Saturday, November 29, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

ROYCE FOEUR: Boza-Edwards' '83 classic with Chacon still amazes

Most fans wouldn't recognize him walking around the arena at a fight card, but Cornelius Boza-Edwards fought in one of the best action bouts in boxing history.

The Las Vegan lost a 12-round unanimous decision to Bobby Chacon, then the WBC super featherweight champion, on May 15, 1983, in a thrill-packed fight at Caesars Palace. Deservedly, it was selected "Fight of the Year" by Ring Magazine.

Boza-Edwards, 47, is a quiet, unassuming man who now trains fighters, but before his 1997 retirement, he was a warrior.

He had beaten Chacon in 1981 when Chacon did not come out for the 14th round at the Showboat in another terrific fight, though not of the magnitude as the rematch.

In their first fight, Boza-Edwards was the WBC 130-pound champion, having won the title in his previous fight with a 15-round decision over Rafael (Bazooka) Limon. After Boza-Edwards beat Chacon, he then lost his title when he was stopped in the fifth round by Rolando Navarrete in 1981.

In 1982 Navarrete lost the title to Limon, who lost it to Chacon in a 15-round decision the same year.

In the Caesars rematch between Boza-Edwards and 2-1 underdog Chacon, the latter was bleeding from cuts over both eyes. Ringside physician Flip Homansky went to Chacon's corner every round from the sixth to the 11th, and referee Richard Steele halted the fight during the seventh and eighth rounds to have Chacon examined.

"The more I pounded on him, I thought sooner or later the doctor would say, `That is it,' " said Boza-Edwards, who had a 34-7-1 record in his 11-year pro career. "I could see he was bleeding all over the place, but yet he was fighting back no matter how much I pounded.

"Bobby had so much guts. My trunks were white to begin with and were all red by the end of the fight."

The bout remains vivid in Homansky's memory.

"It was a fight between two warriors," he said. "When each of them saw their own blood, they tended to fight harder, and I knew that.

"There was a period in the middle rounds where Chacon was taking a lot of punishment but was still alert and very together in the corner. He wanted to continue and came back and won the fight.

"It was a brutal fight, but it brought out the best in both fighters. It was the kind of fight you had to be careful and not let go too far. By checking them, the fight was able to continue to its natural conclusion."

Boza-Edwards went down three times in the bout, though the first time appeared to be a slip. But Chacon scored legitimate knockdowns in the second and 12th rounds.

Boza-Edwards kept constant pressure on Chacon, who came on strong in the second half.

The result was a unanimous decision for Chacon, judged by three familiar names from Las Vegas: Duane Ford, who had it 115-113; Lou Tabat, 115-112; and Dave Moretti, 117-111.

"Both fighters were taking a lot of punishment," Steele recalls. "The reason why I let it go is neither one of them was hurt more than the other. They were both hurt, both bleeding and both taking damaging punches. But they were both fighting hard, and they were in great condition to take so much punishment.

"It was the type of fight the fans loved. If they could have gotten a draw out of it, the fans would have loved that. It was just a great fight."

Twenty years later, its luster hasn't dimmed.

Royce Feour's boxing column is published Saturday. He can be reached by phone at 383-0354, fax at 383-4676 or e-mail at rfeour@reviewjournal.com.