On this day 6 November 1976 (Exactly 44 years ago today) American boxer Danny ‘Little Red’ Lopez became world champion by outpointing Ghana’s David ‘Poison’ Kotei over 15 rounds to win the WBC world featherweight title by a unanimous decision at the Accra Sports stadium
Danny Lopez arrived in Accra, Ghana 3-weeks before the bout, to get acclimated to the intense heat and high-humidty of the African Country.
Manager, Howie Steindler did not go to Ghana, as he had a heart ailment which prevented him taking long airline flights.
The 24-year old magnificent fighting machine with dynamite in both fists, pummelled David ‘Poison’ Kotei into submission in a 15-round bloody confrontation to end Poison’s 14-month reign as champion.
But Poison had himself to blame for the reckless pace at which he fought.
Naturally a slower starter, Poison allowed himself to be carried away by Danny’s outburst of a knockout victory and in an attempt to treat the challenger with contempt, he dug his own grave.
Lopez, who had never travelled beyond ten rounds, took all the best shots Poison could deliver and in the end it was Poison, his face a mass of blood and legs wobbling, who had to thank a sympathetic British referee Harry Gibbs for not stopping the proceedings by the 12th round.
The way Poison fought was a sad commentary on the ability of his handlers who woefully failed to read the game or were unable to let Poison change his style of fighting.
The very first blow Poison delivered- a wild swinging powerful right- depicted the contempt Poison had for Lopez and that set the tone for the evening.
Lopez was prepared to fight and even though this mighty blow put him off balance he fought back gamely.
Poison in an uncharacteristic stance tried a double fisted attack, aiming for wicked uppercuts but leaving his unguarded face veritable target for Lopez.
In the second round, Poison nearly went through the ropes by the force of his own mighty blow which missed.
The third and fourth rounds followed the same pattern with Poison initiating the attack in the first sixty seconds but with Lopez getting some good shots towards the end.
A wicked right from Poison resulted in a Little Red swell under the right eye of Lopez.
Round five was a give-and-take affair but by the sixth round Poison was bleeding from a cut on the left eyebrow and the cornerman had to work feverishly on the cut.
The next two rounds were fierce battle of classy punching from both boxers who bled freely discoloured.
It was apparent at this stage that heavy punching was a common denominator and that the deciding factor would be stamina and and the ability of the cornerman to stop cuts.
Indeed after ten rounds Poison could not stand. His gum shield was forced out in round ten and in round eleven, Poison by the force of his own wild missing blow slipped to the canvas for no count.
Sensing defeat, a number of well meaning boxing fans rushed to Poison’s corner to give him advise to change the pattern of the fight. But this advise was never taken.
There was a brief hold up before the start of round 14 when the handlers of Lopez objected to a torn glove on the left of Poison.
That glove was replaced and it was thought the breather would give Poison a chance of survival but it had a rather opposite effect.
Lopez was undeniably the stronger man. His blows really shook Poison, who bled profusely. All he could do was to hang around Lopez like a wornout drunk and the unnimous verdict was never in doubt.
Poison in hospital
Poison was admitted to the 37 Milliary Hospital soon after losing his world featherweight crown to Danny Lopez.
According to a Radio Ghana announcement Poison was in such a condition that would not be in a position to receive any visitors for the next four days.
The cuts Poison received on the eyes and mouth required stitching.
The new champion who was also rushed to the hospital was treated for exhaustion and discharged immediately.
This trip proved to be troublesome for the new champion, however: back in his hotel room, he tried to call his family in the United States to announce the good news, but all communication systems had been cut down in Ghana.
Lopez then tried to send them a telegram through the American embassy in Accra, but they too were affected by the system failure and could not get his message through. Lopez’s family was finally able to realize that Danny was a world champion when they picked him up at the airport one week later.
Elsewhere;
On this day 6 November 1977 (Exactly 43 years ago today) Accra Hearts of Oak beat Zambian side Mighty Mufulira Wanderers 3-0, in a game that came to be christened, “The Miracle of El-Wak” at the El-Wak Stadium to seal the club’s maiden appearance in the finals of the Africa Club Champions’ Cup.
Anas Seidu and Peter Lamptey scored in the 59th and 79th minute respectively to set up a nerve-wrecking finish before Seidu again grabbed the golden goal with barely two minutes to fulltime to send the El-Wak Stadium crowd into high-pitch delirium.
The Zambians beat Hearts 5-2 in the first leg in Lusaka two weeks earlier, and Hearts needed nothing short of a 3-0 victory to qualify. But they really made heavy weather of it.
After a drab first half performance, in which keeper Suppey was left at the mercy of the fast running Zambians, it seemed most unlikely that Hearts could achieve their target in 45 minutes. But they made it through three sparkling goals by Anas (2) and Peter Lamptey (1).
Mohammed Polo, then, 20 year-old Nima-Born dribbling magician made all the difference in the Hearts team.
With pure ball sense, Polo hovering all over the place had a hand in all the three goals.
The first came in the 59th minute from an indirect free kick. Polo gave a gentle kick with his magic left foot and Anas fired in a cracker through the tick wall put up by the Zambians.
It was a beautiful ground shot which atoned for two open chances Anas threw away a few minutes to the interval.
Inspired, Hearts attacked in burst but they had very little support from Egyptian referee Hussein Fahmy who ignored several infringements against the visitors even in the penalty box. The offside trap set by Mufulira also worked well.
It took Hearts another 20 minutes before their second goal came. Polo, as usual mesmerized the visitors defence and his computerized pass went straight to the itching feet of Peter Lamptey. The former goal king, whose main role in Hearts team is to put the ball in the net did just that. He anticipated a faulty move by the goalie and he quickly flicked the ball to the blind side amid deafening cheers.
Eleven minutes to go and Hearts needed one goal to remain in the competition. They pressed hard, forcing a series of corner-kicks but the Egyptian officials were detailed to handle this match because of allegation made against the Ethiopian referee who handled the Hearts-El-Ahly match the previous month. Their behaviour therefore was not surprising.
As the minutes ticked by it was obvious that the Zambians were playing for tie and but Hearts did not lose hope.
Polo once again struck. He collected a ball from midfield and put Mama Acquah through. Veteran Mama very typical of his bombing days dashed to the right flank with the speed of a world class sprinter. He beat the entire defence in the process and his diagonal pass went straight to on-rushing Anas Seidu who had the easy duty of banging the ball into the yawning net, two minutes to time.
There was class about this goal and it is only fitting that it sent Hearts into the final, the first Ghanaian club after Kotoko to reach this stage.
Hearts Starting XI: Sam Suppey, Evans Aryee Quaye, Emmanuel Ofei Ansah, Sarpei Nunoo, Anthony Micah; Adolf Armah, Robert Hammond, Mama Musa, Peter Lamptey, Anas Seidu, Mohammed Polo.
On this day 6 November 1981 (Exactly 39 years ago today) Larry Holmes successfully retained his WBC, The Ring, and lineal heavyweight titles with a 11th round technical knockout over Renaldo Snipes at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
The fight was billed as “Imminent Danger.” Holmes was such a heavy favorite that there was no betting line on the fight. Holmes was paid $1.1 million, while Snipes got $175,000.
There was a crowd of 14,103 at the Civic Arena. Early in the seventh round, Snipes dropped Holmes with a right. Holmes got up quickly and fell face first into a neutral-corner turnbuckle.
Forty-five seconds into the eleventh round, a Holmes right sent Snipes reeling sideways into his corner. Holmes moved to him quickly. Two rights and a hook to the body pinned Snipes to the corner. Holmes hammered three powerful rights to the head. As he was loading up to throw a fourth, referee Rudy Ortega stopped the onslaught.
While Holmes and Snipes were being interviewed by Howard Cosell after the fight, Holmes’ brother Jake got into a fight with Snipes’ manager, who thought the fight was stopped prematurely. Snipes then went after Holmes, and Cosell ducked for cover.
During the melee, which was joined by a host of security guards, Snipes was pushed back against the Rev. Jim Williams, his trainer, who wielded a pair of scissors he intended to use to snip the tape from Snipes’ hands. Instead, the scissors accidentally opened a deep cut in Snipes’ left forearm that required 40 stitches.
On this day 6 November 1993 (Exactly 26 years ago today) Evander Holyfield beat Riddick Bowe for the WBA, IBF, and lineal heavyweight titles at the Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
The two fighters had previously met a little less than a year before on November 13, 1992. In what was considered one of the greatest heavyweight fights of all time, Bowe defeated Holyfield by unanimous decision to become the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion
Like the previous fight, Bowe and Holyfield would again go the distance, this time with Holyfield earning the victory in a close fight via majority decision. Bowe started off strong, winning the first three rounds. Holyfield would storm back to take rounds 4, 5 and 6.
In round 7, Holyfield would hit Bowe with a right hook and Bowe would respond by throwing a powerful combination at Holyfield, landing several punches in the process. Shortly after this exchange, the fight was stopped after James Miller crashed into the ring with his powered paraglider causing a 21-minute delay.
After the delay, the two fighters would finish the remainder of the round with one judge awarding Holyfield the round, one judge awarding Bowe the round and one judge awarding a draw. Holyfield would dominate round 8, reopening Bowe’s wounds with a five-punch combination.
Knowing he was behind in the cards, Bowe would become more aggressive in rounds 9, 10 and 11, however in rounds 10 and 11, Holyfield would finish the final 30 seconds of each round by hitting Bowe with several combinations, winning five of the judges six scores for those two rounds.
The two men would hammer each other in round 12, attacking one another until the final bell. In the end, Holyfield was announced the winner, becoming only the third man to regain the Heavyweight championship from the man who defeated him for it. It would also be the only loss in Bowe’s professional career.
By: George ‘Alan Green’ Mahamah