This was in Korea, but I've never seen footage of it. I've read that Zamora was badly hurt but the ref saved him, and Zamora went on to win, after which the crowd rioted.
Does anyone know about this fight?
Alfonso Zamora v. Hong II.
Re: Alfonso Zamora v. Hong II.
frankenfrank wrote:gud 2 nowRover wrote:This was in Korea, but I've never seen footage of it. I've read that Zamora was badly hurt but the ref saved him, and Zamora went on to win, after which the crowd rioted.
Does anyone know about this fight?
Re: Alfonso Zamora v. Hong II.
Since Zamora's been discussed lately, wondering if anyone (perhaps Il Duce) can shed light on this fight?
Re: Alfonso Zamora v. Hong II.
Il Duce wrote:Saturday Night - October 16, 1976
Suwon Gymnasium - Inchon, South Korea
Attendance; 5200
There was much controversy in this 'somewhat' strange bout. The remtach between WBA Champion - Alfonso Zamora
and #1 WBA-ranked and former WBA Champion - Soo-Hwan Hong
The bout was a well-contested and hard fought fight. Both fighters landed solid punches throughout, and each
were rocked.
Soo-Hwan utilized his 2" height and 2" reach advantage early, and boxed well with both hands, as he kept his
distance with his right hand near his chin to protect him from the wide left hooks from Zamora.
The Champion tried to press, but was coming up short with his power punches thru the first 3-Rounds.
Zamora was more effective in Round 4, as he was able to close the distance, and landed several good punches
on the Challenger.
In Round 5, Alfonso continued to press and was doing well until Soo-Hwan caught him with a hard right-hand to the jaw
as he was coming in. The punch stunned the Champion, and the Challenger took control over the second-half of the Round.
Controversy in Round 6. Soo-Hwan went on the offensive, and was out-speeding Zamora with quick left-rights to the face.
Then the Korean backed Zamora up, and in an in-close exchange was pounding the Champion pretty good, and Zamora
seemed to be in a bit of trouble as he was backed up against the ropes. Suddenly, the Mexican Referee jumped in and
halted the action, and seperated the fighters. This gave Zamora a few seconds to recover.
Soo-Hwan's corner loudly protested, and screamed at the Referee. This gave Zamaora a much needed break, and he
boxed out of harm's way until the bell.
In Rounds 7 and 8, the Challenger continued to box well, and utilized his one-two punch boxing plan, and took both rounds
with crisp punches. The Champion was in good shape, but did very little scoring over these the Rounds.
The Champion kicked it into gear in Rounds 9 and 10, and started to work the body with hard punches, while moving
Soo-Hwan backwards, where he was not as effective.
Soo-Hwan came back in Round 11, as he used both the left jab and right-hand to keep Zamora outside, and prevent
him from getting too close to unload his vaunted body punches.
Sensing he was losing the bout, Alfonso opened up Round 12 with an 'all-out attack'.
Alfonso attacked quickly, and was relentless in throwing his wide hooks and vicious uppercuts.
He stunned Hong, and appeared to have him in big trouble. As Zamora attacked, Hong moved defensively with his
left arm dangling down by his side, and right hand tucked by his chin. After the (2:00 Mark) Zamora was pounding Hong all
over the ring, and Mexican Referee - Octavio Meyran called a halt, and issued standing 8-Count on the Korean.
After the pause, Zamora attacked again, and threw everything he had at Hong, spinning him sideways with a brutal
left hook. Zamora then drove Hong across the ring and into his own corner, and pounded away without any response from Hong.
As a 'dazed' Hong was pinned and near defenseless, but still upright. Referee - Octavio Meyran then stopped the action
and raised Alfonso's hand at the (2:50 Mark), awarding him the TKO victory.
This set the crowd off, and several fans rushed the ring and attacked Octavio Meyran and several of Zamora's cornermen.
Soo-Hwan Hong and his Manager complained bitterly about the stoppage, and filed a protest stating that the Mexican
Referee was wrong in his action, and that Hong should have been issued another standing 8-Count.
There were 'two' WBA Representatives at the Championship Bout, and both agreed that the stoppage was improper. After a
meeting the next day (Sunday Afternoon), both parties agreed to a 'Third Bout', to be held in Los Angeles in January 1977.
Unfortunately, it never happened.
Re: Alfonso Zamora v. Hong II.
Scorecards?Il Duce wrote:Uniformed police had to enter the ring, to maintain control and prevent the unruly fans from attacking the
Mexican Referee (Octavio Meyran).
Local boxing experts had Soo-Hwan ahead on points after 11-Rounds over the heavily-favored Zamora.
The complaint from the Soo-Hwan camp, was that the Referee should have issued another standing 8-Count,
as there were only 10-Seconds left in Round 11. And, that Soo-Hwan would have recovered.
But the Referee stated, that the Korean was groggy and defenseless, and could have been hurt from another
hard punch, while being pinned in the corner and held up by the ropes.
The Soo-Hwan camp also argued, that the Champion Zamora was hurt just as bad in Round 6, and that the Referee
just seperated the two fighters for several seconds, and let them continue.
Re: Alfonso Zamora v. Hong II.
Il Duce wrote:Can't find the round-by-round break-down, or the names of the judges.
Scoring after 11-Rounds
* 106-104 (6-4-1 in Rounds).....Soo-Hwan Hong
* 107-106 (4-3-4 in Rounds).....Alfonso Zamora
* 107-105 (5-3-3 in Rounds).....Soo-Hwan Hong
I would imagine all rounds were scored 10-9 or 10-10.
If Soo-Hwan had made it out of Round 12, it would have been scored 10-7 for Zamora, which would
have put the Champion ahead on points entering Round 13.
Re: Alfonso Zamora v. Hong II.
Il Duce wrote:Mr. Rover,
UPI Scorecard.
Alfonso Zamora........ 9 - 9 - 10 - 9 - 10 .... 9 - 9 - 9 - 10 - 10... 9 === 103
Soo-Hwan Hong....... 10-10 - 9 - 10 -10 ....10- 10-10 - 9 -- 9... 10 ===107
The UPI had it 7-3-1 in Rounds. It appears that Round 5 was scored 'Even', as Zamora was in control
until getting zapped by a Soo-Hwan right hand that stunned him later in the round.
Controversy in Round 6, as Soo-Hwan swarmed all over Zamora and had him in trouble, until the Mexican
Referee jumped in, and separated the boxers while they were in-close, banging away.
There was supposed to be a rematch at The Forum in California, set for February 1977, but it never got
done.
Hope you find the names of the two judges.