RIP Bobby Chacon

[wsbuf]

One of my favorites from my favorite era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TtedtNpRII

[The Law]

My favourite fight EVER! RIP

[gilgamesh]

Yeah Chacon vs Limon 4 is insane. I always tell people that have never seen. "You know that part in Bowe vs Holyfield 1 when Bowe has Holyfield hurt real bad, and then Holyfield starts battling back and hurts Bowe toward the end of the round?...Imagine if almost every round was like that...and you've got Chacon vs Limon 4"

[handsofstone]

RIP Champ

I agree Chacon/Limon 4 is the greatest fight of all time,his fights with Boza Edwards were great as well

[BoxBuzz]

Bobby's face should be right next to the word "Fearless" in the dictionary.....he defines the word.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Tremendous warrior, I was usually cheering against him but that was with great respect.

[elmersalsa]

One of my favorite fighters. What a warrior. He gave everything he had in the ring. One of the true real macho men ever. His fight with Bazooka Limon (the fourth one), was an all time classic. One of the 3 best fights ever in my lifetime along Leonard-Hearns I and Sichatchawal-Monshipour fights.

The boxing game needs more warriors like Bobby Chacon. RIP, champion. To me, when it comes to heart, grit and determination, you was one of the very best!

[Woldemar]

R.I.P

[Chuck1052]

An obituary of Bobby Chacon was posted on the Los Angeles Times website about an hour-and-a-half ago. I saw Bobby fight both in person and on telecasts of his bouts. He was an exciting and talented fighter with quite a personality to boot. As a young fighter, He had fine boxing skills which he used to a great degree in his bout with Danny "Little Red Lopez." Later on, it seemed that Bobby had more of a brawling style.

On a sadder note, Bobby was the first fighter that I saw before and after he sustained very noticeable brain damage. That was quite a shock to me despite knowing very well that the possibility of a fighter sustaining brain damage was very real.

RIP, Bobby......

- Chuck Johnston

[scorpio83]

RIP Champ (Schoolboy)

[Tony1244]

Chacon by comparison made every other fighter look boring.

[aliboy123]

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

BOBBY CHACON I LOVE YOU AAAAAAAHHH - THIS CANT BE TRUE.

MY FAVOURITE FIGHTER - YOU GAVE TOO MUCH BOBBY - YOU GAVE IT ALL

SAD SAD SAD DAY

IN PEACE, BOBBY CHACON

[SenorPipino]

If Chacon had taken boxing more seriously during the early part of his career (pre-1980s) he might be remembered as an ATG.

He could do it all in the ring. What talent. Box, move, power, nice jab and terrific speed. But he was a party animal, like another earlier L.A. favorite, Mando Ramos.

Mexican featherweight champion Papelero Estrada (an easy Chacon KO victim in 1975 at the Olympic) called Bobby "the fastest thing on two feet."
In his prime, he pretty much was.

I was thrilled to be at a sold out L.A. Sports Arena in 1974 to witness his stirring shootout with Little Red Lopez. Chacon was easily the more naturally talented of the two, but Lopez' toughness, determination and strength made it a unforgetable back and forth battle.

Chacon had to really dig down to pull out a 9th round KO over the future featherweight king.

He was one of my favorites and certainly one of L.A.'s most exciting fighters ever.

Toll the 10 count for another of boxing's fallen warriors, Bobby Chacon.

[elmersalsa]

Bobby Chacon was one of the world's most exciting champions ever.

[elmersalsa]

Bobby Chacon fought in the golden era of the Los Angeles Inglewood Felt Forum. He also fought in the golden era of the Latin American Boxing Invasion in the 1970s decade.

[Chuck1052]

The second bout between Ruben Olivares and Bobby Chacon was a turning point for Chacon in many respects. The bout drew a capacity crowd of over 18,000 and a gate of over $400,000., which was a huge amount in the Los Angeles area at the time. For the bout with his WBC world featherweight title at stake, Chacon received a whopping purse of about $160,000.

Chacon weighed in at 124 1/2 pounds, a full 1 and 1/2 pounds under the featherweight limit. While listening to an audio tape of the weigh-in, I remember that the witnessing crowd made an audible murmur of disbelief when they realized that Chacon got down to such a low weight. During the bout, Chacon looked noticeably weakened to some observers and was stopped in the 2nd round despite being a 2-to-1 favorite.

After the debacle, Chacon got raked over the coals in the local media and in local boxing circles, especially when there were reports that he had trouble sticking to a training and dietary regimen. As I recall, Chacon had trouble making weight as a result, which certainly could have weakened him. It could be the relationship between Chacon and his manager/trainer, Joe Ponce, started to fray badly about this time. After the bout, Chacon indicated that he should be fighting at a heavier weight while Ponce made it clear that he wanted to his charge to remain a featherweight. It seemed that not long afterwards, Chacon was fighting under new management and at a higher weight. Moreover, Chacon seemed to transform from being a skillful boxer to being more of a brawler after the second bout with Olivares.

- Chuck Johnston

[Counter-puncher]

Good post, chuck

[Chuck1052]

Bobby Chacon and Danny "Little Red" Lopez, two very exciting Los Angeles area boxers of about the same weight, were essentially the same age and came on to the professional boxing scene about the same time. As a result, there was a great desire among Southern California boxing fans to see Chacon and Lopez fight each other after both of them piled up impressive records. Their thrilling bout drew a packed house and a terrific gate at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

I thought that Chacon was likely to win the bout with Lopez because he had much more boxing skill and far more talent. The bout was far from easy for Chacon largely because of Lopez's determination and punching power. Chacon was able to hit Lopez with right-hand leads to the head repeatedly in addition to using his other far superior boxing skills, winning the bout by a huge margin and stopping Lopez in the ninth round. A number of years later, Salvador Sanchez took Lopez apart while finding a home for repeated right-hand leads to the head in the their two bouts. between two boxers.

- Chuck Johnston

[Chuck1052]

After his loss to Bobby Chacon, Danny "Little Red" Lopez went on to have a terrific boxing career, including winning the WBC version of the world featherweight title from David Kotey and making seven consecutive successful defenses before losing the title in his first bout with Salvador Sanchez. Lopez's comparative lack of boxing skills made some people wonder how he was able to accomplish so much in the ring. But on the other side of the coin, Lopez had terrific punching power, great heart, lots of dedication, a very exciting fighting style and great discipline. In addition, Lopez was a very stable individual with an even-keel personal life; a devoted wife, Bonnie; and two highly capable and loyal managers in Howie Steindler and Bennie Georgino (who took over after Steindler was murdered).

- Chuck Johnston

[Counter-puncher]

After his loss to Bobby Chacon, Danny "Little Red" Lopez went on to have a terrific boxing career, including winning the WBC version of the world featherweight title from David Kotey and making seven consecutive successful defenses before losing the title in his first bout with Salvador Sanchez. Lopez's comparative lack of boxing skills made some people wonder how he was able to accomplish so much in the ring. But on the other side of the coin, Lopez had terrific punching power, great heart, lots of dedication, a very exciting fighting style and great discipline. In addition, Lopez was a very stable individual with an even-keel personal life; a devoted wife, Bonnie; and two highly capable and loyal managers in Howie Steindler and Bennie Georgino (who took over after Steindler was murdered).

- Chuck Johnston

Yeah, his size at featherweight, good punch, great engine, and massive heart, when you put those things together they will overcome a few deficiencies in skill.

[Chuck1052]

As I noted before, Bobby Chacon had big edge when it came to talent and boxing skills over Danny "Little Red" Lopez. Chacon also had a magnetic personality while Lopez was a regular nice guy. But unlike Lopez, Chacon had an extremely chaotic boxing career and personal life.

- Chuck Johnston

[elmersalsa]

It saddened me when Bobby Chacon lost his wife when she committed suicide back in the early 80s. He rebounded by winning the WBC World Jr Lightweight crown from arch-rival Bazooka Limon in their fourth and final match. It was probably the greatest fight that I have ever seen alongside Leonard vs Hearns I and Sitchatchawal vs Manshipour. These 3 fights are the 3 best fights that I have seen ever. Bobby sucked it up and dropped Limon in the 15th round. That sealed it for the win for him. It was a great December night in Sacramento, CA. Chacon, far from his prime, won another world crown. He was sure a great warrior. One of the very best that have seen when it came to heart. If you give the fight fans all that you have, the fans will always remember you. And can't ask for more than that. I am so sad that he ended penniless and somewhat homeless after he worked so hard to get to the top.

[Chuck1052]

Bobby Chacon also had a great fight with Cornelius Boza-Edwards, which seems almost forgotten now.

- Chuck Johnston

[Ambling Alp II]

Glad that you and handsofstone brought this up. I have mentioned this fight before and it was always like hardly anyone had ever seen it. It was one of the most exciting fights I have ever seen.