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5. An in-ring soap opera, Bobby Chacon vs. Cornelius Boza Edwards 2 was the heart of 80s boxing
While “The Four Kings” (Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran and Marvelous Marvin Hagler) are considered the cream of the 1980’s crop, the “Ferocious Four,” (Bobby Chacon, Rafael “Bazooka” Limon, Cornelius Boza-Edwards, and Rolando Navarrete) remain lesser-known, but savagely forged unforgettable rivalries that played out like a real-life fistic soap opera.
And while every combination of matchups between these fighters produced unmissable warfare; the rematch between “Schoolboy” Chacon and Boza-Edwards may have been the highest point of the ageless four-man conflict.
Uganda’s Boza Edwards won the WBC junior lightweight title from Limon via 15-round unanimous decision in 1981 and made his first successful defense by stopping Chacon in 13 rounds in their first fight.
He lost the belt one fight later to Navarrete of the Philippines by shock fifth-round knockout. Navarrete proceeded to lose his title via come-from-behind TKO 13 to Limon.
Some call the four-fight series between Chacon, who had previously held the WBC featherweight world title from 1974 to 1975, and Limon, one of the fiercest and most spectacular conflicts in boxing history.
In their first fight, Limon beat Chacon by decision. The pair then fought to a technical draw in the rematch. In 1980, Chacon beat Limon by a 10-round split decision.
Chacon-Limon IV, for the WBC junior lightweight strap, was named “1982 Fight of the Year” by The Ring Magazine.
Down in the third and 10th, Chacon incredibly rallied to drop Limon in the 15th and win a close decision, securing his second world title and taking the pair’s four-fight series 2-1-1.
Chacon vs. Boza Edwards II
The date was May 15, 1983, at Caesars Palace Sports Pavilion in Las Vegas and broadcast live on NBC.
Chacon signed to defend his title in a rematch against Boza Edwards, who was the WBC’s mandatory challenger. Despite WBC rules stating the mandatory challenger was owed an automatic shot at the title, the WBC controversially insisted Chacon fight future great Hector Camacho in Puerto Rico instead and stripped him of his title when he refused.
Now a non-title 12-rounder, the fight went ahead anyway.
Chacon won a breathtaking 12-round war by unanimous decision and the victory was a standout moment in Chacon’s career, allowing him to avenge his previous loss to Boza-Edwards.
Down in round three and bleeding from a serious cut that had TV commentators Marv Albert and Ferdie Pacheco pleading for the fight to be stopped through several rounds, Chacon came back to drop Boza Edwards in a thrilling 12th and final round to seal the victory.
After the fight, the fighters needed a combined 40 stitches.
A memorable moment during the broadcast came in the grueling 12th round, when Marv Albert exasperatedly exclaimed “Boza taps to the cheeks of Chacon!” as a completely exhausted Edwards mustered what little energy he had left to lightly knock with both hands on the face of a crouching Chacon.
The incredible battle was named Ring Magazine’s Fight of the Year. The second consecutive year Chacon had earned the distinction. During his career, Chacon was also named Comeback Fighter of the Year by The Ring and was included on The Ring’s list of “The 100 Greatest Punchers of All-Time”. Chacon was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in January 2005.
Boza-Edwards went on to become a renowned trainer in Las Vegas, Chacon retired in 1989 winning 14 out of his last 15 fights. He died in hospice care for pugilistic dementia on September 7, 2016, aged 64.
A fan favorite from a classic era, Boza-Edwards was inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of fame in 2014.
