Toney Sends Holyfield
to Canvas in 9th Round, Casamayor Wins Slugfest
Photo: Tom Casino
The Holyfield-Toney and Casamayor-Corrales
bouts will be shown in their entirety on SHOWTIME Saturday,
Oct. 11, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
04.10 - IBF Cruiserweight champion James "Lights
Out" Toney sent legendary four-time heavyweight
champion Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield
to the canvas in the ninth round and his corner decided
to stop the bout on SHOWTIME Pay Per View. In other
scheduled 12-round bouts on the telecast, Joel Casamayor
scored a minor upset in a six-round slugfest stopped
at the recommendation of the ringside physician over
Diego "Chico" Corrales and World Boxing Organization
(WBO) champion Cruz Carbajal retained his title with
an eighth round knockout of challenger Gerardo Espinoza.
The tripleheader, which took place at the Mandalay Bay
Events Center, was promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions.
Toney (67-4-2, 43 KOs), of Los Angeles, by way of Grand
Rapids, Mich., proved that he could handle a heavyweight
as he kept hitting the former champion at will before
Holyfield's trainer Don Turner had seen enough and told
referee Jay Nady of Las Vegas to stop the bout following
the knockdown at 1:22 of the ninth round. The IBF cruiserweight
title Toney won with a 12-round decision over Vassiliy
Jirov on April 26, 2003, was not at stake. That victory
represented the 34-year-old Toney's first world title
triumph in nearly nine years after holding world titles
at 160 pounds and 168 pounds.
Holyfield (38-7-2, 25 KOs), of Atlanta, had trouble
from the get go against Toney in suffering his second
straight setback. The only heavyweight in history to
win a world title on four separate occasions, Holyfield
was knocked down in the ninth round after Toney kept
pounding away. Holyfield, who turns 41 on Oct. 19, became
only the second man following Muhammad Ali to capture
the heavyweight crown three times when he stopped Mike
Tyson in the 11th round on Nov. 9, 1996.
Known worldwide for his warrior spirit and superior
boxing skills, Holyfield is one of the most popular
and respected athletes of his era, and has battled every
premiere heavyweight including Tyson, Lennox Lewis,
Riddick Bowe, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Michael
Moorer, Ray Mercer, Hasim Rahman and Chris Byrd.
Casamayor (30-1, 19 KOs), of Miami, by way of Guantanamo,
Cuba, won the IBF elimination bout after hitting Corrales
with a shot to the jaw that split his lip and eventually
forced ringside physician Margaret Goodman to stop the
bout after six action packed and hard hitting rounds
by both fighters. One of the most prolific amateur boxers
in history, Casamayor captured the WBA interim 130-pound
title with a 12-round decision over Antonio Hernandez
on June 19, 1999. After successfully defending the interim
crown in November 1999, the 1992 Olympic gold medallist
captured the WBA world title with a fifth-round TKO
over Jongkwon Baek on May 21, 2000. Casamayor made four
successful defenses before suffering his only defeat
on a disputed 12-round unanimous decision to undefeated
WBO 130-pound kingpin Acelino Freitas on SHOWTIME Jan.
12, 2002. Since the defeat, the current WBA No. 1 130-pound
contender has gone 3-0, including a 10-round unanimous
decision over Nate Campbell on Jan. 25, 2003, from Temecula,
Calif.
Corrales (37-2, 31 KOs), of Sacramento, Calif., was
upset the bout was stopped and begged physician Goodman
to let the bout continue for one more round. Corrales
captured the IBF belt on Oct. 23, 1999, with a seventh-round
TKO over Robert Garcia. After successfully defending
his crown three times, Corrales lost a battle of unbeatens
when World Boxing Council (WBC) titleholder Floyd Mayweather
defeated him in Las Vegas on Jan. 20, 2001. Corrales
entered the grudge match in less than stellar condition
and wound up suffering a 10th-round TKO. Since returning
to the ring following a well-documented, two-year hiatus
due to personal, managerial and promotional problems,
he has gone 4-0 with four knockouts in 2003. In his
most recent outing, the World Boxing Association (WBA)
No. 4 130-pound contender knocked out Damian Fuller
out in the third round on June 20 in Carson, Calif.
Carbajal (24-11-1, 20 KOs), of Veracruz, Mexico, retained
his title as he sent challenger Gerardo Espinoza to
the canvas at 1:07 of the eighth round. Carbajal hit
Espinoza with several shots to the head and the body
before referee Robert Byrd of Las Vegas called a halt
to the action. He won the WBO title with an upset ninth-round
TKO over Mauricio Martinez on March 15, 2002, in Veracruz.
In his lone defense the following Sept. 27, he registered
a shockingly easy fourth-round TKO over former world
champion Danny Romero in Isleta, New Mexico. Carbajal
has been a streak hitter since turning pro. He won his
first seven starts by knockout and was unbeaten (12-0-1)
after 13 outings. But from September 1995 to February
1998, he went just 2-8. Carbajal has won his last five
fights, however, including a brutal second-round TKO
over Steve Dotse on April 12, 2003, in Las Vegas.
Espinoza (27-5, 25 KOs), of Tijuana, Mexico, dropped
down a notch in weight to challenge Carbajal for the
world title. The current No. 7 WBO 122-pound contender,
Espinoza won the NABO 122-pound crown with a fourth-round
TKO over Manuel Ibanez in March 24, 2003 in Tijuana.
The tough, hard-punching youngster registered a third-round
TKO over Cristobal Valle to capture the NABO 118-pound
belt on March 5, 2001. In his last start, Espinoza scored
a third-round TKO over Cristobal Valle on Aug. 18 in
Tijuana.
SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING's Steve Albert and Al
Bernstein called Saturday's action from ringside with
Jim Gray serving as roving reporter. Nick Charles and
Steve Farhood, who call the fights on SHOWTIME'S popular
"SHOBOX: The New Generation" boxing series,
served as hosts for the event. The executive producer
of the SHOWTIME Pay Per View telecast was Jay Larkin,
with David Dinkins Jr. producing and Bob Dunphy directing.
Holyfield-Toney was produced and distributed by SHOWTIME
Pay Per View.
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