Hector Camacho vs Cornelius Boza Edwards

Two-division titelist Hector Camacho retained the WBC lightweight championship with a unanimous 12-round decision over Cornelius Boza Edwards at Abel Holtz Stadium in Miami Beach, Florida, on September 26, 1986. Both men weighed 135lb. Camacho, unbeaten in 30 professional contests, was making the second defence of the title he had won from Jose Luis Ramirez the previous year, while Boza Edwards, a former WBC super-featherweight champion, entered with a record of 44-5-1. Approximately 5,000 spectators attended the outdoor programme, which was televised by HBO and also featured Livingstone Bramble’s WBA lightweight title defence against Edwin Rosario.

Camacho made the strongest possible beginning. Less than a minute into the opening round, he caught Boza Edwards with a left hook which sent the challenger down onto the seat of his trunks. Boza Edwards rose after the count and attempted to force Camacho into exchanges, but the knockdown immediately established the champion’s advantage in hand speed and timing. Camacho was willing to stand his ground briefly while Boza Edwards was still recovering, but he soon reverted to his mobile style, which governed most of the remaining contest.

From the second round onward, Camacho relied heavily upon the jab, lateral movement and quick combinations before moving out of range. Boza Edwards, a southpaw accustomed to hard fights at close quarters, tried to shorten the ring and draw the champion into prolonged exchanges. He had little success. Camacho was usually gone before the challenger could set his feet, and whenever Boza Edwards did close the distance, the champion was prepared to clinch rather than remain in the pocket. The method was effective, if not universally appreciated. Sections of the crowd began booing as Boza Edwards repeatedly pursued a target which refused to remain stationary.

The challenger’s best opportunities came when Camacho allowed himself to be caught near the ropes. Boza Edwards could then work to the body and force short exchanges, but these periods were too infrequent to alter the overall pattern. Camacho’s feet carried him away from danger, and his jab continually interrupted Boza Edwards before the Ugandan could establish sustained pressure. The champion was content to score, move and reset rather than take unnecessary chances after the first-round success.

Boza Edwards continued advancing through the middle rounds and did enough to take occasional sessions on two of the official cards. Vince Delgado gave him the seventh and ninth rounds, while Carlos Rafael Cartaya favoured him in the second, sixth, seventh, tenth and twelfth. Arsenio Garcia, however, saw no round for the challenger and even scored the eleventh level. The wide variation between the cards reflected the contrast between Camacho’s cleaner, more obvious scoring blows and Boza Edwards’ steady aggression.

Camacho remained disciplined through the later rounds. He showed little interest in trying to repeat the first-round knockdown and instead concentrated on maintaining separation. By then Boza Edwards was visibly frustrated, and the crowd had become increasingly impatient with the lack of sustained exchanges. Contemporary accounts described the challenger missing badly at times as Camacho slipped away before his wider punches arrived. Boza Edwards later criticised what he regarded as an excessively defensive performance, while his trainer Mickey Duff complained that the champion’s holding should have drawn firmer action from referee Carlos Padilla.

There was no doubt about the verdict, even though the margins differed sharply. Garcia scored the contest 120-108 for Camacho, Delgado had it 118-109 and Cartaya 115-112. The knockdown in the opening round provided Camacho with an immediate advantage, and he protected it intelligently thereafter. Boza Edwards pressed throughout and never stopped trying to create a more physical contest, but he could not consistently catch a faster opponent who refused to remain at punching range for long enough to be drawn into one.

The result retained Camacho’s championship but also marked a change in the direction of his career. Three months earlier he had survived a difficult split-decision defence against Edwin Rosario, a fight in which Rosario’s power had clearly affected him. Against Boza Edwards, Camacho placed far greater emphasis on movement, defence and preservation. It also proved to be his final contest at lightweight. He announced afterwards that making the 135lb limit had become too difficult and that he intended to move up to junior welterweight. On the same night, Rosario had dramatically knocked out Bramble in two rounds, destroying plans for an anticipated Camacho-Bramble unification match and altering the shape of the lightweight division.

You can totally understand why the crowd got frustrated, but you also have to appreciate what Camacho was doing. After dropping Boza Edwards in the first round, he knew exactly what sort of fight he wanted. Boza wanted pressure, exchanges and a physical contest. Camacho gave him none of it. He jabbed, moved, tied him up when he had to and made Boza miss rather than take chances.

I’ve always thought the Rosario fight changed Camacho. Rosario hurt him badly, and after that Hector became much more cautious. You can see it here. He had the speed to stand and trade with Boza if he wanted, but he wasn’t interested. He’d score, get out and reset. From a purist’s point of view, that’s good boxing. From a paying fan’s point of view, I can see why the boos started.

Boza Edwards deserves credit because he kept trying to force the fight. He was tough, experienced and had been in enough hard fights not to be discouraged by one early knockdown. But he was chasing shadows for too much of the night.

For me, Camacho won clearly. It wasn’t exciting, and I wouldn’t pretend otherwise, but it was intelligent. He took away Boza’s strengths and made the fight happen on his terms.

Sometimes boxing is about giving the crowd what they want. Sometimes it’s about making sure the other guy doesn’t get what he wants. Camacho did the second one very well.