THE OPPONENT – Kyung-Duk Ahn was the WBC mandatory challenger. He had a record of 29-1 (12 KOs), had never been knocked down in a fight (his one loss was in a twelve round decision), and had held the Korean and OPBF light welterweight titles. However, Ahn had not been tested in the international community as he had only one previous fight (Rodolfo Batta) which was not against a Korean or a Phillipino. After the beating he took in this fight, Ahn retired permanently from boxing.

ROUND ONE – The fight got off to a slow start. Chavez was blocking most of Ahn’s jabs, but Ahn was able to land a few punches while throwing combinations. Most of the punching came from Chavez, although a few of his body punches seemed a little low. HBO PunchStat showed Chavez as landing 20 out of 47 punches (43%) that round, and Ahn 7 out of 46 (15%).

ROUND TWO – A straight right just 26 seconds into the round dropped Ahn on his back. Though not badly hurt, he rested a few seconds before getting up at the count of six. Running from Chavez afterwards he almost tripped over the referee and then clinched. Chavez continued to throw hooks to both the head and body. Ahn tried to staying low to avoid getting hit, but that just put him that much closer to the canvas where he was again at one minute ten seconds into the round. Ahn was up at just three this time. After the mandatory eight count, Chavez came at him strongly, hooking at him against the ropes. However, Ahn continued to move and throw punches. Even though most weren’t landing, they kept Chavez off enough for him to survive the round.

ROUND THREE – This round started in close with frequent hooks being thrown by both fighters. About thirty seconds into the round, Ahn went down while in the corner. Chavez, seeing that he was down, stopped throwing punches and backed up a little before realizing that Ahn had not actually touched the canvas; he was just very low and partly resting on the lower rope. This gave Ahn time to move out, and he then used the jab to keep his distance while Chavez was taking his time pursuing Ahn and occassionally getting in the hook to the body (usually a little low). When Ahn was by the ropes again, Chavez used the opportunity to get in a left and then a straight right which landed on the back of Ahn’s already lowered head. When Ahn got up at four this time, he told the referee he did not want to continue, giving Chavez the TKO win at 2:14.

HBO PUNCHSTAT – Chavez landed 75 out of 151 punches thrown (50%). Ahn landed about half that at 39 out of 137 (29%).

ALSO ON THE CARD – Mike Tyson made quick work of Alex Stewart, knocking him out in the first round. Donovan “Razor” Ruddock also scored a first round KO in his fight over Mike Rouse. IBF welterweight champ Simon Brown knocked out Ozzie O’Neal in the first. Heavyweight Tyrell Biggs won a ten-round unanimous decision over Rodolfo Marin. Former WBC super lightweight champ Lonnie Smith TKO’ed Eduardo Valdez in the second.

Location: Atlantic City, New Jersey
Venue: Atlantic City Convention Center
Scheduled: 12 Rounds
Titles: WBC/IBF Junior Welterweight
Referee: Tony Perez
Judge: Frank Brunette 20-16
Judge: Franz Marti 20-17
Judge: Angel L. Guzman 20-16
Promoter: Don King, Trump Plaza
Broadcast: HBO
Commentator: Larry Merchant
Commentator: Jim Lampley
Attendance: 17,211