Buster Mathis vs. Roberto Davila
Buster Mathis 243 lbs beat Roberto Davila 205 lbs by TKO in round 7 of 10
- Date: 1967-11-18
- Location: Johanneshov, Stockholm, Sweden
- Referee: Bengt Almqvist
American Buster Mathis, the beefy heavyweight from New York, made his European debut where he outboxed and stopped the Peruvian Roberto Davila in the 7th round. A crowd of 6,000 at Johanneshov Stadium in Stockholm saw Mathis rack up his 22nd win in 22 fights. Davila was game, but took a terrible beating through the first six rounds. His face was badly bruised, but he was strong and refused to go down. The crowd soon booed Mathis for not being able to stop him. In the 7th, a one-two combination from Mathis made Davila sag to the floor, dragging the referee with him. Both got up, but the referee decided Davila had had enough.
Davila fought for 7 more years, losing 27 of his 51 fights.
This one-sided fight generated discussions about the future of pro boxing in Sweden. A strong section of the Social Democratic Party wanted to ban pro boxing. The sport became an issue in the Swedish parliament. A ban was effectuated January 1, 1970, making boxing punishable by up to six months in jail. This included exhibition bouts, sparring in a gymnasium, and an amateur doing business with a professional boxer.
