Ruben Olivares vs David Kotey

Mexico’s heavy-hitting Ruben Olivares lost the World Boxing Council featherweight championship to David Kotey by a split decision over 15 rounds at the Forum in Inglewood, California, on September 20, 1975. Both men weighed the division limit of 126 pounds. Olivares, making the first defence of the title he had taken from Bobby Chacon three months earlier, entered with a record of 80 victories, five defeats and one draw. Kotey, the African and Commonwealth champion from Ghana, was 30–2–2 and fighting outside Africa for the first time since a lengthy campaign in Australia three years earlier.

The crowd of 7,861 was heavily in favour of Olivares, who had enjoyed considerable popularity among the Mexican community in Southern California since his championship years at bantamweight. Although no longer as quick as he had been at 118 pounds, the 28-year-old champion remained one of boxing’s most respected punchers. Kotey, known as “D.K. Poison,” was taller, younger and physically strong for a featherweight. He came to California with less international recognition but had earned his opportunity by knocking out Tahar Ben Hassen for the African title and stopping Evan Armstrong in the 10th round to win the Commonwealth championship.

Kotey made an immediate impression. He opened at speed, caught the slow-starting champion with a right hand and then dropped him with a left hook in the first round. Olivares regained his feet and completed the session, but the knockdown established that the challenger would not be overawed by either the champion’s reputation or the partisan crowd. Kotey used his greater height and quicker hands to deliver straight right hands before moving back into position to counter with the left hook.

The fighting remained hard through the following rounds. Olivares tried to reduce the distance and turn the contest into the kind of close exchange where his hooks to the head and body carried the most effect. Kotey did not retreat continuously. He stood with the champion when necessary, then stepped away before Olivares could sustain his attack. The Ghanaian’s speed enabled him to land first in many exchanges, while his strength allowed him to hold his ground when Olivares reached punching range.

Kotey did much of the cleaner work during the first half of the contest, but Olivares gradually increased his pressure. The champion’s experience was apparent as he worked his way back into a fight which had begun badly. Kotey’s movement became less frequent as the rounds passed and there were longer spells at close quarters, where Olivares could use his shorter punches. Neither man scored another knockdown, and there were no point deductions. The contest remained sufficiently close for individual rounds to depend upon whether the officials preferred Kotey’s sharper counters or Olivares’s aggression and body punching.

A clash of heads in the 12th round opened a cut over Olivares’s left eye. The injury did not cause a stoppage, and the champion continued to press through the closing rounds. Olivares later maintained that he had taken control and won nine rounds, including the final two. Kotey believed that his early lead and more accurate boxing had carried him safely through. Opinion at ringside was divided: one prominent newspaper card favoured Olivares, while the Associated Press and United Press International had Kotey in front.

Referee Rudy Jordan scored the fight 145–144 for Olivares. Judge Chuck Hassett returned a card of 144–143 for Kotey, and judge Dick Young also favoured the challenger, 143–142. Kotey therefore took the championship by the narrowest of split decisions and became Ghana’s first professional world boxing champion. The verdict was defensible, particularly in view of his first-round knockdown and strong work through the early and middle rounds, but it was received badly by much of the pro-Olivares crowd.

Before the decision could be formally announced in the ring, spectators began throwing bottles and chairs, and several hundred people surged towards the ring. Kotey and his party required protection amid the disorder, while two members of his team, Francis Clottey and Chickie Ferrera, were injured. The result was eventually shown on the Forum’s overhead scoreboard approximately half an hour later. What should have been Kotey’s public moment of triumph was lost in the disturbance, but the decision stood. Olivares had lost a world featherweight title in his first defence for the second time, while Kotey returned to Ghana as the country’s first world champion.

Ruben Olivares was one of the greatest bantamweights ever, but by 1975 he was fighting at featherweight and no longer had the same speed. The power remained, as Bobby Chacon discovered when Olivares stopped him inside two rounds to win the WBC title, but David Kotey presented a different problem. He was taller, younger, physically strong and far better than the largely unknown African challenger many expected Olivares to dismiss.

Kotey got his tactics right immediately. He used his reach, punched quickly and dropped Olivares with a left hook in the opening round. After that, he didn’t simply run. He stood his ground when necessary, then stepped back and caught Olivares coming forward. The champion applied increasing pressure and finished strongly, but too much of his work was based on reputation and aggression rather than clean scoring punches.

I thought Kotey deserved the decision. It was close, but the knockdown and his sharper work across the early and middle rounds gave him the edge. The split scores reflected the competitive nature of the fight, not a robbery. What followed was disgraceful. The pro-Olivares crowd rioted, bottles and chairs were thrown, and members of Kotey’s corner were injured. Kotey had travelled into hostile territory, beaten a great champion fairly and become Ghana’s first world champion. He deserved to have the verdict announced in the ring, not flashed on a scoreboard after the crowd had lost control.