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News Updates - Heavyweight Prelim - Round 5
Foreman dominates, Moorer eats, Sullivan explodes, and the town of Brockton rejoices!
CINCINNATI, OH - Preliminary Round 5 saw 3 matchups between undefeated fighters, along with 7 matchups that featured all 14 winless fighters. Obviously, something had to give.
The first thing to give on the night was the chin of Mike Tyson. Tyson continued his disappointing and perplexing start against Big George Foreman. Tyson was floored early in the 1st round by a huge right hand, and never truly recovered. Foreman continued blasting away until the fight was mercifully called to a halt by referee Steve Smoger late in the 4th round. Foreman improved to 5-0, while Tyson fell to 2-3.
In
the next fight, undefeated Sonny Liston delivered a vicious early beating to
Gentleman Jim Corbett, but Corbett survived long enough to deliver the night's
first shocking moment. In the 12th round, a weary Corbett landed a perfect
left hook that sent Liston to the canvas. Liston looked all but finished,
but he managed to struggle to his feet and finish the round. Corbett
continued to attack for the remaining three rounds, but he couldn't find the
range as Liston took the unanimous decision.
The next thing to give was the
temper of the fiery, and struggling, John
L. Sullivan. In the third round of his fight with the winless Max Baer,
Sullivan threw a series of blatant rabbit punches. Smoger, who had already
penalized Sullivan for low blows earlier in the round, responded by
disqualifying Sullivan. Sullivan lost control and attempted to attack
Smoger, but was restrained by his corner. The commissioner's office is
expected to issue a ruling on Sullivan's conduct by tomorrow. Inside
sources suspect a suspension may be forthcoming.
The last thing to give was
Michael Moorer's diet. After a 2-0-1 start, Moorer showed up for his
rematch with Joe Walcott out of shape and paid for it. Tonight, he managed
to arrive in even worse condition for his fight with the unbeaten Jack Dempsey.
The Manassa Mauler made Moorer pay, flooring him twice in a brutal four round
drubbing.
These fireworks, however, were just a warmup for the 3 biggest fights of the night: Joe Louis vs. Gene Tunney, Muhammed Ali vs. Evander Holyfield, and Jack Johnson vs. Rocky Marciano.
In the first of the three co-features, Joe Louis controlled the action until the 4th round, when Tunney landed a wild right hand that dropped the Brown Bomber. While Tunney took control of the action, Louis continued landing big left hooks to the right eye of The Fighting Marine. By the 8th round, Tunney's eye was completely shut, and Louis was awarded a TKO win.
Evander Holyfield proved to the world once again that he is a great warrior, but his skills were simply no match for Muhammed Ali. Down 5 times, Holyfield never stopped coming, but could earn no more than the cheers of the crowd as Ali cruised to a unanimous decision victory.
The
best fight of the night was the classic battle between undefeated foes Jack
Johnson and Rocky Marciano. While most experts predicted Johnson's boxing
skills would be too much for the awkward Marciano, the fight quickly became a
bloody, tightly contested brawl. While Johnson landed more punches, he
simply could not keep the relentless Marciano away. By the 10th round, The
Brockton Blockbuster was landing huge shots on the exhausted Johnson. A
right cross dropped Johnson for an eight count, and soon after, a flurry of
punches lead to a surprise knockout victory for Marciano, who improved to 5-0.
For complete results, check the "fight results" section.
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