Yaqui Lopez TKO6 Mike Rossman 1978: a mini Zale-Graziano for its era?

[JohnReed]

I just watch the 1978 video of Yaqui Lopez TKO6 Mike Rossman. That fight was a scorching, intense, barn burner. Sure, it's true that Lopez dominated Rossman and won the fight, ultimately, in one sided fashion. But Rossman put up great resistance. Up through the fifth, it was competitive as hell, even though Lopez generally had the upper hand.

Given that this was a very high-profile fight for its era (broadcast live on HBO), and considering that both fighters were among the best known, most frequently televised boxers of their time, and in light of the fact that one them (Rossman) became a real world-champ and the other was literally an "uncrowned champ," a question occurred to me.

Is it reasonable to regard Lopez-Rossman as being the late 1970s version of a mini Zale-Graziano fight? Think about it, the comparison is reasonable. Zale and Graziano put on thrilling wars that ended in KO within six rounds. Zale and Graziano were at the top of heap with respect to popularity with the public, and they were media darling. Both Tony and Rocky held world titles to.

What do you guys think...do you see any parallels between Zale-Graziano and Lopez-Rossman, at least in terms of what their fights represented for their respective eras?

[oogiebe]

Was that the fight that Rossman claimed he hurt his hand?

[JohnReed]

No, it wasn't.

Rossman originally broke his right hand in winning a decision over Gary Summerhayes, in September 1977. Two months later, according to news reports, Rossman broke the same hand in the gym. He took about four or five months to recover, then entered the Lopez fight with a healed right hand.

But one year later, in April 1979, Rossman broke his right hand again, this time while defending his WBA title against Victor Galindez. Rossman retired on his stool at the end of the 9th round that night.

Those are the only three times Rossman broke his hand, and none of those injuries involved the Lopez bout.

[oogiebe]

It was the Galindez fight I was thinking of.

[Ambling Alp II]

This was not a high profile fight. Back then, HBO only got fights that the networks were not interested in. The amount of people that actually had subscriptions to HBO was not very high. (Much lower than even today)

To be honest, I don't remember anyone talking about this fight at the time or ever for that matter. Boxing was still a major sport at the time, and these guys were overshadowed by many other bigger names. Having said that, this has piqued my interest. Both were good fighters who who seemed to fairly evenly matched. Will have to see check it out on Youtube. Both were fun to watch so I could see how they would have a fun fight to watch.

[JohnReed]

Well, both Rossman and Lopez got lots of ink in the three boxing magazines of the time. Those rags were Ring Magazine, World/International Boxing, and Boxing Illustrated.

On top of that, Rossman got a hell of a lot of network TV exposure. Ditto for Lopez. For whatever reason, the networks didn't pick up Rossman-Lopez. But still, the fight got publicity. All the major news wires, like AP and UPI, did stories about it. Same was true for all major newspapers. The New York Times, New York Daily News, and New York Post sent their own journalists to cover the event.

That same year, 1978, Angelo Dundee even said that Rossman was the third most popular fighter in boxing, just behind Muhammad Ali and Roberto Duran.

[Ambling Alp II]

The newspaper used to cover quite a few fights back then. Boxing was still a major sport back then. It is now a fringe sport where only the biggest fights get a blurb in the paper. Fights like Lopez-Rossman were a bigger deal than almost all of the fights now.
What I was trying to say was that at the time it was just another fight. It was nothing like Zale-Graziano in that respect.

[JohnReed]

What I was trying to say was that at the time it was just another fight. It was nothing like Zale-Graziano in that respect.

Yes, you are correct. But that's why I qualified the comparison by suggesting that it may be regarded as a "mini" version of Zale-Graziano. I make the distant comparison because of the popularity of Rossman and Graziano, and the fact that they were kill or be killed sorts of fighters. Telegenic fighters primarily, but fighters who put on exciting fights. Lopez's longevity as a top-flight fighter, and his great skill, make for a distant comparison with Zale.

I know I'm being imaginative here, but I'm wondering if my idea holds water.

Just to underscore Rossman's popularity in his era, keep in mind that he drew huge crowds to his fights. His Galindez II bout drew a crowd of 11,000, his Traversaro bout pulled in 11,000 fans, and his Ranquello match attracted 10,000 observers. Those are huge crowds for a guy who didn't have the status of an Ali, Frazier, or Sugar Ray Leonard. Remarkable. That drawing power sort of parallels Graziano's popularity in the 1940s and 1950s.