Gianfranco Rosi vs Donald Curry

Donald Curry became a world champion at a second weight when he defeated Gianfranco Rosi at Portosole, San Remo, Liguria, Italy, on Friday, July 8, 1988. The bout, which was scheduled for 12 rounds, was for Rosi’s WBC super-welterweight title, with Octavio Meyran as referee. Both men weighed 153 pounds.

Rosi, the champion from Italy, entered with a record of 43-2 and was making the second defence of the title he had won from Lupe Aquino. Curry, from Fort Worth, Texas, was 29-2 and attempting to repair a career that had lost much of its old certainty after stoppage defeats by Lloyd Honeyghan and Mike McCallum. The contest was staged in an outdoor arena at the Portosole marina before a crowd of about 2,000, and the purses were reported as $300,000 for Rosi and $200,000 for Curry.

Curry began like a man who understood that the opportunity might not come again. He boxed with poise from the opening round, using quick hands and clean combinations rather than forcing the pace. Rosi, awkward and durable, tried to hold ground and work his way into the fight, but Curry’s speed troubled him from the outset. The Americans’ punches were straighter and arrived first. Rosi could not easily find the range with his own right hand, and when he moved forward, he was often met by counters before he could settle his feet.

The first clear break came in the second round. Curry landed a sharp left hook to the jaw, which dropped Rosi for an eight-count. It was the moment that gave the challenger visible confidence. Rosi rose, but he was already being made to fight at a speed that did not suit him. He later said he hurt his left hand in that round, a significant handicap against a fast boxer who was making him miss and then answering quickly. Curry, seeing that the champion was struggling to defend against punches from both sides, began to put his combinations together more freely.

Rosi tried to recover the contest by standing firm and meeting Curry’s attacks, but the fourth round again went badly for him. Curry put him down officially for a second time, and the Italian went to his knees during another confused exchange in a round in which he was increasingly unable to control the distance. Not every fall was ruled a knockdown, but the pattern was unmistakable. Curry was the quicker, cleaner fighter, and Rosi was spending too much of the fight reacting rather than leading. BoxRec records the official knockdowns as one in the second, one in the fourth, two in the seventh, and one in the eighth.

The middle rounds confirmed Curry’s superiority. He did not fight recklessly, but he no longer needed to be cautious. Rosi was strong enough to remain dangerous if allowed to set himself, yet Curry’s movement and two-fisted attack repeatedly kept him off balance. The Italian champion continued to come forward in patches, but he was being beaten to the punch and made to pay when he paused in front of the challenger. By the end of the sixth round, Curry was well ahead, and Rosi’s face was showing the effects of the punishment.

The seventh was the most damaging round of the fight. Curry dropped Rosi twice and widened the gap beyond practical recovery. Rosi was still brave and still trying to answer, but his resistance was now largely physical rather than tactical. He could absorb punishment and rise from the floor, but he could not alter the terms of the contest. Curry’s hands were fast, his selection was accurate, and the confidence that had once made him the outstanding welterweight in the world was again visible, even if only for this night.

Rosi was floored again in the eighth round and, by then, was bleeding from a cut near his left eye. Curry also had a cut under his left eye, but he was not being driven back or made uncomfortable in any sustained way. The champion’s condition worsened through the ninth. He was battered, wobbly, and no longer able to bring Curry under control. At the end of the round, with the American well ahead on all three scorecards, Rosi remained in his corner and did not answer the bell for the tenth. The official result was a retirement at 3:00 of the ninth round. The scorecards at the time were 88-83, 88-80 and 87-81 for Curry.

Curry’s handlers lifted him on their shoulders after the finish, and the new champion spoke immediately of a possible large defence against Sugar Ray Leonard. He said he had trained hard for five months and that Rosi had never hurt him, though he had felt the Italian’s strength. For Rosi, it was a heavy defeat, but not the end of his standing in the division. He would later win the IBF light-middleweight title and remain a factor for years. For Curry, San Remo was a sharp and impressive revival, though brief. He had looked, for nine rounds, like the fast, accurate fighter who had once ruled at welterweight, and on that night Rosi had no answer for him.