.

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