[Crimson]

Saturday, December 26^th, 1992
Atlantic City Broadwalk Hall; Atlantic City, NJ
Sergei Artemiev 19-1-1 (12) Russia WBA IBF
vs.
Tony Lopez 46-3-1 (29) California WBC WBO
- There was some concern that the cut Lopez suffered in his fight against Todd Foster hadn’t fully healed.
- The 3 judges were from Argentina, Venezuela, and New Jersey; the referee was Larry Hazzard of New Jersey.
- Tony Lopez was listed as a 2-1 faovorite.
- Both fighters entered the ring in perfect shape, with Lopez putting extra time on his conditioning.
(Punches landed numbers for each round are listed in parentheses next to the name of the fighter who landed more punches.)
ROUND 1: In typical Lopez fashion, the hero of Sacramento found himself on the canvas and needing to make a dramatic comeback in order to win. When initially hit by the Artemiev uppercut, Lopez pitched forward landing directly on his face. He looked to be completely out, and it would have been understandable had referee Arthur Mercante Sr. ruled the fight a knockout and ended it right there. However, his veteran experience expertise judgment enabled him to make the right call and give Lopez a chance to get up. On wobbly legs Lopez rose, but managed to indicate that he was ready for more. (Artemiev 43-6)
ROUND 2: Lopez did a good imitation of the Muhammad Ali “rope-a-dope”, while getting his legs back under him. Artemiev seemed unsure of how to attack the passive Lopez and hardly threw any punches all round, allowing Lopez off the hook. (Lopez 13-0)
ROUND 3: A good action round, with Lopez seeming to have recovered from his first round disaster. Lopez was giving his third warning off the fight for fouling, this time for hitting on the break. (Artemiev 28-18)
ROUND 4: More slam bam action in round 4, with Lopez having 1 point deducted by Mercante Sr. for some excessive “holding and hitting”. (Lopez 36-21)
ROUND 5: Like two bulls the fighters met at center ring in battle of wills to back the other up. Neither took a backward step, but it was Lopez who initiated some holding, after some Artemiev left and rights caught him flush. (Artemiev 43-36)
ROUND 6: Ringside Expert Mike Hanson had Artemiev ahead by 2 points, 48-46, entering round 6. Neither fighter had a mark on their face. Punches landed favored Artemiev 135-109. Lopez attempted to box from the outside, but was not allowed to as Artemiev applied non-stop pressure and forced Lopez to eventually stand his ground along the ropes and punch back. The punches of Artemiev were beginning to snap back the head of Lopez and blood was spewing from his mouth. At 2:54 of the round with Lopez absorbing punch after punch, while pinned against the ropes, referee Arthur Mercante Sr. stopped the fight, declaring that Sergei Artemiev was the LIGHT WEIGHT WORLD CHAMPION!
Sergei Artemiev TKO6 Tony Lopez (wins LIGHT WEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP)
POST FIGHT: All 3 judges had Artemiev ahead at the time of the stoppage 48-45, 49-44, and 49-45. There was no complaint by Lopez or his camp regarding the stoppage. When interviewed by Larry Merchant after the fight Artemiev was non-committal about who he’d fight next, saying that was up to his management team and he wanted to take a brief vacation with his wife and infant son. The management of Artemiev expressed little concern with making a future defense against the new 1# Mandatory Contender Tracy Spann, pointing out “Spann lost a 10 round unanimous decision to the guy Sergei just destroyed. Why should we be worried about Spann?”

UNDERCARD
6# Tracy Spann 27-2 (17) New Jersey
vs. (12 rounds, for the new 1# mandatory contender ranking)
9# Leavender Johnson 17-0 (13) New Jersey
- There was some complaining from within the boxing community, and by the camps of fighters ranked higher than Spann or Johnson, that they should be in the fight to determine the new 1# Light Weight division contender. A battle between #3 Jean-Baptiste Mendy and 4# Miguel Angel Gonzalez was argued as the most logical pairing. Others argued that a fight to determine the new 1# Mandatory contender should not be fought until after the Artemiev-Lopez Championship match, as the loser of that fight might be deserving of fighting to become the new mandatory. As good as those arguments were, in the end they didn’t matter, as the promoter of the fight, Don King, was allowed to determine who’d be in that matchup. The only stipulation being both fighters had to be ranked in the top 10#. Don King selected Tracy Spann and Leavender Johnson, primarily since both are from New Jersey and it would increase the attendance, along with adding to the local New Jersey boxing buzz.
- The hard punching Johnson had looked very impressive in recent outings, and appeared to have the making of a future World Champion. This lead to him being a 2-1 favorite.
- In a fantastic fight, that had the fans on their feet throughout, Tracy Spann and Leavander Johnson puton a brawl that will be remembered for many years by New Jersey boxing fans. Johnson was ahead on the scorecards 67-64, 67-66, and 67-66, with punches landed also favoring Johnson 247 to 176, when Tracy Spann knocked Johnson out at 2:22 of round 8 with a humungous uppercut.
- Spann had 1 point deducted in round 6 by the referee for a low blow.
- Spann is now the 1# Mandatory Contender, and must receive a shot at the World Championship by 12-26-93. He was awarded with a giant silver trophy in the ring, once the decision had been announced, that represents his standing as the 1# contender for the LIGHT WEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.
Tracy Spann KO8 Leavander Johnson

8# Joey Gamache 29-1 (18) Maine
vs. (10 rounds)
Rocky Lockridge 44-9 (36) New Jersey
- After losing wide decisions earlier in the year to contenders Sharmba Mitchell and Rafael Ruelas, there were some who thought it was time for Lockridge to retire.
- Gamache dished out a beating to Lockridge over 10 rounds, handily winning a unanimous decision by the scores of 89-90, 97-90, and 96-92.
- Lockridge did manage to explode with a left hook out of no man’s land in round 3 to put Gamache down hard, but that would be his only moment of glory in the fight.
- In round 5 the referee deducted 1 point from Lockridge for headbutting.
- Gamache floored Lockridge in round 6, and by the end of the fight the Duva fighter’s right eye was partly closed (7).
Rocky Lockridge vs. Juan LaPorte
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOepBl51UbE&feature=related
Rocky Lockridge vs. Julio Cesar Chavez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73pHX8u7Hjc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVb_-U3D91A&feature=related
Rocky Lockridge vs. Roger Mayweather
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxcYHe4Xj4I
Rocky Lockridge 2009 video on being homeless
http://videos.nj.com/star-ledger/2009/06/former_boxing_champ_rocky_lock.html


Anthony Boyle 22-3-1 (11) Pennsylvania
vs. (10 rounds)
12# Shane Knox 17-1-2 (10) Australia
- Shane Knox represented Australia as a feather weight in the 1988 Olympic Games. He had temporarily retired in 1991, but came back earlier this year to fight in the “Team Championship” fights. With less than 17 fights at the time, Knox performed respectably (Wm4 Rafael Ruelas, Lm4 Carl Crook, D4 Ricardo Silva, and D4 Jorge Paez), but not well enough for an invitation to the "Light Weight World Championship Tournament". He was hoping that a win over the well respected fringe contender, Anthony Boyle, would vault him from 12# ranked into the top 10#.
- Anthony Boyle was coming off an 11^th round stoppage loss against Frankie Mitchell, for the NABF title in June. Boyle had plenty of fans travel in from Pennsylvania to cheer him on.
- The comebacking Knox was a 3-1 favorite to defeat Boyle.
- Boyle dug himself a hole, losing the first 4 rounds, that he never was able to overcome on the scorecards. Neither fighter was down, cut, or bruised. Boyle threw punches in bunches down the stretch, but it was a case of too little too late. The judges had it split: 97-93 Boyle (what!), and 97-93, 97-95 for Knox.
Shane Knox Ws10 Anthony Boyle