Eddie Spence vs. Paul Raymond
Eddie Spence 173 lbs beat Paul Raymond 200 lbs by RTD in round 3 of 10
- Date: 1970-05-14
- Location: Exposition Building, Portland, Maine, USA
- Referee: Pete Bennett
SPENCE TAKES HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE - Ralph Conroy - THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE: May 15, 1970.
Portland, Maine. - Irish Eddie Spence of Pittsfield, Mass. with iron shamrocks in each fist and gravel in his guts last night took the New england heavyweight title from Paul Raymond of Somerville, Mass. in a blood-soaked brawl that somehow lasted three rounds.
Referee Peter Bennett stopped the bloodbath at the end of the third round thereby giving Spence the victory on a fourth round TKO.
Veteran ringsiders claimed that never before had they seen so much blood in the ring. Promoter Sam Silverman said, "That was the goriest, bloodiest fight I've ever seen, and I've been in the business for 40 years and have seen more fights than anyone else in the world.
GAVE AWAY 30 POUNDS
Spence gave away almost 30 pounds. Expected to weigh from 183 to 187, Raymond tipped the scales at 200 pounds naked. Spence went 173 with his clothes on.
The first round opened with Raymond charging out of his corner like a Miura fighting bull. Spence, frail and delicate, compared to the burly heavyweight, back-pedaled, sticking with stinging left jabs that snapped Raymond's head back. But the big man kept coming, steaming like a freight train and throwing heavy overhand lefts and rights.
Spence went to his horse under the barrage,moving and slipping punches. Then his left hook found its mark, opening a cut high on Raymond's forehead. It was his round from there on, as he stung with his left hand.
BLOOD DRENCHED
Early in the round, Eddie Spence opened another cut with a thundering left hook over Raymond's right eye. Both fighters were now drenched with blood which was being splattered into the ringside seats.
Raymond's bulling, powerful body smashes were beginning to tell on Spence. Eddie's legs quivered under the brutal attack, his speed was gone, but, turning, he met the larger man face to face and toe to toe in violent exchanges. Blood dripped from the smeared bodies of both men. Then Raymond's 30-pond advantage and superior strength began to take their toll, but Spence dug his toes into the rosin dust, pounded back, blow for blow, while 2,200 fans shook the Expo Building with their screaming.
Spence then began to land jarring right uppercuts that would have stopped any normal man, but Raymond pushed him into the ropes and punished him with body blows. It was still Spence's round, though the three judges awarded it to Raymond.
ALL EDDIE SPENCE
The third round was all Eddie Spence. Raymond kept up his plodding straight-ahead attack, and Spence retreated before it. But he was firing and landing clean hard left hooks, each and every one of them capable of rolling anyone but Raymond for the count. It was the rapier versus the broadsword. Spence was the hammer and Raymond the anvil, but anvil weighed an even 200 pounds and moved forward with the power of a Sherman tank.
One of Spence's left hooks gashed a three-inch cut alongside the Somerville bomber's ear, but he kept coming. I counted 12 clean hard hooks in that round two or three zinging right hands, but Raymond held himself up by raw courage. Both fighters had now gone into slow motion, moving wearily around the ring, Spence retreating slowly and covering his retreat with his tremendous left hand. The only thing that moved quickly was Spence's hooks, which he kept smashing with incredible speed and power into the bloody pulp that was Raymond's face. It was Eddie's round easily.
Referee Pete Bennett stopped the fight after the bell. The handwriting was on the wall. No man could have stood up much longer under Spence's savage bombardment.
Roger Sala, Spence's manager, said after the fight that he would never have accepted the match if he had known Raymond's weight would be 200 pounds. Raymond weighed in late, and when he did, the odds went from even money to 9 to 5 in his favor.
NO REMATCH
After the fight, in the locker room, Raymond told Spence that he would not ask for a rematch, that he had promised himself he would retire after the first severe beating and he had decided to retire after that fight. He told Spence that he had never said that Spence punched like a "cream puff," a reference to a rumor circulated here.
"I want you to know you beat a good fighter tonight,"Raymond said. "I was in top condition and ready for you."
Spence now rules the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions in New England. A clean, hard puncher with tremendous courage and staying power, he is regarded as, pound for pound, the best fighter in New england. His last 11 wins have been by knockouts.
After the fight, Silverman told Spence, "You're on your way. Eddie. Remember, tonight you fought the gamest guy in the world."