Boxing might not be all the way back for a while but the sport showed signs of life and a reminder that good fights are as much about matchmaking as they are the names in the ring.
As covered by BoxingScene’s Jake Donovan, the fights aired from Nicaragua on ESPN Deportes on Saturday night were largely competitive and often exciting. ShoBox was able to get in an empty arena show before lockdowns spread. Saturday, we had a show complete with face masks in the audience, during ring walks, and for a superstar ringside interview with the great Roman Gonzalez.
It’s only a matter of time until bigger names follow suit in some fashion. This series will continue its jaunts down memory lane until they do, with strong encouragement to all fans to support the warriors who do enter the ring in the meantime. Today’s jaunt takes us to the flyweight division and one of the better sprint fights one could ever see.
Not all classics attain their status because of how long both warriors endured. ESPN’s recent re-airing of Hagler-Hearns is all the reminder one needs of that. The end of one of the greatest of decades for the lightest of boxing’s ‘original eight’ weight classes made room for less than six minutes of adrenaline that stands the test of time.
Guty Espadas, father of future featherweight titlist Guty Espadas Jr., was a regularly exciting piece of the title picture in the second half of the decade. While divisional legend Miguel Canto continued his record-setting reign with the WBC honors, Espadas defended the title he won in 1976 from undefeated Alfonso Lopez four times, all of them by stoppage. A majority decision loss on the road in Venezuela to Betulio Gonzalez in 1978, who has been long overlooked for International Boxing Hall of Fame honors, was no shame. Espadas followed the defeat to Gonzalez with three straight knockout wins to earn a crack at the WBC crown.
By then, the WBC crown had changed hands. It was a sizable upset when, just days shy of his 22nd birthday, 1976 Olympian Chan-Hee Park, still only 9-0-1 as a professional, put on a beautiful display in a decision over Canto. Park halted the Mexican champion’s attempt at a fifteenth consecutive defense in March 1979. Park made two defenses, including a fifteen round draw in the Canto rematch, before accepting the challenge of Espadas.
Heading Into the Fight
Chan-Hee Park
Age: 22
Titles: Lineal World/WBC flyweight (1979, 2 Defenses)
Previous Titles: None
Height: 5’3 ½
Weight: 111 ¼ lbs.
Stance: Orthodox
Hailed from: Busan, South Korea
Record: 11-0-2, 5 KO
Record in Title Fights: 2-0-1
Previous Five Opponents: 142-29-18 (.799)
Vs.
Guty Espadas
Age: 24
Titles: None
Previous Titles: WBA flyweight (1976-78, 4 Defenses)
Height: 5’0
Weight: 110 lb.
Stance: Orthodox
Hailed from: Merida, Yucatán, Mexico Mexico
Record: 33-3-5 (24 KO)
Ring Magazine Ranking: #5 (Cover Date: February 1980)
Record in Major Title Fights: 5-1, 5 KO
Last Five Opponents: 111-26-11 (.787)
Venue: Kudok Gymnasium - Busan, South Korea
Referee: Rudy Ortega
Recapping the Action
Round One
Park starts out at the bell snapping a frenetic jab while a poised Espadas stalks forward, missing a single right and then left. Park lands a right but seconds later is on the seat of his trunks courtesy of a left from Espadas. Park pops right up as Ortega gives the mandatory eight count. Park steps right in with a combo and both men begin to exchange. Park sticks the left, circling as Espada targets the body in hopes of setting up another big shot upstairs. Park and Espada land big shots almost simultaneously, Park landing harder to elicit a roar from the crowd. Another brief exchange ends with a heavy right hand from Park and Espada is down to a knee.
It is the former WBA titlist’s turn to hear out the mandatory eight. Like Park, Espada responds to the knockdown by stepping right back into the fire. Park gets home some more stiff rights only to be driven back by an Espadas left. Park clinches, steps out of the clinch, pops a jab, and then lands a right and crunching left to put Espadas on his back. The crowd goes wild as Espadas beats the count again. The bell clangs before more leather can add to a wild first three minutes.
Round Two
Sixty seconds of rest does nothing to slow the passion of both battlers. They resume at a fast, hurtful pace. Espadas lands one just below the belt line and walks away as Park catches his breath, Ortega taking a brief look at Park and calling them back to scratch. Park comes back with a pair of body shots and right upstairs. Espadas responds in combination. Park takes a step back and circles, jabbing and firing long rights. The shorter, and shorter-armed, Espadas takes more than he can give as he works to get closer. Park seemingly can’t miss and then complains again of a blow to the cup before they trade right hands.
The champion gets in a pair of combinations while the challenger rips to the ribs. A right hand over the top wobbles Espadas whose instincts to fire back leave him wide open. Another Park right thuds to the temple followed by a left to the chin. Espadas is down face first on the floor. Espadas rises once more on shaky legs and Ortega doesn’t like what he sees, waving the bout closed at 2:28 of the second round.
After the Bell
Writing of the action in the March 1980 issue of Ring Magazine, Hall of Fame correspondent Joe Koizumi could barely contain his excitement, leading with, “It was amazing, thrilling, packed with action!” The same issue bestowing Ring’s annual awards, named the opening frame of Park-Espadas as the third best three minutes of 1979, outdone only by the best rounds of Matthew Saad Muhammad’s rematch with Marvin Johnson and first bout with John Conteh.
1979 clearly wasn’t short on action.
For Espadas, it was the first stoppage loss of his career and the first of three in his next and ultimately final nine fights. A string of four straight wins earned him a final title opportunity in March 1984. Ahead on one card, and even on another, Espadas was stopped in the tenth round by WBC super flyweight champion Payao Poontarat. Espadas would retire with a mark of 39-6-5.
Park’s rapid rise to the title ranks would be followed by a just as rapid fall. After two more title defenses, Park would be stopped in nine rounds by Japan’s Shoji Oguma in May 1980. Park received two chances to regain the crown from Oguma, losing by split and then majority decision on the road. A little different luck and perhaps Park’s is the story of a two-time flyweight king. Instead, Park would follow the Oguma defeats with two more wins before a stoppage loss in his final fight. Park would retire at a ledger of 17-4-2.
While the sport is largely postponed, boxing has a rich library of classic fights, films, and books to pass the time. In terms of fights, readers are welcome to get involved. Feel free to email, comment in the forum, or tweet @roldboxing with classic title fight suggestions. If they are widely available on YouTube, and this scribe has never seen them or simply wants to see them again, the suggestion will be credited while the fight is reviewed in a future chapter of Boxing Without Boxing.
Previous Installments of Boxing Without Boxing
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com