Bobby Chacon is an American former two-time world featherweight and super featherweight boxing champion….who turned professional in 1972 and won his first 19 fights….including a win against former champion Jesus Castillo. . Fourteen months into his professional career….Chacon faced world champion Rubén Olivares….but lost the bout when Olivares scored a ninth-round knock out. After suffering his first defeat against Olivares….Chacon won his next four bouts….then faced off against cross-town rival and future champion Danny “Little Red” Lopez….who he stopped in the ninth round. On September 7, 1974, Chacon won the vacant WBC Featherweight title by defeating former WBA Junior Lightweight champion Alfredo Marcano in nine rounds….then lost his title in his second defense against arch-rival Rubén Olivares. Almost immediately after his loss against Olivares….he fought the first of his four fights against another arch rival world champion Rafael “Bazooka” Limón. They would engage in what some boxing experts and historians have described as one of the fiercest and most spectacular boxing rivalries in history. Limón beat Chacon in their first bout by a split decision. Chacon then scored nine straight wins….leading him to a third match with Olivares….and this time, defeated Olivares in their 12-round bout by a decision….but in his next fight….he lost an upset decision to Arturo Leon. Chacon rebounded by scoring victories over Ignacio Campos, Augie Pantellas, Gerald Hayes and Shig Fukuyama….and then he fought to a technical draw in a rematch against Bazooka Limón. In November 1979, Chacon received a shot at the WBC title versus world champion Alexis Argüello. Arguello….who defeated him by a devastating knock out after Chacon suffered a bad cut in the seventh round. In 1980, Chacon had only one fight, but it was a significant one….as he beat Limón in their third bout….and the WBC once again made him their number one challenger.
In 1981, Arguello had left the title vacant and gone up in weight to pursue the world’s lightweight title….then Limón beat Idelphonso Bethelmy by a knockout in the 15th round in Los Angeles to win the WBC world Jr. Lightweight championship….who then lost to Cornelius Boza Edwards….who, in turn, defended his title against Chacon on his first defense. In a televised bout, Edwards retained the world title by a knockout in the thirteenth round….but Chacon would go on to win five in a row in 1982….including a rematch victory over Arturo Leon….which kept him as the number one challenger position. Two more victories would follow and then came his fourth and final bout with Bazooka Limón….who had regained the world’s Jr. Lightweight title by beating Rolando Navarrete by a knockout in 12 rounds. Navarrete, for his part, had won the title by beating Edwards by a knockout in five in Italy. Chacon-Limón IV became one of the fights of the year and the decade, according to such magazines as The Ring, KO Magazine, and Ring En Español….as Chacon would recover from knockdowns suffered in rounds three and 10….to drop Limón in the closing seconds of round 15….securing a close decision and his second world title. A year later, Chacon and Boza Edwards met for a second time as seen in this video….with his world title on the line….in a fight that Ring Magazine called the fight of the year for 1983. Chacon rose from a knockdown in round one and recovered from a dangerous cut to drop Boza Edwards in round twelve and avenge his earlier defeat to the former champion. In 1983, Chacon was signed to defend his WBC title in a rematch against Boza Edwards, who was the WBC’s mandatory challenger. Even though WBC rules stated the mandatory challenger should receive a shot at the title….the WBC insisted Chacon fight Héctor “Macho” Camacho….and when Chacon refured to fight….the WBC stripped him of his title. Chacon started 1984 with a move up in weight to the Lightweight division….where he tried to join the exclusive club of boxing’s three division world champions….but was knocked out in three during his challenge against world champion Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini. Chacon then beat Carlton Sparrow by a TKO in five rounds and announced his retirement….but made a comeback in 1985
Cornelius Boza Edwards was a Ugandan boxer in the Lightweight division and the former WBC Super Featherweight Champion….who emigrated from Uganda to England….when he won the WBC world Jr. Lightweight title from “Bazooka” Limón with a fifteen round decision in 1981 after Limón, a Mexican, had made his infamous “You know what happens to British boxers when they face Mexicans” comment….in a reference to the fight between Lupe Pintor and Johnny Owen….after which Owen died. Boza-Edwards defeated Bobby Chacon by technical knockout in the fourteenth round in his first defense….but then lost the title to Rolando Navarrete, by knockout in round five. Boza-Edwards also fought with, and lost against, other world champions such as his rematch with Chacon, Alexis Argüello, Héctor Camacho, Rocky Lockridge and José Luis Ramírez.
I think you can begin to see why I consider the period form the mid-1960’s to the mid-1990’s the golden age of boxing…..simply cuz there were so many great fighters in every division of boxing.
