Victor Davis vs. Vincent Pettway
Victor Davis 147 lbs beat Vincent Pettway 147 lbs by RTD at 3:00 in round 9 of 10
- Date: 1990-04-03
- Location: Blue Horizon, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Referee: Frank Cappuccino
- Judge: Manny Altman 39-43
- Judge: Paul Harris 41-39
- Judge: Marsha Taylor 42-41
Bernard Fernandez, Philadelphia Daily News, 04/04/90:
It wasn't supposed to be anything special, just another short-notice matchup whose primary purpose was to fill a cable television time slot.
Who could have anticipated that welterweights Victor Davis and Vincent Pettway, with less than a week to prepare for one another, would stage one of the most exciting prizefights ever to grace the venerable, old Blue Horizon?
Even Sean O'Grady, the former World Boxing Association lightweight champion who does color commentary for the USA Network, was moved as Davis and Pettway explored the boundaries of courage and endurance.
"What a great, great fight," O'Grady said. "And did you hear the crowd getting into it? That's Philadelphia boxing at it's best."
To some, the controversial ending - ring physician Paul Steinberg would not
allow Pettway, who was badly cut over the left eye, to come out for the 10th and final round - cast a shadow over what surely will go down as the local fight of the year. Most of the small, but noisy audience, however, seemed pleased by the opportunity to simply be there.
Promoter Frank Gelb was so delighted by the show Davis and Pettway put on that he supplemented their $5,000 paychecks with $500 bonuses.
"Magnificent," Gelb gushed. "Stupendous."
The original plan was for former heavyweight champion George Foreman, a USA Network staple during his comeback, to take on European titlist Jean Chanet at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. When negotiations for that bout fell through last week, Gelb hurriedly paired former amateur rivals Davis and Pettway.
"We fought four times when we were little kids, eight or nine years ago," Davis recalled. "I won the first two, and he won the last two, so you could say this was to see who would move ahead in our series."
The first round was a tipoff to what was to follow. Pettway (30-3, 25 knockouts), a Baltimore resident rated No. 7 by the International Boxing Federation, came out swinging and was met in the center of the ring by an equally determined Davis. The round basically was an extended exchange of punches, which ended with the two men trying to wrestle one another to the canvas.
As early as the fourth round, Davis (19-8-1, 10 KOs) appeared spent. But every time Pettway tried to move in for the kill, Davis, from Landover, Md., tapped some source of inner rejuvenation and answered with a flurry of his own.
"It was heart, man," Davis said. "I could feel the fatigue, but I didn't give in to it. I fought through it."
And how. The seventh round had to be seen to be believed, Davis and Pettway seizing and relinquishing the upper hand in rapid-fire intervals. They continued to punch away after the bell ending the round sounded, and when referee Frank Cappuccino stepped in to separate them, he was tagged with a glancing shot from Davis that opened a cut on his nose. The card's other referee, Joe O'Neill, replaced him in the eighth round, although Cappuccino returned for the ninth.
As it turned out, the ninth round was the last round. During the course of another toe-to-toe burst, a right from Davis opened a deep, ugly gash over Pettway's left eye that proved to be more serious than the assorted nicks, bumps and bruises the two men had inflicted upon one another.
Pettway and his manager-trainer, Mack Lewis, were outraged when Steinberg advised Cappuccino to stop the fight, but the doctor insisted he had made the right call.
"Tissue was hanging out," Steinberg said. "The cut looked like it was all the way to the bone."
Were it not for the stoppage, the outcome might well have hinged on the 10th round that never took place. Judge Manny Altman had Pettway comfortably ahead, 43-39, but Marsha Taylor and Paul Harris favored Davis by 42-41 and 41-39 margins, respectively. The Daily News card had Pettway up, 42-41.
"I think I should have been given the benefit of the doubt, but the doctor did what he did and I guess I have to accept it," Pettway said. "I will say this, though. I never expected Victor Davis to put up a fight like that."