Camacho - Rosario

[Counter-puncher]

I took this round to show a mate of mine the other night. very good fight which possibly doesn't get the credit it deserves, two talented and skilled guys going at it hard, with a clash of styles, drama and momentum shifts.

couple of things struck me on a rewatch.

first I have to say the standard 'Camacho got lucky' line strikes me as being fair. i liked the 6-5 and 1 even card put in in Chapo's favour, and i would struggle to give Camacho any more than 6 rounds/ a draw in this one. plus he got lucky not to have a point deducted for his various serial infringements, plus you could make a case for a 10-8 round to Chapo in the 5th.

second, and more pronouncedly, considering how good these two looked, it really puts JCC's performance against them both into perspective. to have taken two fighters that good, and to have unleashed a beating of epic, fcvking biblical proportions on both of them, is very impressive indeed.

anyways how did you all score this?

[Ketchel]

I scored this fight a draw. I must say though for me I have never seen better footwork from 2 fighters in the ring at the same time than in this fight. It was a ballet, a thing of beauty. That was always the lasting impression I had after this fight. Beautiful boxing. Shows what a great chavez is to dominate these 2 fantastic boxers.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Saad is gonna puke reading this

[Counter-puncher]

Saad is gonna puke reading this

well, he shouldn't. Camacho and Rosario were both very good. JCC utterly beat the piss out of them both, like him or not that deserves credit

any more scores? i could go with Camacho winning 6 rounds but thats as many swing rounds as i'd give him,. I reckon.

[bennie]

I remember at the time that most people felt Rosario had let Camacho off the hook; it wasn't a feeling that Rosario had been robbed.
Three months later, Rosario hurt Livingstone Bramble and then punched non-stop to wrest the WBA lightweight title.

[Counter-puncher]

I remember at the time that most people felt Rosario had let Camacho off the hook; it wasn't a feeling that Rosario had been robbed.
Three months later, Rosario hurt Livingstone Bramble and then punched non-stop to wrest the WBA lightweight title.

i don't think he let him off the hook at all bennie. hurt him badly in the 5th and threw the kitchen sink at him for maybe 2 minutes non-stop. Camacho managed to survive, and Rosario was a little punched-out after that.

then he hurt him again in the 11th round, towards the end of the round, again threw a ton of punches at him, but couldn't quite find the finish.

[bluerosekiller]

I actually worked this fight card at MSG back in '86 & saw the whole thing up close & personal.
What an great card & what an awesome night!
Especially in retrospect.
What with a young, unbeaten Matt Hilton opening the night in a 10 rounder further grooming him toward the light-middleweight title. Then, a young, pre-superstar JC Chavez taking out Refugio Rojas in an early 130 lb title defense, followed by a pre-title Mike Tyson blowing out the usually durable Reggie Gross in one round, all capped off by the epic, historically significant main event between Camacho & Rosario.
One which I scored 6-5-1 in rounds for Rosario from ringside. And felt that his margin of victory was even wider on points because, despite Camacho SOMEHOW ( !!! ) remaining upright from some monster shots from "Chapo" in the 5th & 11th rounds, I'd still make the 5th ( at least, I've gone back & forth over the years on the 11th ) a 10-8 round.
The crowd was SO into that fight for all 12 rounds & were absolutely going BANANAS during the 5th & 11th.
Give Camacho full credit for that night though as he displayed big balls & a rock for a chin in that ring. I still think any other lightweight in the world of that era would have been knocked spark out by those shots he took. And... he even made it to the post-fight party afterwards!
His face looked like hamburger & one eye was about halfway shut, but he not only showed up, but even DANCED some. LOL
Unfortunately, as we all know now, Hector was never quite the same "Macho Man" as he was that night vs Rosario. He adopted a strict safety first style that he would utilize almost exclusively whenever he was in any remotely competitive fight.
But hell, whose to blame him really? The kind of blows that he absorbed from Rosario would likely leave almost anyone else with a case of PTSD as well!

Jim

[Counter-puncher]

thanks for that bluerose, interesting you agree with the 6-5-1 card, also your comments on the 5th round. i think this was a heck of a fight which doesn't get discussed as often as it might

[bluerosekiller]

CP, I def agree.
It's one of my top 20 or so fights & certainly among my top 3 all time that I've seen live.

Another fact about that card that I neglected to mention was that that there were actually two additional 10 rounders originally scheduled to take place that night, but they simply ran out of time to have them! One of them was a walk out bout with Cornilius Boza-Edwards.
Say what you like about Don King, but he's always stacked his cards with top level talent.


Jim