Fight:121412
Joe Miceli 150 lbs drew with Mel Barker 148 lbs by TD in round 2 of 10
- Date: 1959-09-22
- Location: Municipal Auditorium, San Antonio, Texas, USA
- Referee: Leonard Zuniga
Weird endings are almost routine for San Antonio Texas’ municipal auditorium fights. There have been wild brawls, post-fight slugging in the ring, even a shooting or two. But fans generally know how things came out before they go home. Not on Tuesday night. Some of the patrons went home thinking Joe Miceli of New York had won from Mel Barker of Austin on a foul in the third round. Some of the others in the slim turnout of 865 (which seemed a lot more when jammed around the ringside and yammering away) stayed to see the decision changed to a draw. The fight was shaping up as a slam-bang affair, and the fans wanted some more action. But Dr. Bernard K. Weiner, after examining Miceli between the third and fourth rounds, said Miceli, butted in the face, had a spasm in the pupil of his left eye and wouldn’t let Joe continue. There wasn’t going to be any more ring action, but fans, fighters, managers, reporters, the referee and boxing commissioners still had about 10 minutes of verbal arguments as to the official decision. Referee Leonard Zuniga, confused by the bombardment of questions thrown at him, gave the impression at first that he had ruled Barker had intentionally butted Miceli. He later emphatically stated it was an accidental butt. Acting on the decision by the referee, State Boxing Commissioner Alton Erickson and his local deputy, J. Louis Quintella, backed him up with a ruling that the fight was a draw. As Miceli came out of his dressing room to take a shower, he was asked what happened. Joe said: “I’ll have to say it was an accidental butt.” Before he could continue, his manager, Harry Stickevers, interrupted and stated: “You don’t have to say anything. It was an intentional butt.” Barker had his version of the incident: “He had wrestled me to the floor once and was roughing me up pretty good. In the third round he grabbed hold of me with both hands and pulled me towards him. Naturally, my head came forward. But I threw a right hand at the same time that hit him in the eye, so it could have been either a butt or the blow that opened the cut.” [Bob Ostrun, Sports Writer, San Antonio Light]