[Crimson]

USA WEST 6-0 vs. USA EAST 4-2
Saturday, May 30th, 1992
Caesars Palace; Las Vegas, Nevada; United States

24,000+ boxing fanatics camped out at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for a full day of excellent fights. The matchups would decide which area of the world has the best fighters in 1992, based upon the criteria of the Team World Championship. The first fight started at 8:30 am west coast time to a full house of raucus fans and when the last fight concluded during the early hours of Sunday, May 31st the cheering was at it's loudest. Although many of the marquee West and East coast fighters had declined to participate so that they could focus fully on participating in the upcoming World Championship Tournament, the fans turned out in full force to witness the fisticuffs. And to their delight, the fighters did not disappoint them. Three of the scheduled fights were tournament fights.

LIGHT FLY TOURNAMENT FIGHT
Danny Nunez 23-2-2 (18) New York
Melchor Cob Castro 37-4-4 (18) Mexico
For the second time in TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP matches controversy reared it’s ugly head and the final decision was hardly pleasing to anyone. This controversy arose before the fighters were in the ring and was due mostly to a misunderstanding between the USA WEST team management and the TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP ADMINISTRATORS. USA WEST mistakenly believed Melchor Cob Castro could represent USA WEST in his match vs. Danny Nunez, who was representing USA EAST. Why Bob Arum would think this, considering that Cob Castro was born and raised in Mexico and still lives there, is a mystery. Be that as it may, the scheduled fight between Nunez and Cob Castro went ahead as planned, with USA EAST being awarded +4 points for having a fighter ready to fight, while USA WEST did not. These +4 points would count regardless of if Nunez won or lost!

Melchor Cob Castro entered the ring a 2-1 favorite. He went 3-1 in the Team Championship fights. Losing by unanimous decision to Michael Carbajal in his 1st fight, but sweeping his next 3 opponents (James Drummond, Hiroki Ioka, and Jacob Matlala), all by decision. Relatively unknown entering the Tam Championship, Danny “Bazooka” Nunez, become a known commodity quickly after fighting the reigning IBF Light Fly Champion, Michael Carbajal, to a draw. In his next fight he put the boxing world on notice that the Carbajal draw was no fluke when he shockingly knocked out Huberto Gonzalez. Like Cob Castro, he also beat Drummond and Ioka by decision. However he lost a unanimous decision to Cob Casto victim Jacob Matlala. It was this loss that seemed to have convinced the betting public to make Nunez a 2-1 underdog, a role that Nunez has thrived in thus far in his career. The winner of this fight will challenge Humberto Gonzalez for the WBC title. Gonzalez is hoping for a rematch with Nunez.

It was a fairly even fight through 3 rounds, with momentum favoring Cob Castro. With less than 10 seconds to go in the 4th that all changed when a cross from “Bazooka” deposited Cob Castro on the canvas. He was up at 2 and it appeared to be a flash knockdown. Not to Nunez though, as he came out looking to knock Cob Castro out. The Mexican weathered the storm and by the end of round 6 had matters well under control, despite the television announcer having him down by 1 point on his very unofficial scorecard.

Nunez returned to his corner at the end of round 7 with the beginnings of mouse on left eye and the appearance of great fatigue. Cob Castro then began to apply the pressure to Nunez giving him no room to breathe or move, while targeting the increasingly swollen left eye.

Nunez dug deep in the 9th, producing the best exchanges of the fight, while clearly winning the round and damaging the left eye of Cob Castro. Both fighters came out for the 10th and final round with severely impaired vision. Ringside press had Cob Castro winning 87-83, but the television commentator had it even 85-85!

Nunez’ corner implored him to go for the knockout, “It’s the only chance you have now of winning the fight!” While Cob Castro’s corner instructed him to box and move, “The fight is yours, just don’t get hit by any of his crazy ****!”

Nunez managed to hurt Cob Castro with less than 1:00 minute remaining, and at the sounding of the bell his cornermen hoisted him into the air, seeming to believe he’d pulled out a decision, or at the very least attempting to influence the judges into believing so.

The unanimous decision win for Cob Castro (94-94,96-93,95-94) was well received by the crowd. Next up for Melchor Cob Castro, is an all Mexican clash between he and Humberto Gonzalez for the WBC title.
Castro Wu10 Advances in LIGHT FLY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
+4 USA EAST


FLY
Mark Johnson 9-3 (6) Washington DC
Paul Gonzales 16-6-1 (3) California
Paul Gonzales, at the urging of Bob Arum, postponed his retirement until the conclusion of this fight, and to the surprise of many was an even money bet to win. He looked drained at the weigh-in, as the strain to make 112 is still a struggle for him.

Mark Johnson looked confident and ready to fight when he entered the ring, despite his unimpressive record of 9-3 (6). Despite beating world ranked contenders Hugo Soto and Salvatore Fanni, each by decision, Johnson was not extended an invitation to participate in the World Fly Weight Championship Tournament. Johnson and his team were not at all pleased with this and planned on taking out their frustration on the former Olympic Gold medalist.

Gonzales is still very popular with the crowd, who fondly remember his success at the 1984 Olympics Games in Los Angles. Gonzales supporters in the clash with Mark Johnson pointed to his recent draw with Fanni and experience over the 10 round distance, compared to Johnson, whose biggest professional wins thus far had been 4 round decisions, as reasons for a win by the Los Angles native.

It was all Johnson in round 1 as put Gonzales on the canvas twice. The Olympic Gold medalist had to rely on his years of boxing experience to survive the round and looked exhausted when he went back to his corner. Johnson showed Gonzales no respect in the 2nd and went on an all out attack. Gonzales gave his fans reason to cheer as he made a fight of it, catching the onrushing Johnson with enough flush punches to be winning the round, until a perfectly placed left hook laid him out for the 10 count. Referee Joe Cortez could have counted for several minutes, so devastating was this knockout.
Johnson KO2
+4 USA EAST



Jr. BANTAM TOURNAMENT FIGHT
Luigi Camputaro 24-10 (8) h-Connecticutt
Johnny Tapia 22-0-2 (12) New Mexico
The charismatic, colorful, and undefeated Johnny “Tap, Tap” Tapia entered the ring a 2-1 betting favorite to maintain his undefeated status and advance to the IBF Jr. Bantam Title fight against champion Roberto Quiroga. The more experienced and battle tested Luigi Camputaro promised this fight would be Tapia’s most difficult yet.

After losing his first 6 fights in the World Team Championships, all to contenders via decision, Camputaro was riding a 2 fight winning streak over the respectable Vincenzo Belcastro and Carlos Mercado, and had never been fighting better in his career. There were some boxing experts who felt Tapia was vastly overhyped and not deserving of his placement in the 1992 Jr. Bantam Weight World Championship Tournament. Those same experts pointed to his recent alcohol/drug/law enforcement issues, draw with Thailand’s Sithbaobay Thanmomsak, and only winning by split decision over Nana Konadu.

There were rumors before the fight that Tapia and his team were barely on speaking terms, due to undisclosed reasons. This didn’t prevent many of his Albuquerque fans from making the trip to Vegas, as the crowd was clearly in his corner when the fighters were introduced to the crowd.

In a less than scintillating fight, the superior boxing skills of Tapia kept Camputaro on the defensive and kept the exchanges to a minimum. The fight got better in the 5th when Johnny took the fighting to the inside, possibly to please his numerous fans. The New Mexico natives hand speed was too much for Camputaro, who repeatedly came out on the short end of exchanges. However, the opportunities for Camputaro to land were increasing.

The 7th round was Camputaro’s best so far and the first one press row scored for him. Once again, the television announcers seemed to be watching a different fight entirely, having Tapia only ahead by 2 points.

In the 8th both fighters sat down on their punches, looking to land the big one, but both were tired and little of consequence was landed by either. Tapia followed trainer, Jesse Reid’s, instructions over the final 2 rounds of boxing defensively from the outside. Camputaro for his part, seemed content to allow the fight to go to the cards, and was fairly passive over the final 2 rounds.

Press row had it 99-91 Tapia, however Larry Merchant broadcast to the world that it was a very close fight an d could go either way. He scored the final 4 rounds for Camputaro and had it 96-95 Camputaro! The official judges cards were a split decision for Tapia 99-92, 96-95, and 94-97.
Tapia Ws10 Advances in Jr. BANTAM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
+2 USA WEST


BANTAM TOURNAMENT FIGHT
Greg Richardson 29-8-1 (4) Ohio
Gerardo Martinez 29-1-1 (15) California
For reasons not clarified, and thus unknown, the USA EAST team attempted to have Greg Richardson represent them vs. USA WEST’s Gerardo Martinez. What would have made the most sense would have been for, the living in Florida, Bones Adams to represent USA EAST vs. Martinez. Instead, we had Martinez squaring off against the past his prime Greg Richardson, in what on paper appeared to be a much easier fight. So in a blooper administrative decision and example of keystone cops communication with a team’s promoter, we had an unnecessary BYE win. Regardless of who won the Richardson vs. Martinez match it would be +4 for USA WEST with a Bye win. Whoever was responsible for the scheduling screwed this up BIG TIME!
(That would be me. : ( Bummer. I guess sometimes the game imitates real life in unforeseen ways. I didn’t catch my scheduling error until the fights had been run and written about. It seemed unfair/unjust to Richardson and Cob Castro to make them fight again. Plus, sometimes stuff like this does happen in boxing.)

The well regarded and only once beaten Gerardo Martinez was a 2-1 favorite over the 34 year old veteran Greg “Flea” Richarson. The Ohio native had fought every week of the Team Championship, with all 7 of his fights going the distance and he generally coming out on the losing end of decisions, going 2-4-1. Martinez meanwhile had gone 1-0-1, beating little known Steve Mweme and fighting to a draw with former world title holder Luisito Espinosa.

The crowd was solidly in the corner of Martinez, with many of his fans making the trip from San Jose to cheer him on. With the legendary trainer, Victor Valle in his corner, Richardson was optimistic about scoring an upset decision win.

It was clear by the end of round 1 that Richardson’s foot movement and defensive skills were going to present a challenge for Martinez. By the start of round 4 though, Martinez seemed to have figured out the style of Richardson and was laying some heavy leather on him. It was a visibly tired Richardson who returned to his corner at the end of round 4.

After 5 rounds the ringside press and television commentator were on the same page with Martinez ahead 4 rounds to 1. With Victor Valle urging him on, Richardson found his 2nd wind in the 7th, having his best round of the fight since the 1st. Martinez suddenly appeared tired, having expended lots of energy in the early rounds chasing and hitting Richardson once he caught him.

Sensing that he had the tiring Martinez in a vulnerable position, Richardson uncharacteristically loaded up on his punches while digging to Martinez body. Another round in the books for Richardson, whose prediction of an upset decision victory was starting to look possible. The early mid fight lead of Martinez was rapidly disappearing.

Martinez was charging and throwing bombs, but Richardson continued to evade them and counter effectively. Sensing an upset, many in the crowd were now cheering on Richardson. Ringside press and television had it an even fight going into the 10th and final round. Martinez seemed to think he was way ahead on the cards, as he hardly threw any punches in the key final round.

The unmarked Richardson went to each corner post celebrating what he believed would be an upset decision in his favor. Punchstat supported Richardson’s claim to victory with the numbers 241 to 204 in his favor. The unanimous decision in his favor was mostly well received by the pro Martinez crowd (96-95,96-95, and 96-94). Next up for “Flea” Richardson is a world title fight vs. Orlando Canizales for the IBF belt.
Richardson Wu10, advances in BANTAM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
+4 USA WEST


Jr. FEATHER
Daryl Pinckney 11-13-2 (9) Florida
Paul Banke 21-9 (11) California
With an absolutely horrible record, Daryl Pinckney, was a huge off the board underdog against former world title holder Paul Banke. Over the first 3 rounds Banke applied steady pressure, while ripping the body of Pinckney. It looked like only a matter of time before the huge Florida underdog would be visiting the canvas. Sure enough, early in the 4th Pinckney was on the canvas. One of the few punches to land by Pinckney however opened up a bad gash over Banke’s right eye, which was inspected by ringside doctor during the round. Banke scored 2 more knockdowns in the 6th, and 3 in the 7th and the referee stopped the fight.
Banke TKO7
+3 USA WEST


FEATHER
Tony Green 17-2-2 (13) Pennsylvania
Alfred Rangel 22-7 (13) Texas
The 2-1 underdog, Alfred Rangel, scored a surprise TKO 4 against Philadelphian Tony Green.
Rangel TKO4
+3 USA WEST


Jr. LIGHT
Eugene Speed 21-0 (16) Maryland
Juan Baldwin 14-1 (10) Texas
Eugene Speed motored his way to a fairly uneventful, yet dominating, win against the overmatched Juan Baldwin. The scoring was unanimous by a wide margin for Speed, who did little in this fight to support his claim that he should have been included in the Jr. Light Weight World Championship Tournament.
Speed Wu10
+2 USA EAST


LIGHT
David Sample 18-0 (6) Pennsylvania
Kelcie Banks 19-3-1 (11) California
This matchup went David Sample’s way from the start, as he won a fairly wide unanimous decision.
Sample Wu10
+2 USA WEST


Jr. WELTER
Livingstone Bramble 33-8-2 (21) New Jersey
Greg Haugen 30-8 (14) Washington
There was plenty of trash talk exchanged between these two characters. Despite the critical and harsh words, the impression given was that both had some genuine respect for the other. After his disappointing performance in the Team Championship fights, Haugen was eager to get back on the winning track and prove that he was still capable of beating world class competition. The larger than life, Livingstone Bramble, would be a stern test to accomplish this against.

The Las Vegas odds makers had Bramble listed as a 3-2 favorite. Haugen’s recent lack luster showings against Lester Ellis Ls4, Tony McKenzie Lu4, and Ike Quartey Lu4 supported those odds. Bramble entered the ring ripe with confidence. The Bramble-Haugen clash was the most anticipated on the card. Haugen had plenty of fan support, however Bramble wasn’t without his own vocal supporters.

The ring center stare down was intense, as referee Richard Steele gave out final instructions. Bramble started intently while saying something not quite audible and Haugen replied with a smiling smirk. Haugen was the first to land, but Bramble replied with a well placed jab to Haugen’s face. The stood at ring center and exchanged blow for blow. The crowd erupted as the fight was living up to expectations right from the get go!

Haugen fought more defensively in the 2nd round, but once again was effective. The 3rd belonged to Bramble, and the 4th was an even better round for him. In the 5th Haugen sustained a cut on the corner of his right, as another round went into the books for Bramble. Haugen’s cut was flowing blood more profusely in the 6th, while Bramble had his best round yet in the fight and Haugen’s right was beginning to swell

With 34 seconds remaining in the 7th round, on the advice of the ringside physician, Richard Steele stopped the fight due to severity of Haugen’s cut. Haugen complained bitterly, but it was of no use.
Bramble TKO7
USA EAST +3


WELTER
Daryl Lattimore 18-6 (9) Maryland
David Gonzales 30-1-1 (20) California
After the exciting Bramble-Haugen brawl, much of the crowd chose this fight as the one to take a food break during and rest up for the evening matches. At no point during the day or evening was the crowd quieter than during this fight. The fighters put forth a good effort, but neither rose above the other and the resulting draw was an accurate verdict.
Ds10 +0


Jr. MIDDLE
Verno Phillips 19-4-1 (10) New York
Gilbert Baptist 24-13 (9) California
Phillips was outboxing Baptist over the first 4 rounds, but fouling often and being warned for this by Mills Lane. Baptist began to retaliate with fouling of his own and round 6 had a point taken away for head butting. Baptist appeared exhausted coming out of his corner for the 8th round and was practically lifted off his stool and pushed out of his corner when the bell rang to start the round. Baptist hit the canvas in the 8th for the count of 6. To Baptist’s credit he gave it all he had for the remainder of the fight, never stopped trying to win, and made it to hear the final bell.
Phillips Wu4
+2 USA EAST


MIDDLE
Percy Harris 15-3 (9) Maryland
Thomas Tate 25-1 (18) Texas
The 4-1 favorite Thomas Tate outboxed Percy Harris on route to the unanimous decision victory.
Tate Wu10
+2 USA WEST


SUPER MIDDLE
Tony Thornton 30-4-2 (22) New Jersey
Frankie Liles 22-0 (14) h-Nevada
The Tony Thornton vs. Frankie Liles fight had much appeal to boxing fans. Liles had missed making the Olympic team in 1988 when he lost to Roy Jones Jr. His career was off to a good start as a pro. The veteran contender from New Jersey, Tony Thornton, would be Liles biggest test yet as a professional. Although born and raised on the East Coast in Syracuse, New York, Liles was now calling the West Coast his home in Las Vegas.

The tall southpaw Liles showed in the 1st that his size was going to be a problem for the much shorter Thornton. Liles fought a defensive fight over the first 5 rounds and had little trouble scoring while avoiding Thornton’s blows. Thornton became desperate in the late rounds, knowing that he had to be far behind on the scorecards. Liles continued to dominate though and Thornton showed impressive toughness to last the full 10 rounds.

As expected the decision was unanimous for Liles by wide margins of: 99-92, 99-91, and 98-93. Liles showed in this fight that he will certainly be a force to be reckoned with in the super middle weight division and the current fighters in the Super Middle Weight World Championship Tournament can consider themselves fortunate that Liles is not in it.
Liles Wu10
+2 USA WEST

LIGHT HEAVY
Doug DeWitt 32-9-4 (19) New York
David Vedder 15-10-3 (3) California
DeWitt looked much smaller than David Vedder when the fighters stood at ring center. The light heavy weight division appears to be at least one division to heavy for the tough DeWitt to be fighting at. The fans were cheering for the smaller DeWitt and appreciated his effort. In the 3rd he started getting to Vedder and in the 5th he rocked the Californian on 2 occasions.

Vedder had his best round of the fight in the 6th to pull even on most observers scorecards. DeWitts conditioning was superior and it showed in the fights last rounds as he began to push the larger man around the ring and was busting up his eye with swelling and a cut.

The crowd seemed to think DeWitt had won by a reasonable margin and punchstat supported them, with punches landed numbers favoring DeWitt 295-263. The judges though had it 95-95, 95-95, and 97-93 DeWitt for a majority draw, which was not at all well received by the crowd.
Dm10 +0

CRUISER
Seamus McDonagh 20-3-1 (14) h-New York
Jesse Shelby 21-12-1 (17) New Mexico
The Irish born, but now living in New York, Seamus McDonagh entered the ring a 2-1 favorite to beat the veteran Jesse Shelby. The pressure was on McDonagh to win, as his USA EAST team was down 18-15 with only 2 fights remaining in this Team Championship match with USA WEST. McDonagh could tie it up with a TKO win.

Shelby was upset at the odds, with him as the 2-1 underdog and justifiably so when one remembers the what happened the 1st time these two fought. On June 21st of 1991, almost exactly 1 year ago, Shelby hammered McDonagh on route to a 7th round TKO victory. For his part, McDonagh was looking to avenge that earlier defeat.

McDonagh appeared a bit heavy when he entered the ring and one had to question if he was in the best shape. Shelby jumped right on the Irishman, planning to continue what he’d done to McDonagh in their previous matchup. Although rocked, McDonagh hung in tough and replied with some decent shots of his own.

McDonagh was on his toes boxing from the outside in round 2. The change in tactics proved effective. Shelby landed less than in the 1st and was on the receiving end of several bone rattling combos.

Following the instructions of his trainer, Tommy Gallagher, McDonagh continued to box smartly from the outside. At some point though, early in the 3rd round, he injured his right hand and began to periodically shake it in pain.

Despite the pain McDonagh continued to throw his right hand and it paid off with a knockdown of Shelby for the count of 7 in the 4th round. Shelby was also cut over his right eye and began holding McDonagh at every opportunity.

In the 5th McDonagh took to the fight to the inside and began ripping Shelby with punches. Shelby attempted to fight back and did manage to land some, but he was doing so behind a crimson mask of blood. With less than 10 seconds to go in the round and Shelby obviously unable to see the punches coming at him the referee stopped the fight.

The stoppage win gave the USA EAST team a total of +18 points, tying them with USA WEST. This meant the main event, and final fight on the card would decide the Team Championship.
McDonagh TKO5
+3 USA EAST

HEAVY
Carl Williams 24-5 (19) New York
Tony Tubbs 31-3 (19) h-California
The Carl “The Truth” Williams vs. Tony “TNT” Tubbs would decide if the undefeated USA WEST would win the TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP or if USA EAST could pull of an upset. The score was dramatically tied at +18 all. USA WEST had won more matches so far going 7-6­-2 (2), but USA EAST had scored more wins inside the distance (3).

Williams took the 1st behind his powerful jab. Tubbs seemed to get the better of the exchanges in the 2nd and 3rd and rounds. The 4th was even until Tubbs landed what appeared to be an inadvertent low blow, that left Williams on the canvas clutching his groin. “The Truth” took about 2 minutes to recover, and referee Mills Lane deducted a point from Tubbs on the scorecards for the infraction.

Tubbs appeared very tired in the 5th and 6th and forced to eat Williams jab throughout both rounds. “TNT” came out looking to detonate some on Williams in the 7th and had one of his better rounds in the process.

Williams corner instructed him to play it safe for the rest of the fight cause he had the fight in the bag. Meanwhile Tubbs corner told him he needed a KO to win and that’s exactly what he tried to make happen. Williams did not listen to his corner though and attempted land a KO blow of his own. The crowd loved it as both fighters ripped shots of one another’s noggin. Although their spirits were willing neither was able to land anything of consequence during the fights final 3 minutes.

Team promoters Bob Arum and Russell Peltz stood in the ring awaiting the decision with as much anticipation, or more, than the fighters. The scorecards would determine not only who won the fight, but which team had the best fighters in the world. Punchstat favored Williams 225 to 186. Combine that with the point deduction, and the unofficial scorecard of Harold Lederman for Williams 96-94 and it appeared that USA EAST would claim the 1st ever TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP trophy.

Michael Buffer had the call, “A unanimous decision by the scores of 95-94, 96-93, and 96-93 for the winner, not only of the fight, but as the representative of the winner of the Team WORLD Championship…..from USA EAST CARL “The TRUTH” WILLIAMS!!!!!
Williams Wu10
+2 USA EAST


USA EAST +20 7-7-2 (3) WINS
USA WEST +18 7-7-2 (2)