This was Chavez’s first defense of his WBC light welterweight title since his unsuccessful attempt to win Pernell Whitaker’s welterweight title.

THE OPPONENT – Andy Holligan (21-0-0, 15 KOs) from Liverpool, England, began his pro boxing career in 1987. He was undefeated with twenty-one wins and had won and successfully defended the British and Commonwealth light welterweight titles three times. He had even been compared to Duran, but this would be the only fight he would ever have outside of the United Kingdom. Coming into the Chavez fight, he was ranked #4 by the WBC In 1994 he would lose a British light welterweight title fight with a third round TKO by Ross Hale but won his title back in 1996, knocking out Paul Ryan in one. Holligan then had a shot at the WBU light welterweight title in 1998 against Shea Neary. He lost that fight by a sixth-round TKO, though, and retired from boxing with a record of 27-3 (19).

ROUND ONE – Though Holligan was nicknamed “Hands of Stone,” he was the one who was already hurt by a left hook to the head within the first seconds of the fight. He regained his composure though and continued to trade hooks with Chavez as the crowd was chanting his opponent’s name. The middle round was more dull, though, as Chavez was fighting while backing up and neither fighter was throwing many punches. Towards the end of the round, they started throwing again, hooks and uppercuts with their heads in close, Chavez’s punches showing more of an effect than Holligan’s.

CORNER – In Holligan’s corner were Colin Moorcroft (trainer), Carl Moorcroft, Chuck Bodak and Dave Maguire (cutman). In Chavez’s corner were Cristobal Rosas (trainer), J. “Buffalo” Martin (asst. trainer), Rodolfo Chavez and Daniel Castro.

ROUND TWO – Chavez continued to back up while fighting this round but was clearly in control of the fight. Holligan did got in some good punches in close, but Chavez was landing combos and his hooks were making Holligan’s face a bright red.

ROUND THREE – Chavez were working in close, knocking heads a few times. Chavez landed more and more punches on his opponent, who was increasingly focused on defense. In the last half minute, Holligan landed some good shots while Chavez was against the ropes including a strong left hook to the body, but Chavez was unaffected and came back with a combo to Holligan’s head to close the round. The blood on Holligan’s face this round may have been from a broken nose.

ROUND FOUR – Holligan was a little refreshed between rounds and came out with more offense, landing some good shots and a couple of combos, which Chavez took and responded to in turn. He seemed very relaxed and waited for openings to land his punches. After being pressed against the ropes by Holligan and punched at a little, Chavez spent the last few seconds of the round landing hooks and uppercuts on his opponent in response to the crowd’s chant of “Mexico! Mexico!”

ROUND FIVE – The round started out slow, with the fighters standing at a boxer’s distance. A minute in, Chavez was warned to keep his punches up. Chavez landed a left right combo, but Holligan came in with his own combos, pressing Chavez against the ropes, though not landing any hard punches. They went back on the inside, heads close together where Chavez was able to land a number of hooks and uppercuts on his opponent. Holligan was fighting back but was visibly hurt by Chavez’s punches. He landed a couple of uneffective punches in the last half minute, but the rest of that time was being battered by Chavez. His eye was cut also at the end of the round, and Holligan’s corner stopped the fight during the break, giving Chavez the TKO victory.

ALSO ON THE CARD – Michael Nunn successfully defended his WBA super middleweight title with a decision over Merqui Sosa. WBC light middleweight champ Terry Norris was knocked out in the fourth round by Simon Brown, losing his title and making Ring Magazine’s 1993 Upset of the Year. Hector Camacho scored a first round TKO over Lee Fortune. Oliver McCall knocked out Art Card in one. Thomas Tate scored a ninth-round TKO over Rolando Torres. Tony Tucker scored a second-round TKO over David Graves.

Location: Puebla, Mexico
Venue: Estadio Cuauhtemoc
Scheduled: 12 Rounds
Title: WBC Junior Welterweight
Referee: Arthur Mercante
Judge: Chuck Hassett 50-44
Judge: Dalby Shirley 50-45
Judge: Nicolas Hidalgo 50-45
Result: TKO5

Promoter: Don King
Broadcast: Showtime
Ring Announcer: Jimmy Lennon Jr.
Attendance: 35,000
Temperature: mid-40s