Julio Cesar Chavez vs David Kamau

Mexico’s Julio Cesar Chavez retained the WBC super-lightweight championship by a unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten David Kamau at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on September 16, 1995. The verdict was wider than the contest appeared from ringside. Carol Castellano scored it 117–110, Anek Hongtongkam 116–112 and Larry O’Connell 116–114, while more than one unofficial card had the twelve rounds level. A strongly pro-Chavez crowd of approximately 4,500 welcomed the decision, but the champion had been required to work hard to secure it.

Chavez, aged 33 and listed at the time with 95 victories, one defeat and one draw, was making the fourth defence of the title in his second reign. He had regained the championship from Frankie Randall in May 1994 and since defeated Tony Lopez, Joey Gamache and Giovanni Parisi. Kamau, a Kenyan based in Los Angeles, entered with 26 victories from as many contests, 20 inside the distance. At 5ft 11in, he stood several inches taller than Chavez and possessed the reach and mobility to trouble a champion who had already completed nearly 100 professional contests. Both men weighed 140 pounds. Chavez was paid a reported $1 million.

Kamau made effective use of his physical advantages from the opening bell. He moved freely, established his left jab and followed it with quick combinations whenever Chavez attempted to close the distance. Rather than retreat continuously, he frequently took the initiative, forcing Chavez to reset before mounting his customary attack. Seconds before the end of the first round, the fighters’ heads came together, and a deep cut opened above Chavez’s left eye. The champion immediately complained to referee Mills Lane, but Lane had not seen the collision and took no action. This was potentially serious, for had Chavez been unable to continue, the injury would have been treated as the result of a legal punch and Kamau would have been declared the winner.

The cut continued to bleed and plainly affected Chavez during the early rounds. He repeatedly pawed at his left eye and appeared frustrated by Kamau’s speed and reach. Kamau kept his jab in the champion’s face and beat him to the punch with straight combinations. Chavez had difficulty setting his feet and was unusually hesitant when he did manage to force the challenger towards the ropes. His punches came singly rather than in the sustained body attacks for which he was known, and Kamau generally escaped before Chavez could settle at close quarters. The challenger was not merely keeping away; for much of the first half he was the busier fighter and controlled the pace.

Chavez gradually improved as the contest reached its middle stages. He began slipping inside the jab with greater regularity and found a home for his left hook, first to the body and then to the head. Kamau continued to move and punch, but his work became less economical. He was forced to spend increasing amounts of energy maintaining distance, while Chavez remained patient and kept advancing. The official judges had the contest even through seven rounds, indicating how successfully Kamau had handled the champion during the first half.

The eighth produced the bout’s principal disputed incident. Chavez caught Kamau with a short left hook as the challenger moved away, and Kamau went down. Lane ruled a knockdown and administered a count, although Kamau rose immediately and protested that his feet had slipped as Chavez pushed him. The challenger did appear to lose his footing at the moment the punch landed, but the ruling gave Chavez a 10–8 round and materially affected the final totals. It also strengthened the champion’s position at a time when the contest remained finely balanced.

From that point Chavez exerted increasing control. Kamau’s mouth was open, and his legs had lost some of their earlier spring. He still jabbed and attempted combinations, but he could no longer move away cleanly after delivering them. Chavez pressed him towards the ropes, landed more left hooks and made the challenger work at a pace he could not sustain. The champion was not displaying the relentless form of his finest years, but his experience enabled him to recognise the change in Kamau’s condition and take advantage of it. He shortened the distance, struck more heavily and finished several of the later rounds on the attack.

Kamau nevertheless remained competitive and was never in danger of being stopped. In the twelfth round, Chavez went to the canvas during an exchange, and Lane ruled that he had slipped. Kamau maintained that a left hand had caused the fall, but replays indicated that Chavez had lost his footing without being struck cleanly. He rose at once and fought through to the final bell. By then both men bore evidence of the contest, Chavez still troubled by the wound above his left eye and each having bled from the nose during the later rounds.

The unanimous decision preserved Chavez’s championship and gave him his 96th recorded victory in 98 contests at the time. It was a defensible verdict, particularly in view of his stronger work after the halfway point, but the margins of 117–110 and 116–112 did not reflect Kamau’s success in the early rounds. The challenger’s jab, reach and speed had exposed a decline in Chavez’s ability to cut off the ring and release combinations without delay. Chavez had survived the cut, adjusted to an awkward opponent and finished more strongly, but this was a narrow and demanding defence rather than the commanding performance suggested by two of the official cards.

I’ve always thought Chavez was fortunate to come away with a unanimous decision here. David Kamau was unbeaten but largely unknown, and plenty expected Julio to walk through him. Instead, the Kenyan’s height, jab and quick feet made the great Mexican look every one of his 33 years.

The head clash at the end of the first opened a nasty cut over Chavez’s left eye, and it clearly unsettled him. But that wasn’t the whole story. Kamau was beating him to the punch, putting combinations together and getting away before Chavez could work the body. Julio could see the openings, but his feet were no longer carrying him into position quickly enough.

Chavez showed why he was a great champion by staying calm and grinding his way back into the fight. Kamau, tired, began fighting with his mouth open and allowed Julio’s left hook to become a factor. However, the eighth-round knockdown looked as much like a slip as a clean knockdown, and Kamau remained competitive to the finish.

I could accept Chavez edging it 116–114, but 117–110 was poor judging. After the Whitaker draw and the technical decision over Frankie Randall, another generous set of cards did his reputation no favours. Chavez finished stronger, but Kamau deserved better than those scores.