Carlos Palomino vs Everaldo Costa Azevedo

Carlos Palomino retained the WBC and recognised world welterweight championship with a unanimous 15-round decision over Everaldo Costa Azevedo at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, although the wide official margins did not reflect the considerable difficulty the challenger caused him. Referee Dick Young scored the contest 145–140, while judges John Thomas and Vince Delgado returned totals of 147–140 and 147–139 respectively. There were no knockdowns. Palomino weighed the welterweight limit of 147lb and Azevedo 145½lb.

It was Palomino’s third successful defence since taking the championship from John H. Stracey in London. He had subsequently stopped Armando Muniz in the 15th round of a demanding contest and knocked out Dave “Boy” Green in the 11th at Wembley. Those performances had established him as a patient, powerful champion whose body punching became increasingly damaging as a fight progressed. Azevedo, aged 33, represented an entirely different problem. The Brazilian-born challenger had travelled extensively through South America and Europe, challenged Bruno Arcari for the world light-welterweight title and accumulated more than 100 professional contests. His record contained an extraordinary number of draws, but also victories over capable European and South American opposition.

Azevedo immediately set about preventing Palomino from fighting the way he preferred. He used the jab, moved laterally and stepped inside to clinch whenever the champion threatened to establish sustained pressure. Palomino advanced behind a high guard and attempted to work the body, but Azevedo repeatedly interrupted him before moving away or tying up both arms. The tactics drew little enthusiasm from the crowd, yet they were effective in denying Palomino clean punching opportunities.

The challenger’s early work amounted to considerably more than survival. He controlled the distance, scored with quick punches as Palomino came forward and then prevented a reply by closing the space. Television commentators Chico Vejar and Gil Clancy did not award Palomino a round during the first ten, a view sharply at odds with the cards the officials eventually produced. Azevedo was not hurting the champion, but he was making him miss, landing first and governing the pace of the contest.

Palomino remained patient, although his frustration became increasingly apparent. He attempted to shorten his punches and attacked the ribs whenever Azevedo remained close enough, but too many exchanges ended with the challenger wrapping his arms around him. Young repeatedly separated the fighters and later warned Azevedo twice for holding. No point was deducted, and the Brazilian continued using the clinch whenever Palomino threatened to build momentum.

The direction changed after the tenth round. Azevedo’s legs had slowed sufficiently for Palomino to close the distance with greater regularity, and the champion finally began putting combinations together. His left hook to the body became the most effective punch of the contest. He drove Azevedo towards the ropes, worked beneath the elbows and followed upstairs before the challenger could secure another hold. Palomino swept the closing rounds in the view of most observers, although the question was whether his late superiority could compensate for everything that had happened earlier.

Azevedo remained resourceful and durable. He absorbed the body punches, clinched when necessary and reached the final bell without being knocked down or appearing close to a stoppage. The crowd jeered much of his holding, but he had succeeded for long periods in making a noted pressure fighter operate at an uncomfortable distance. Palomino finished as the stronger man and plainly produced his best work over the final five rounds, yet the challenger’s command of the opening two-thirds left ample room for disagreement over the verdict.

The official announcement gave Palomino a clear victory on all three cards. Young had him five points ahead, Thomas seven and Delgado eight. Those totals were difficult to reconcile with the ringside commentary, whose scorers believed Azevedo had built a substantial lead before Palomino began his recovery in the 11th. Contemporary wire reports described an easy points victory and emphasised Azevedo’s holding, but other observers regarded the decision as controversial. His harder punching and decisive finish could support a verdict for Palomino; the width of the scoring was much harder to defend.

Palomino reportedly received $100,000, while Azevedo earned $12,500. The champion was dissatisfied that his first appearance before a national American television audience had produced such an awkward and frequently untidy contest. He blamed Azevedo’s reluctance to exchange, although the challenger had done precisely what an experienced boxer was entitled to do against a superior body puncher. Standing in front of Palomino had proved ruinous for Stracey, Muniz and Green; Azevedo had no obligation to repeat their mistake.

The defence extended Palomino’s unbeaten run and demonstrated that he could remain disciplined when denied the forceful contest he favoured. It also left a result which looked far more conclusive in the record book than it had inside the ring. Palomino retained his championship because the officials rewarded his pressure, heavier blows and strong finish. Azevedo departed without the title, but his control of the early rounds and the dissent expressed by the television commentators ensured that the decision would remain open to argument.

After beating John H. Stracey and Dave “Boy” Green at Wembley, Palomino had become a familiar name in Britain. He was exciting because he could box his way into range, then dismantle opponents with those short, educated body punches. This fight showed what happened when somebody refused to cooperate.

Azevedo was awkward, experienced and completely unapologetic. He jabbed, moved and grabbed whenever Palomino reached the inside. It was ugly at times, but calling it survival does him a disservice. He controlled the early rounds, made Palomino reset continually and landed the cleaner punches. Gil Clancy and Chico Vejar did not give the champion a round until the 11th, which tells its own story.

Palomino finally got his feet close enough to work downstairs and swept the last five rounds. His strength and conditioning were taking over, but for me the recovery came too late. I had Azevedo nicking the fight.

The official scores of 145–140, 147–140 and 147–139 for Palomino were nonsense. You could argue a close decision for the champion if you heavily favoured his late body attack, but not those margins. This was not Palomino’s usual box-punching display because Azevedo never allowed him the range or rhythm to produce one.