[BigBoyBrackey]

Eager to avenge the points loss that sent his career into a tailspin, Alvin “Babe” Hunt, the 44th seed, took a measured approach in the early rounds against No. 21 Jack Renault, making the French-Canadian miss frequently while throwing just enough punches of his own to gain favor from the judges while keeping an increasingly sweaty crowd from turning on him.

After winning the first three rounds uneventfully, Hunt shook Renault with a left hook to open the fourth and continued scoring to the head and body.

Things slowed to a stop in the fifth, then the pattern of the first three rounds resumed in the sixth and seventh, with Hunt muffling what little offense Renault attempted with solid defensive glove work and the occasional clinch and landing sporadic counters of his own.

In Renault’s corner before the eighth, trainer Bouie Fisher tossed aside his sponge, picked up the spit bucket and doused his charge with the contents.

“Maybe that will wake you up,” Fisher sneered at Renault, before raising his hand as if to strike the seated fighter. “If not, you’ll get some of this next time.”

A still-dripping Renault responded to the rather crude motivation, landing a left hook to Hunt’s jaw 30 seconds in and landing power shots for the next two minutes, leaving the underdog sagging into the ropes, one good shot away from a stoppage with half a minute remaining.

But Renault lost his aim again, flailing away without effect until the bell.

Renault found his mark again in the ninth, staggering Renault early with an uppercut, then a downstairs-upstairs pair of hooks that caused Hunt’s right eye to swell and referee Pete Podgorski to look very closely at the battered fighter.

Once again, though, Renault ran out of gas, this time for good. He failed to land another punch for the final 30 seconds of the ninth, then could not score with a meaningful punch in the final frame, while Hunt took the round with a couple of uppercuts.

Then Henry Discombobulating Jones gathered the scorecards and stepped to the microphone:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the scorecards are in, and here is your official decision ...

Ramon Cerdan, Argentina scores the bout 96 to 94 for Alvin Hunt

Jeffrey Belton, New Zealand scores the bout 96 to 94 for Jack Renault

Paul Thomas, England scores the bout 96 to 93 for the winner by split decision ...

... Alvin Hunt.”

The verdict was roundly booed by a crowd that came to life during Renault’s onslaught in the eighth (a 10-8 round on two cards) and ninth and, to be frank, had been drinking fairly heavily for a couple of hours. Still, Hunt’s win -- the tournament's first upset in its second bout, was difficult to rationally dispute -- given his steady control through the first seven rounds.


ALVIN "BABE" HUNT W10 JACK RENAULT