Romeo Anaya vs. Arnold Taylor (1st meeting)

Romeo Anaya 118 lbs lost to Arnold Taylor 117 lbs by KO in round 14 of 15

• Date: 1973-11-03
• Location: Rand Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
• Referee: Stanley Christodoulou
• Judge: Waldemar Schmidt

Notes

• Taylor down three times in the 8th, once in the 10th.
• Ranked #15 Greatest Title Fight of All-Time by Ring Magazine in 1996.
• Ring Magazine's #1 Bantamweight Fight of the Last 80 Years (1922-2002)

"Arnold Taylor, South Africa, returned from the edge of defeat Saturday night to knock out Romeo Anaya of Mexico in the 14th round for the WBA bantamweight title. Taylor, who was given a 20 second respite in the 8th round when Anaya failed to to observe the rules of boxing, was down three times in the 8th and once in the 10th before finishing the fight with two savage rights to Anaya's jaw. Taylor had been in desperate straits and nobody in the crowd of 12,000 expected him to see out the 8th round. But he did on stuttering, almost uncontrollable legs as Anaya stalked him. The middle rounds were a contest of swinging blows with little regard for defense. Each fighter took punishment, and at the end the right side of Taylor's face was swollen to twice it's normal size by Anaya's left hooks. When the end came, it took Anaya's handlers several minutes to revive him." -Associated Press

• The extended time Taylor was given in the 8th round after the first knockdown was said to be because Anaya failed to go to a neutral corner and for resting his arms on the ropes, which were regarded as infractions of the rules.
• Anaya had to sweat off 1 1/2 lbs. to make weight for this bout.
• Anaya was also down from a right hand in the 5th.
• Taylor was actually a ranked featherweight and unranked at bantamweight.