Lloyd Honeyghan vs Jorge Vaca

An accidental clash of heads cost the champion a point and, with it, his title. The deduction proved decisive when Jorge Vaca took a split technical decision over Lloyd Honeyghan at the Grand Hall, Wembley, on 28 October 1987. A severe cut over Vaca’s right eye ended the contest in the eighth round, leaving the result to the scoring of the seven completed rounds. Without the penalty, Honeyghan would have retained his WBC welterweight championship on a draw.

Honeyghan entered unbeaten in 31 professional contests and was making his fourth defence. Thirteen months earlier he had defeated Donald Curry, subsequently beating Johnny Bumphus, Maurice Blocker and Gene Hatcher. Vaca, ranked fourth by the WBC, replaced the originally proposed challenger, Bobby Joe Young. The championship arrangements were already complicated: the British Boxing Board of Control would not approve a fifteen-round contest, while the IBF still required that distance. The fight was therefore scheduled for twelve rounds with only the WBC title at stake. It took place during the organisation’s annual convention in London.

The expected comfortable defence failed to develop. Honeyghan lacked his usual precision, throwing broad punches which frequently missed, while Vaca maintained a steadier approach and answered firmly. In the third round, a left hook hurt the champion. Honeyghan moved his head and upper body in an effort to recover, but Vaca caught him again before the round ended. The challenger had established that he could withstand Honeyghan’s attack and deliver damaging punches of his own.

Vaca’s pace diminished during the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds, allowing Honeyghan’s persistent efforts to keep the scoring close. The champion repeatedly changed to a southpaw stance, an adjustment he later attributed to pain in his right hand. Nevertheless, Vaca resumed his attack strongly in the seventh. He hurt Honeyghan with a left hook and followed with punches against the ropes before the bell ended the round. Honeyghan returned to his corner with swelling beneath his right eye and blood around his nose.

The finish came midway through the eighth. As Honeyghan ducked and attempted to punch underneath Vaca’s jab, their heads collided. A deep wound opened above the Mexican’s right eye, bleeding sufficiently to require an immediate examination. Ringside doctor Gerry Carp ruled that Vaca could not continue, and referee Henry Elespuru stopped the contest. The collision was accidental, but the WBC’s recently introduced rule required a point to be deducted from the boxer who had escaped injury. Honeyghan therefore lost a point despite the absence of an intentional foul.

The officials scored only the first seven rounds. Chuck Hassett gave Vaca the decision by 67 points to 65, and Bob Logist also favoured the challenger, 67 to 66. Malcolm Bulner scored 67 to 65 for Honeyghan. The narrowness of Logist’s card made the penalty critical: restoring Honeyghan’s point would have produced an even card and an overall draw. Instead, Vaca became champion by split technical decision, and Honeyghan suffered his first professional defeat. His record became 31 wins and one loss, while Vaca’s stood at 43 wins, five defeats and one draw.

Honeyghan accepted the verdict publicly, although he believed he had been improving when the contest ended. “I think he won it,” he said, explaining that using his right hand repeatedly caused pain and had prompted his changes of stance. Mickey Duff objected to the deduction for an accidental collision rather than to the procedure of consulting the cards. Vaca, whose eyebrow required sixteen stitches, was also dissatisfied with the manner of his victory. “There are better ways to win,” he said.

The result ended Honeyghan’s WBC reign and was followed by the IBF declaring its championship vacant, having refused to sanction the contest. Vaca had troubled the champion before the injury and was entitled to credit for his performance, but the precise outcome rested on the application of the accidental foul rule. Honeyghan subsequently regained the WBC title by knocking out Vaca in the third round of their return contest on 29 March 1988.

I reckon the argument over the finish has allowed Honeyghan’s performance to escape too much scrutiny. Beating Curry, Bumphus, Blocker and Hatcher had made him a major attraction, but against Vaca, his aggression lacked accuracy. He was swinging wide, struggling with his right hand and changing stance without finding a convincing answer. Vaca kept his work steady and hurt him with left hooks, particularly late in the seventh. The Mexican earned respect that night.

What I can’t defend is taking a point from Honeyghan because he escaped an accidental head clash without a cut. Vaca’s injury required the stoppage, fair enough, but that deduction turned a technical draw into a title defeat. Neither man deliberately caused the collision. That’s a poor rule deciding a close fight.

My view is simple: Honeyghan boxed poorly, Vaca deserved credit, and the championship should have stayed with Lloyd on a draw. Calling Vaca a fraud would be unfair. Pretending Honeyghan looked anything like the fighter who dismantled Curry would be equally daft.