Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Jesus Chavez

More than 900 punches were not enough to carry the challenger into the tenth round. Jesus Chavez maintained an almost continuous attack against Floyd Mayweather Jr., but the champion’s defence and accurate counters gradually reduced its effect. After nine rounds at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on November 10, 2001, trainer Ronnie Shields withdrew Chavez rather than allow him to take further punishment. Mayweather retained his WBC super featherweight championship for the eighth time. Chavez had remained on his feet throughout, but the uppercuts and combinations he absorbed in the closing rounds persuaded his corner that he should not continue.

The Top Rank promotion brought major championship boxing back to San Francisco after an absence stretching to Dick Tiger’s victory over Gene Fullmer in 1962. A capacity crowd of approximately 7,100 attended, with substantial support for the challenger. Mayweather, aged 24, entered unbeaten in 26 contests, while the 28-year-old Chavez had won 35 and lost once. The champion’s previous defence had been a points victory over Carlos Hernandez despite injuries to his hands. Chavez, the WBC’s leading contender, had waited through prolonged immigration difficulties for his opportunity. This meeting had originally been arranged for October in Las Vegas, but dental surgery for Mayweather caused a postponement. The subsequent loss of the original venue brought the contest to California.

Chavez advanced immediately, following Mayweather around the ring and attempting to establish himself at close quarters. The champion used his jab and movement, answering an early right hand with a sharp combination. A late burst of clean punches secured the opening round on all three official cards. Chavez had greater success in the second. He forced Mayweather to the ropes, landed a hard left to the head and continued punching when the champion replied. Mayweather’s individual counters were crisp, but he spent considerable time defending, and two judges preferred the challenger’s work.

Much of the contest developed around Mayweather’s willingness to defend while standing close enough for Chavez to keep throwing. With his right glove beside his cheek, his left arm protecting his body and his chin sheltered behind his shoulder, the champion blocked or deflected repeated attacks. Chavez sometimes worked past the elbows to the body or caught Mayweather with a hook, but many of his punches struck the guard. Mayweather answered in shorter, more accurate bursts, using straight rights, hooks and uppercuts to interrupt the challenger’s forward movement. His uppercuts were effective to the chest as well as the head. Chavez continued pressing, making the champion work even when his own attacks produced little clean contact.

The middle rounds gave Chavez some reward for that persistence. Mayweather spent much of the fifth defending on the ropes, and Tom Kaczmarek awarded the round to the challenger. All three judges gave Chavez the sixth, despite Mayweather making greater use of movement. The pressure nevertheless carried an increasing cost. Mayweather was finding openings for uppercuts, while Chavez was beginning to tire. An early right hand in the seventh briefly checked the champion, but he recovered promptly and continued countering. Chavez still advanced, though his attacks were becoming less forceful.

Chavez landed a strong left hook early in the eighth, but Mayweather answered with repeated right uppercuts and combinations. The challenger endured the attack and replied with another hook. In the ninth, his continued advance exposed him to further clean counters. Mayweather followed an uppercut with punches from both hands, leaving Chavez unsteady and trying to cover or hold. The challenger survived and was still pressing towards the ropes before the bell, but his ability to withstand punishment was now doing more for him than his defence.

During the interval, Shields told Chavez, “You’re getting hit too much now.” The challenger remained on his stool, ending the contest after three minutes of the ninth round. Referee Jon Schorle had not counted a knockdown, and the decision to stop came from the corner. Some spectators booed, but Shields explained that the accumulating punishment, particularly from uppercuts, had determined his action. Mayweather led on every official card: Lou Filippo scored 89 to 82, Marty Sammon 88 to 83 and Tom Kaczmarek 87 to 84. HBO’s unofficial scorer Harold Lederman had a much narrower margin, 86 to 85 for the champion.

The punch figures illustrated the distinction between Chavez’s activity and Mayweather’s effectiveness. Chavez threw 925 punches and landed 182, while Mayweather connected with 197 of 456. The champion landed 163 of his 317 power punches, a success rate of 51 per cent. His record improved to 27 victories without defeat, including 20 stoppages; Chavez’s became 35 victories and two losses. Afterwards, Mayweather confirmed his intention to leave the division, explaining that making 130 pounds had become too difficult. He had completed his final super featherweight defence by allowing an industrious challenger few sustained successes, then increasing his own attack as the openings grew.

I thought this was a better demonstration of Mayweather’s craft than some of his easier wins. He’d already dismantled Diego Corrales, but Chavez brought the sort of engine and persistence that make a champion earn his money. You can understand why the crowd took to him. He kept coming, even when the cleaner punches were travelling the other way.

What impressed me was Floyd’s composure against that pressure. He let Chavez work against his shoulders and elbows, then found room for the right uppercut. That takes judgement and nerve. He wasn’t untouchable, and sometimes he surrendered too much initiative, but he made Chavez pay increasingly heavily for getting close.

Chavez threw 925 punches, yet Mayweather landed more while throwing fewer than half as many. That tells you why effort alone wasn’t enough. By the ninth, the uppercuts and combinations were doing proper damage. I thought Ronnie Shields was absolutely right to stop it between rounds. A brave fighter doesn’t need to be knocked flat before his corner protects him.