Zora Folley vs. Eddie Machen (2nd meeting)
Zora Folley 194 lbs beat Eddie Machen 199 lbs by UD in round 12 of 12
- Date: 1960-01-18
- Location: Cow Palace, Daly City, California, USA
- Referee: Vern Bybee 118-113
- Judge: Fred Bottaro 119-114
- Judge: Matt Zidich 117-114
"Heavyweight Zora Folley jabbed out a clear-cut victory over Eddie Machen in a lacklustre battle. Monday night's fight at the Cow Palace brought repeated boos from the crowd of 5,447 and frequent warnings from referee Vern Bybee to step up the action. Folley's jab kept Machen off balance throughout. Occasionally he followed with crisp right hand shots to the head and left hooks to the body. Machen tried to bob in under the jab but even when he did get a combination started he usually missed with his big right or Zora tied him up. In the 9th Machen suffered a slight cut near his right eye. Eddie also had a small bruise under his left eye and Folley was bruised over his right eye. There was nothing close to a knockdown." -Associated Press
- Unofficial AP scorecard - 119-114 Folley
- Unofficial Oakland Tribune scorecard - 116-114 Folley
- In order to make this match, Folley kept quiet about ailing tonsils going into this fight.
- Machen's manager, Sid Flaherty, signed a contract for 60% of the net gate and then guaranteed Folley $15,000 win, lose or draw. Unfortunately the net came to $24,548.86 and 60% came to $14,729.32. So the Machen camp lost approximately $270.00
- Machen had already signed before this match to a bout with Billy Hunter in NY's Madison Square Garden for the following month.
Post fight comments
- "I'd like a fight with Ingemar Johansson for the heavyweight title, but I'd be willing to box Floyd Patterson first." -Zora Folley
- "No, we don't want Liston. We're rated the number 2 contender so what would we gain by fighting the number 3 man (Liston)? Zora has been a leading contender for the title for the past several years and that's what we're going after." -Bill Swift, Folley's manager.