Raul Rojas vs. Ricardo Moreno (1st meeting)
Ricardo Moreno 127 lbs lost to Raul Rojas 128 lbs by TKO at 3:00 in round 3 of 10
- Date: 1966-03-17
- Location: Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Referee: Joey Olmos
The bout was stopped due to a cut left eye, suffered by Moreno.
"California's Raul Rojas, 128, was awarded a 3rd round knockout over Ricardo (Pajarito) Moreno of Mexico, 127, in a wild and bloody fight Thursday night at the Olympic Auditorium. Referee Joey Olmos stopped the match before the 4th round bell sounded and pandemonium, empty whiskey bottles and paper cups promptly showered the ring from the turnaway crowd of more than 10,000. Dr. Jack Useem ordered the battle stopped after examining a deep cut over Moreno's left eye, which had gushed blood from the 1st round on. The Rojas victory ended a 21 straight knockout record by Mexico's 'Little Bird', but the result was far from decisive, and the crowd seemed equally divided in partisanship in the frenzied cheering. The 3rd round was a toe-to-toe alley brawl from start to finish. Moreno's face was covered with blood, while Rojas was unmarked except from the decorative blood he got from Pajarito. The Moreno corner screamed that their man had been butted, but the referee said after the fight that both were guilty of butting." -Associated Press
- The overflow crowd of the sold-out card watched on closed circuit TV from L.A.'s downtown Orpheum Theater.
- The AP had this bout even after three completed rounds.
- Official scorecards: Referee Joey Olmos - 2-1 Moreno, judges George Latka and John Thomas both had it 1-1 even.
Post fight comment
- "One man was trying to break the other guy's arm and both were butting. I instructed both fighters that I wanted a clean fight, but I also told them to protect themselves at all times." -Referee Joey Olmos