Willie Pastrano vs. Lennart Risberg
Willie Pastrano 179 lbs drew with Lennart Risberg 179 lbs by SD in round 12 of 12
- Date: 1961-08-06
- Location: Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden
- Referee: Ake Jacobsson 52-55
- Judge: Borje Stalberg 54-54
- Judge: Bengt Sjoberg 57-52
The November 1961 issue of The Ring reported:
Risberg weighed in at 178, half a pound heavier than Pastrano.
In the opening round, Risberg bored in and often bulled the American against the ropes but Willie slipped out from under and, as the Swede hastened after him, Pastrano shot in a hard left to Risberg's liver and followed with a crashing right to the jaw. It happened in a flash and a gasp of alarm went through the crowd. But Risberg kept his head and took a count of "8" before resuming the fight and boxed his way clear until the end of the round.
Pastrano kept the upper hand in the second session but in the third, Risberg shook the American badly with hefty slams to the midriff.
Risberg was bleeding slightly from a cut on the nose and his left eyebrow was damaged in the third round.
In the sixth, Pastrano kept busily jabbing with his lightning left to win the round and he kept the ex-artilleryman at bay in the seventh to break even. Pastrano tired progressively from this stage.
In the eleventh, Willie sagged at the knees as a Risberg right crashed into his jaw but he retained his footing and bobbed and weaved his way out of range. Despite his obvious weariness, Pastrano still had sufficient ringcraft to outsmart the furious attacks of Risberg in the last round.
Notes
- A capacity crowd of 13,000 saw the fight at The Olympia Stadium in Stockholm, Sweden.
- United Press International scored six rounds for Pastrano, three for Risberg and called three even.
- This bout was advertised as an eliminator for a fight against Archie Moore for his share of the World Light Heavyweight Championship; Moore was recognized as champion by The Ring, Europe and New York State, while Harold Johnson was recognized as champion by the National Boxing Association.
- When Pastrano arrived in Sweden two weeks before the fight, he said Jack Kearns, Archie Moore's manager, had promised him a title bout if he beat Risberg.
- Less than a week after the bout, Archie Moore turned down an offer for a September fight against Risberg in Sweden because he said he didn't have enough time to get down to the light heavyweight limit of 175 pounds. As it turned out, Moore never did fight at light heavyweight again.