Chavez stopped Duplessis (36-1-0, 25 KOs) in the fourth in his last defense before vacating the IBC title.
THE OPPONENT – John Duplessis grew up in a tough neighborhood of New Orleans. He managed to stay clean, though, and became a professional boxer in 1984. When he fought Chavez, the only blemish on his record was a controversial decision three years earlier to Louie Lomeli (in Lomeli’s hometown Chicago), but the wins he had accumulated since that fight brought him up to the WBC #4 contender position. In 1995, with a record of 40-3 (26) he would retire from boxing after a TKO loss to Adrian Stone. Duplessis entered the ring this night to “This is It” by Kenny Loggins, the Butch Lewis Productions theme song.
ROUND ONE – Duplessis spent most of this round moving left and right, hardly throwing any punches. It is obvious as he didn’t want to get too close to Chavez; the punches was throwing often times were nowhere near his opponent and the rest of the times landed only on gloves. Meanwhile Chavez was following him, occassionally getting in close enough to land a few shots. However, whenever Chavez got in close, Duplessis clinched with him. In the first instance, Chavez threw an uppercut while the referee was trying to break the clinch and was warned. There were very few punches landed in this round.
CORNER – In Chavez’s corner were Cristobal Rosas (trainer) Jose Martin (cutman) Jose Daniel Castro, and Rodolfo Chavez (brother). In Duplessis’s corner (wearing shirts that said ‘Maurice Blocker’ as they were on his team also) were Jerry Celestine (co-trainer), Eddie Futch (co-trainer), Nelson Brison (co-trainer), and Jim Strickland (cutman).
ROUND TWO – Duplessis got in a few light punches to start the round. Chavez had to lunge at him to get his own shots in. Dupless clinched twice, each time with Chavez wrestling with him a little to get him off. Duplessis then tried getting behind Chavez and grabbing him from there, which the referee quickly broke. For some reason the audience cheered at this. And yet again Duplessis clinched, but this time with Chavez getting in few vicious body hooks. Finally, Duplessis landed a solid right, getting a crowd reaction and sending Chavez backwards a little. On track now, he landed a few more punches, before getting trapped against the ropes and then floored with a body shot. Duplessis got up at three and took the mandatory eight. It was in the last minute of the fight now. Chavez looked to end it, landing a few hard punches. However, it was hard to keep up with the running Duplessis, who would then clinch whenever in close.
ROUND THREE – Once again, Duplessis came out running, his only offense unlanding or ineffective jabs. Chavez tried to get in to work the body, but Duplessis clinched. The second time he did so this round, Chavez pushed upwards on Duplessis’ chin causing visible pain and trying to get the message across to stop clinching. It didn’t quite work, as Duplessis held on to him once more that round. In the final thirty seconds, Chavez was finally able to find his opponent, working him mostly in the body, as Duplessis’ corner was shouting, “Get out of there! Get out of there!”
ROUND FOUR – At the request of his corner, Chavez started looking for more head shots this round, a slight inconvenience which gave Duplessis time to get in a few of his own. Duplessis then grabbed Chavez, trying to push him down. In the next clinch, Chavez hit him with a few slightly low body shots; the referee warned him for low blows. After a little more running, Duplessis landed a solid right to which Chavez didn’t even flinch. In the last minute of the round, two hard rights of Chavez backed Duplessis up into the corner. The following two didn’t land as Duplessis was already on his way to the canvas, but a final body punch helped propel the challenger through the ropes rather than onto the canvas. The crowd erupted, as they saw Duplessis dangling momentarily through the ropes. Padilla waved the fight off as Duplessis got right back up with a look of disappointment in his face. A few booed the stoppage, while others chanted “Mexico.” Duplessis repeated to himself “Aw, man, Aw, man” as he walked back to his corner and Chavez held up his gloved hand in victory. It was obvious that Duplessis could have continued after the knockdown, but it was also obvious that he couldn’t have won. Referee Carlos Padilla’s stoppage at 2:42 of the fourth round upped Chavez’s record to 75 and 0.
THE CARD – Other matches on the night’s Don King-promoted card were:
·Bernard Hopkins TKO3 Steve Langley
·Roberto Duran TKO6 by Pat Lawlor (due to a shoulder injury suffered by Duran)
·Mike Tyson TKO7 Donovan “Razor” Ruddock
·Simon Brown TKO10 Maurice Blocker (unifies WBC/IBF Welterweight titles)
·Justin Juuko KO3 Gilberto Diaz
·Greg Page TKO3 Mark Young
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Venue: Mirage Hotel & Casino
Scheduled: 12 Rounds
Titles: WBC/IBF Junior Welterweight
Referee: Carlos Padilla
Judge: Bernie Cormier 30-26
Judge: Omar Minton 30-26
Judge: Dalby Shirley 30-26
Promotor: Don King
Broadcast: KingVision / Showtime PPV
Announcer: Jimmy Lennon Jr.
Mexican National Anthem: Sung by Manuel Mijares
Commentator: Steve Albert
Commentator: Ferdie Pacheco
Chavez Purse: $2 million
Duplessis Purse: $100,000
Odds: 20-1