- 2 days ago
Lupe Aqunio faces Steve Hearon in a Jr Welterweight bout on NBC Sports Boxing
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00:00City, New Jersey, the East Coast Mecca of the boxing world, and yet it was 62 years ago that Jack Dempsey and George Carpentier squared off in the last heavyweight championship scene in the Garden State.
00:12But tonight, live from Harris Morita Hotel Casino, the heavyweight title is back and on the line again as the undefeated WBC champion Larry Holmes meets the challenge of New Jersey's own Scott Frank.
00:30Tonight's NBC Sports Special is brought to you by Old Milwaukee and Old Milwaukee Light. It doesn't get any better than this.
00:39By Commodore Computer, in more homes than any other home computer.
00:44By the 1983 Volkswagen, nothing else is a Volkswagen.
00:49And by Lava, Lava with clean scrubbing, Clemice gets extra dirty hands clean.
00:55A crowd of 6,000 is on hand, and we're located inside a tent alongside Harris Marina Hotel and Casino.
01:05And we welcome you. Hi, everybody. I'm Marv Albert.
01:08And we welcome you to a night of boxing.
01:11A night of boxing that features Larry Holmes defending his WBC heavyweight championship for a 16th time.
01:18And to get it all going, we have the number one-ranked junior welterweight, Steve Heron, a man in line for a title shot, going up against California, Luffy Aquino.
01:30He's 21-1, 15 by knockout.
01:35And then Larry Holmes and Scott Frank.
01:37Frank is 20-0, but the quality of his opponent looks is questionable.
01:42A subject that we'll be addressing later on during the course of the telecast.
01:46And as always, I'm joined at ringside by the fight doctor, Ferdy Pacheco, who is wondering about the 223 pounds that Larry Holmes is carrying, coming in the heaviest of his career.
01:59He took the Scouts 223 yesterday. Is he taking Scott Frank lightly?
02:02He might be taking them heavily.
02:04You know, that's a problem with heavyweights.
02:06As they get older, if they take the weight off to look cosmetically like they did before, they leave it in the gym.
02:11But if they come in too heavy, they've got to carry it around, as Holmes has to do tonight.
02:15It's better to do what Eddie Fudge says.
02:17Train until you get in shape and forget about what the weight is.
02:20Will we be seeing another Lucian Rodriguez-Randall Tex Cobb performance against Larry Holmes?
02:25I don't think so, because Scott Frank is a wacky type of fighter.
02:29He comes in throwing punches from all sides.
02:31The other two guys fought strange defensive fights.
02:34Rodriguez fought a purely defensive fight just to stay alive.
02:37And Tex Cobb actually came forward in a defensive fight with his face.
02:43All right, there has been much media criticism of tonight's matchup, pitting Larry Holmes and Scott Frank.
02:49So we thought we'd check out a cross-section of that opinion.
02:53I think it's a sad state of affairs where a man without a last name can fight for a heavyweight championship.
03:00I think that Scott Frank should fight and Margaret for possession of a last name.
03:04It's a bad match.
03:06He's going to be very badly overmatched.
03:10It might be something like the Takes Cobb fight.
03:15It's no worse than Allie Dunn.
03:17It's no worse than Allie Evangelista.
03:19It's no worse than Holmes Rodriguez.
03:22It's no worse than Frazier Terry Daniels.
03:24I mean, you can't call a mismatch a mismatch until it happens.
03:30Whether Holmes has lost it or not is a question,
03:32but I don't think we'll find out against a fighter the caliber of Scott Frank.
03:36When a 200-pound man hits another 200-pound man, anything can happen.
03:41But it would be Frank's chances to strictly punch his luck in this fight.
03:48I mean, if they only scheduled fights that were going to be good ones,
03:52there'd be a heavyweight championship fight once every two years.
03:54I think NBC made a mistake.
03:57They could have put Scott Frank against me for three rounds,
04:00the winner to fight Larry Holmes,
04:02and there's still a question whether Scott Frank would have fought Larry Holmes tonight.
04:07Well, Bert Sugar, the editor of Ring Magazine,
04:10can seem to make up his mind about tonight's fight.
04:13Scott Frank, have any shot at all?
04:16Well, it'll be a shock if he wins.
04:18However, you know, that's why we're all watching tonight,
04:20because when two big men get in the ring,
04:22you just never know what's going to happen.
04:24All right, Scott Frank, Larry Holmes coming up later on.
04:27We'll be back with Steve Herron and Lupe Aquino in just a moment.
04:37New City, New Jersey, on a hot and humid night.
04:40We're getting set for junior welterweight matchup.
04:44Steve Herron going against Lupe Aquino.
04:47For the ring introductions, let's go to Ed Derry.
04:49Ladies and gentlemen,
04:54this next bout is scheduled for ten rounds,
04:57and it's in the junior welterweight division.
05:00The judges, Lawrence Wallace, Charles Spina, and Rudy Battle.
05:06The timekeeper to bell is Roy Johnson.
05:08Counting for the lockdown seconds,
05:10alternate referee Frank Cappuccino.
05:12In the ring at this time,
05:17the man in charge of the scheduled ten-round junior welterweight bout,
05:22referee Zach Clayton.
05:25And now, boxing fans,
05:27introducing the principals.
05:29First, in the blue corner,
05:31wearing the blue trunks,
05:33with the white lettering.
05:35He tipped in at an even 149 pounds.
05:39This gentleman has 21 wins,
05:43one loss,
05:43with 15 knockouts.
05:46He is a native of Tijuana, Mexico,
05:49and now residing in Santa Paula, California.
05:53Ladies and gentlemen,
05:54let's welcome Lupe Aquino.
05:59Aquino.
06:00And his opponent in the red corner,
06:05he too is wearing the all-blue trunks.
06:08He weighed in at an even 147 pounds.
06:12This young man has a record of 24 wins,
06:15two losses,
06:16with 18 knockouts.
06:19All the way from Houston, Texas.
06:22Boxing fans,
06:23here is Steve.
06:24Here on.
06:25Here on.
06:27Here on.
06:28And the referee Zach Clayton,
06:32bringing Aaron and Aquino together.
06:35That's good.
06:36Now, all of this is your fight.
06:38I'm going to let you men fight your fight.
06:40But your fighting must abide by the rules of the state.
06:43I'm going to let you men fight on the inside,
06:44as long as both hands are free.
06:47And I command you guys a break.
06:48I want you to step back,
06:50and resume fighting.
06:51And pulling out of that clinch,
06:52I want you to protect yourselves.
06:54In the event of a knockdown,
06:55the man scoring that knockdown must go to the furthest corner,
06:58and remain as we're told in the new fighting.
07:00If you come out beforehand,
07:01I'm going to send you back.
07:02And probably getting knocked down
07:03must take an eight-second count.
07:05Kneeling and standing makes no difference.
07:07Three knockdowns will not terminate this fight.
07:08I'll use my description in that regard.
07:10And you guys shake hands now.
07:12Come out and fight with the bell.
07:13Good luck both of you.
07:14And here in the state of New Jersey,
07:15scoring on the round system,
07:17as you look at the tail of the tape,
07:20and an even matchup.
07:21Heron at 28 years of age.
07:23Aquino, 20 years old.
07:26Steve Heron in line to fight
07:28the WBC junior welterweight champion,
07:30Bruce Curry,
07:31in a mandatory title defense,
07:33scheduled for February.
07:35In fact, Heron's biggest win
07:36was a seventh-round knockout
07:38earlier in his career of Curry.
07:40And Heron running right out
07:42to meet up with Lupe Aquino,
07:45according to his manager.
07:47Aquino's record at 21-1,
07:4915 by knockout.
07:52His last bout, his best bout,
07:54against Victor Abraham.
07:56Came up with a seventh-round knockout.
07:58Abraham at one time.
07:59Sugar Ray Leonard, sparring partner.
08:05Heron's last fight last May
08:06stopped Juan Contreras
08:08in the third round.
08:10Steve Heron says he's had difficulty
08:12getting fights.
08:13The people are ducking him.
08:15He's right there.
08:16He's too good
08:16in a division that was weak for a while.
08:19Now he's heating up
08:20with the presence of Johnny Bumfus
08:22and, of course, those champions,
08:24Curry, everyone else,
08:25is just lining up for Curry.
08:28Now, that's why these fights
08:30are so important for Steve Heron.
08:31He must fight.
08:32He must look good.
08:32He's in position for mandatory.
08:34Should he trip one of these nights,
08:35it's bye-bye title shot.
08:36This is scheduled for 10.
08:40Round one action.
08:41Steve Heron at 24-2.
08:4418 by knockout.
08:49His two losses stopped by Milton McClory,
08:52fighting as a welterweight.
08:53That was back in June of 81.
08:55On the undercard of Sugar Ray Leonard
08:57and Ayub Kulule.
08:59Since then, he's won 13 in a row
09:01and 10 by knockout.
09:02And the other loss,
09:03a 10-round decision
09:05to Armando Rivera
09:06in Honolulu.
09:08That just before the McClory fight,
09:10so he has come on since then.
09:11Aaron began his professional boxing career
09:18late at age 25,
09:20never fought as an amateur.
09:23Has talent.
09:24Strictly a boxer.
09:25Good stamina.
09:26Can take a punch.
09:28Queen are not showing
09:29a great deal of fear right now.
09:30He's just going right to him.
09:35Feeling out round.
09:36Not a great deal of excitement,
09:38but Lupe's certainly not backing away
09:39from Steve Aaron.
09:48Steve Aaron has sometimes
09:50put that glove across his face
09:52like Norton used to do
09:54and like Timmy Witherspoon did
09:55with such success against Holmes
09:57in his last title defense.
10:02And Aquino on the attack.
10:08Steve Aaron said he would go
10:09through a feeling out
10:10first round, as you said.
10:13He has never seen Aquino.
10:18Muggy conditions inside a tent
10:21located alongside the
10:23Paris Marina Hotel and Casino
10:25in Atlantic City.
10:28And the crowd, as you can tell,
10:30subdued at this point.
10:31they are here for the title fight,
10:35which will be coming up later on
10:38between Larry Holmes and Scott Frank.
10:43And Scott Frank back in his dressing room
10:45and getting ready.
10:47That bout will get underway
10:48in less than an hour here on NBC.
10:51Well, Scott, resting up, getting ready.
10:55Less than nervous, wouldn't you say?
11:01What is he doing?
11:03Obviously, I don't know what he's doing,
11:04but what I think he's doing right now
11:07is computing the tax
11:08on $350,000
11:10and figuring out what kind of
11:11a tax shelter you can get
11:13to avoid the tax.
11:13Look at the chin.
11:16You can see the raw spot in the chin
11:18where the stitches were just
11:19taken out a few days ago.
11:21It should not be a factor
11:22in this fight, although
11:22I would be surprised
11:23if it doesn't open.
11:24It's a very small cut.
11:26But it's at the spot
11:27where you get hit a lot.
11:28Right on the tip of the chin.
11:30Uppercuts will open that.
11:34And back in the ring
11:36where he gets set for round two.
11:39Junior welterweight bout.
11:41Steve Heron ranked first
11:42by the WBC, number seven
11:44by the WBA.
11:45He's on the right
11:46going against Lupe Aquino.
11:49I got the feeling
11:50that first round
11:51he was just being reined in.
11:54Look at the way
11:55they're going at him.
11:58Aquino standing
12:00and slugging from Heron.
12:02Aquino showing
12:03no respect whatsoever.
12:05Stood his ground
12:06and even backed up
12:07Steve Heron.
12:09I got that feeling
12:10that first round
12:11was just Braverman
12:12saying feel it out.
12:13Get warm.
12:14Get ready to go.
12:15He's got in his corner
12:16the great old-timer Braverman.
12:19Every corner
12:19should have a Braverman
12:21at least once in their life.
12:22It's an experience.
12:23That's Al Braverman
12:24in the corner
12:25of Steve Heron.
12:28And from time to time
12:29we may hear
12:30Al from his corner position.
12:33Lupe Aquino
12:35now living in Santa Paula,
12:37California
12:37from Tijuana, Mexico.
12:43Aquino ready to lay it out
12:45with Steve Heron
12:46showing no respect,
12:47no regard
12:48for his punching power
12:49could be a mistake
12:49because Steve can punch.
12:51Uh-oh.
12:55And Zach Clayton unhappy
12:56because Heron unloaded
12:59on the clinch.
13:01Heron was wrong there.
13:02He punched in on the break.
13:06Trying too hard.
13:07Steve Heron at this point
13:08is trying too hard.
13:12He's not fighting
13:13a calm, controlled fight.
13:15Lupe Aquino
13:15was successful
13:16in discombobulating him.
13:18He's not fighting
13:19a calm, cold fight.
13:20He's trying to punch it out
13:22and look great
13:22and not doing so
13:24consequently.
13:33You just saw
13:34what could be the key
13:34to the fight.
13:35A good, stiff jab.
13:38Followed up
13:39by the right hand.
13:40But here is Aquino back
13:41with the combination.
13:44And Aquino laid
13:45it with the left hand.
13:48What guts for Aquino.
13:51He is standing right there
13:52not intimidated
13:53in the least
13:54and got the better
13:55of the exchange.
13:57Lupe Aquino's
13:58only loss
13:59to Rudy Hernandez
14:00last April
14:01at the forum
14:02at Englewood, California.
14:04Aquino said
14:05he hurt his hand
14:05at the second round
14:06and the judge
14:08took points away
14:09for low blows.
14:11Nothing wrong
14:12with Aquino's hands today.
14:14Zach Clayton
14:15trying to control Steve
14:16who's a little bit
14:17desperate here.
14:25And we approach
14:27ten seconds left
14:28in the second round.
14:29Marv Albert
14:30with the fight doctor
14:31Ferdinand Pacheco
14:32and we're final seconds
14:36of the round.
14:38Get off!
14:38Get off!
14:38Get off!
14:40Get off!
14:40Get off!
14:41Get off!
14:41Get off!
14:41Come on!
14:42All right, we had a look
14:44at Scott Frank
14:46between rounds earlier.
14:49Larry Holmes
14:50getting sent
14:51back in his dressing room.
14:53Interesting line
14:54from Larry
14:55the other day.
14:56He says
14:56he's puzzled
14:58by the fact
14:58that the people
14:59who say
15:00he lost it
15:01are the same people
15:02who used to say
15:03he never had it.
15:05Great line.
15:10Even a heavyweight champion
15:11in the world
15:12has a mouth.
15:13And we move on
15:38to round three.
15:41What does the fight
15:41got the scorecard show?
15:43I have it even.
15:44I have an even fight.
15:50That's Steve Heron
15:51on the left
15:51and Lupe Aquino
15:53on the right.
15:57Heron out of
15:58New York City
15:58now living
15:59in Houston, Texas.
16:05Good uppercut
16:06by Heron.
16:08Good inside uppercut
16:09after by...
16:10Now he continues
16:10to punch
16:11while Zach Clayton
16:12is trying
16:12to break him up.
16:13Zach is not
16:14going to like that
16:14if that continues.
16:19And again
16:19the good exchange.
16:21Zach Clayton
16:22usually a referee
16:23who likes to see
16:24the boxers
16:25punch out
16:26of the difficulty
16:27in the corner
16:28but I have a feeling
16:29he's going to take
16:29a more aggressive roll.
16:32He's going to have to
16:33because Heron
16:33has really wound up tight.
16:34He wants to look good.
16:35He's trying his best
16:37for a quick knockout.
16:38Lupe is not cooperating.
16:43And a minute
16:44gone by
16:44third round
16:45a warning from Clayton
16:46watch the buddy.
16:55Good left hand
16:56by Heron
16:56running with every punch
17:11that he throws.
17:13He seems to be much
17:19stronger
17:20than Lupe Aquino
17:22but Aquino
17:23just will not
17:24concede.
17:25He's in there
17:26punching
17:26not as hard
17:27but many times
17:29he's landing
17:29three or four punches
17:30to one.
17:31That's scoring here.
17:32Lupe Aquino
17:3920 years old
17:41from Tijuana, Mexico.
17:44Aquino making
17:45mistake of letting
17:46Steve Heron
17:47get him on the ropes
17:48when he should be
17:49fighting his motion fight.
17:50There he goes.
17:55We mentioned earlier
18:00that Heron
18:00has had difficulty
18:01getting opponents.
18:03Aquino was a
18:04late substitute.
18:09People just do not
18:10want to fight
18:11Steve Heron.
18:11They went through
18:12four different names
18:13that had accepted
18:15fights and fell out
18:15before they got
18:16to Lupe Aquino.
18:22Aquino should get
18:23out of that corner.
18:25He's beginning
18:25to get hurt
18:26by Steve Heron
18:26who punches
18:27a much heavier
18:28than Lupe Aquino.
18:29and a good action
18:31third round.
18:36So final seconds
18:38of the round
18:39will be back
18:40in a moment.
18:41is round fourth
18:45and good action.
18:47Lupe Aquino
18:48on the right
18:49Steve Heron
18:50far side
18:52of the
18:52and Aquino
18:53continues to unload
18:55trading punches
18:56with Heron.
18:57Heron seems to have
18:58a cut over one eye.
18:59come on.
19:09Aquino
19:10actually
19:10outspeeding
19:11Stever.
19:12Look at the cut.
19:15Look at the cut
19:16on the left eye
19:17of Steve Heron.
19:19Come on.
19:19an unexpected disaster and that will change his strategy
19:28al braverman saying stay on top of him you're not on top of him well he got on top of him and
19:33he got himself a nice little cut and remember harran in line for a mandatory title defense
19:41against the wbc junior welterweight champion bruce curry and did not expect this kind of test
19:48aquino just got butted just then look look at aquino's the look of disdain on his face he sees
19:54the cut and he's now saying oh boy things are now coming my way now the referee clayton says work it
20:11out by yourself harran going in covering up protecting the eye and then trying to unload
20:20with the combination also going in with his head
20:26look at the smile on aquino's face that's a mistake he's taking the first part
20:30of the round he can keep on going and even up this fight
20:50aquino can't afford to rest he's going to keep right on top of him
20:53i'll punch him two or three punches to one and again a punch on the break thrown by harran
21:00and aquino getting very confident aquino just almost playing almost having fun here
21:09whereas steve aaron is beginning to look desperate
21:13good combination again by aquino but harran right back and he stunned aquino with an uppercut
21:24and harran will require repairs in the corner between rounds he's got a good man
21:29braverman can stop a cut that looks like a dam bro
21:35blood all over the face of lupi aquino but it's the blood of steve harran
21:44so the end of the round
21:48round four scheduled for ted larry holmes getting set to go against scott frank
21:55about 40 minutes from now we mentioned earlier that larry holmes came in heavy weighing in at 223
22:02yesterday we asked him about it i don't think it will affect my stamina i don't feel that it will
22:08affect my speed i think it will make me stronger and to show the people that
22:12i'll be strong i'm knocking scott frank out so tune us in
22:19well larry holmes came in at 222 for the bout against lucian rodriguez and people said that he
22:26was disinterested thought he'd have no problem with rodriguez and there are many who feel the
22:31same way with larry coming in at 223 that's 10 pounds more than he weighed against him with us
22:36that's certainly going to be a factor now let's take a look at heron's eye
22:43looks like it's been patched up well
22:47and after round five certainly didn't think he was going to run into a buzzsaw like this
22:52there's the eye you can see the blood streaming down it got all over him it got all over his opponent
23:06and it's not a particularly bad cut to stop but uh we're only in the fifth round that could open much
23:13much bigger what does the fight doctor score god show i have it even
23:20that punches to the back of the head that punch was during a break i'm surprised that zach has not
23:26gotten a little hostile about that yes he is out of the take charge school and uh he's getting angry
23:33a lot of fighting going on and there's a lot of holding behind the head both fighters are
23:41particularly tough with their heads you can't find guilt in one above the other because they're both
23:47doing it that's steve heron on the near side boy steve heron is in a dog fight
23:54nothing easy for steve heron tonight and i think he's had a few dog fights and that he's from a family of
24:0014 10 boys and four girls steve number 12 out of the 14 most of his family living in the new york
24:07area steve now living in houston texas no wonder he's such a great fighter
24:15and again the punching during the break and there's the blood coming down the left eyebrow of steve heron
24:22the blood is now all over zach clayton it is beginning to flow and the cut is opening
24:29again and much larger it is a factor in this fight it will be a factor in this fight
24:38and now he goes over to the doctor it will be a doctor in this fight what a tragedy
24:46zach clayton has called it he's called this fight i don't believe it
24:51a very quick call by clayton i don't believe it a major upset pulled off by lupi aquino
25:02what a shock proud reacting against it now usually wouldn't the referee check it out with the ringside
25:09that's what i thought he was doing i thought he was taking uh the fighter over to be checked by the
25:14um uh doctor because we've seen much worse cuts and uh braverman happens to be one of the great cut
25:21men uh of this last two or three decades although the referee in the state of new jersey can't call
25:28the fight let's see it appeared that he called it they may he may not have called it lupi aquino did
25:37celebrate let's see if it was premature the discussion continues in the corner well i mean uh
25:43this is highly unusual you don't have chance to do minor surgery i mean either it is or it isn't called
25:49i mean you don't have that much time to uh examine and do a cut but they're giving him all the time in
25:54the world and apparently uh the scorecard's being collected it is uh it has been called well if it isn't
26:04then ed darian's going to be a referee because i he shouldn't be in the ring unless the fight's over
26:08with all right it is all over and we'll hear the official announcement and once again funny things
26:21happen on the way to the championship that's why you can never say anything is sure in boxing
26:27here's the announcement ladies and gentlemen due to the severe cut sustained to principal steve heron
26:46referee zach clayton stops this bout at one minute and 52 seconds of the fifth round
26:54and a winner by tko lupe aquino
27:03so 152 of round five the bounce stopped by the referee zach clayton and it's a major upset
27:13loopy aquino winning over steve heron here in atlantic city new
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