Chavez won a sixth-round TKO over #1 contender Terrence Alli (52-7-2, 21 KOs), to retain his WBC junior welterweight title.
THE OPPONENT – Terrence Alli, of Guyana, began his pro boxing career in 1979. By 1985, he had worked his way up enough in the rankings to get a shot at the IBF lightweight title but lost by an eleventh-round TKO to Harry Arroyo. However, he got another title shot the following year after having accumulated five more wins and a draw with Cornelius Boza-Edwards; this time he won an unanimous decison over Miguel Santana to gain the vacant USBA lightweight title. He had a shot at winning the vacant WBC title also in 1987 but lost that shot to Jose Luis Ramirez. By the time of his next title shot in 1991, he had accumulated several notable wins, including one over Darryl Tyson, and only two losses–to Rodolfo Aguilar and to Roger Mayweather. This next shot was for the NABF light welterweight title, which he won from John Meekins. After adding seven more wins to his record (including one over Primo Ramos), Alli was set to try for Chavez’s WBC version of the title. Unfortunately, after the bout, he was unable to win any of his next eight fights and retired in 1997 with a record of 52-15-2 (21).
ROUND ONE – Terrence Alli came running out of his corner at the start of the round, but stopped abruptly once he got at the right distance to land his jab from. He worked around Chavez throwing that jab, the left hook or a cross to the body at regular intervals but wasn’t landing any good shots. After watching Alli a bit, Chavez started throwing some punches of his own, starting off with a good left hook. At about two minutes into the round, Chavez caught Alli with a strong left hook that sent him backwards and towards the canvas. However, Alli’s mind was still sharp, and he masterfully caught himself in a squat just before reaching the canvas and got back up. Chavez became more aggressive after seeing his opponent hurt and came in close landing more clean shots. Alli had to clinch a couple of times during the final minute but was still landing a few good punches.
CORNER – In Alli’s corner were trainer Mark Harrison, Brian Muller, Moe Smith and Bob Yourie. Chavez remained standing between rounds; in his corner were trainer Cristobal Rosas, assistant trainer J. “Buffalo” Martin, Rodolfo Chavez and Daniel Castro.
ROUND TWO – The fighters were trading punches, but Chavez was landing hard body hooks that made Alli clinch every time. Alli was working off the jab and landing an occassional combo. A combination to the head staggered him a little, but he kept trading while taking hard shots from Chavez and even did a little shuffle to distract him before landing a combo to the head. Though he landed a number of punches, none of them were effective. Chavez remained cool and calmly and efficiently set to work, throwing hooks to the head and body and the occassional right cross. In the last thirty seconds, Chavez’s hooks to the body strayed a little low a couple of times, and referee Carlos Padilla warned him about it both times.
ROUND THREE – Alli was strong in the beginning of the round. The fighters were in close, and he was landing the majority of the punches, many in combos, as well as some good uppercuts to the head. A minute into the round, though, Chavez landed a good combination to Alli’s head which knocked out his mouthpiece. After the mouthpiece was replaced, both fighters continued to go at it again, throwing and landing a great deal. Chavez was now getting in the cross, the uppercut, hooks to the head and body, but Alli was taking them flush and still fighting back with everything he had as both fighters focused on offense rather than defense for this action-packed round.
ROUND FOUR – The fighters were head-to-head. Alli was getting in some punches, but it was a perfect position for Chavez to repeatedly land hard hooks flat on his right cheek, one of which again knocked out Alli’s mouthpiece. It was replaced, and Chavez worked the body some more. Alli was slowed a little by the body punches, but it was barely noticeable as he continued throwing and landing some hard shots which would have hurt anyone but the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez.
ROUND FIVE – This round started out slower, with both fighters throwing only one punch at a time. Alli then started throwing combos but landed only light punches or none at all, as Chavez bobbed and weaved under them. Chavez took most of this round off, throwing only a few punches while Alli growled and punched aggressively though ineffectively. In the last half minute of the round, though, Chavez came back with a series of hooks to Alli’s head. Alli stumbled back against the ropes but then responded with a combo of his own. However, Chavez still had ten seconds left to batter Alli, who was visibly hurt and probably very grateful when the bell rang to save him from the beating he was taking.
ROUND SIX – Alli didn’t have a chance to get started this round. Chavez came straight out and battered him. After just fifteen seconds of punishment, Alli was already on his back. He was on his feet at four, though, and was fine after the mandatory eight-count. Chavez started battering him again but was missing a lot of his punches. Alli was composed enough to throw two punches just before referee Carlos Padilla stepped in. Padilla paused when he saw Alli punching back and rather than stopping the fight put his hands together and said “Box.” However, Chavez had already seen him approaching with his hands ready to wave and had jumped onto the turnbuckle to celebrate his victory. Rather than pull Chavez back in and punish him for celebrating pre-maturely, Padilla indecisively allowed the champion to declare it a TKO victory. Most of the audience was booing loudly as Jimmy Lennon, Jr, announced the official time as 45 seconds into the round.
THE MAIN EVENT – WBC heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis retained his title after winning an unanimous decision over Tony Tucker. Also on the card, the WBC middleweight champ Julian Jackson lost his title to Gerald McClellan after being TKO’ed in the fifth. Meldrick Taylor won a second round TKO of Henry Hughes. Oba Carr beat Eric Valdez on a decision. Hector Camacho earned a fifth-round TKO over Eric Podolak. Middleweight Thomas Tate TKO’ed Eddie Hall in one.
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Venue: Thomas & Mack Center
Scheduled: 12 Rounds
Title: WBC Junior Welterweight
Referee: Carlos Padilla
Judge: Chuck Giampa 50-45
Judge: Chuck Williams 50-45
Judge: Horacio Castilla 50-45
Result: TKO6 0:45
Promoter: Don King
Broadcast: KingVision / Showtime PPV
Ring Announcer: Jimmy Lennon Jr.
Commentator: Larry Merchant
Commentator: Jim Lampley
Commentator: Ferdie Pacheco
Odds: 24-1 Chavez