00:00The most revered, most successful champion in the long and colorful history of Mexican
00:13boxing returns to his native country for his 94th fight and 15th title defense.
00:20I keep fighting because I believe I still have a lot to prove to myself and a lot to
00:26prove to all of Mexico. I believe I can still fight and continue to win.
00:32But anxious to ruin Chavez's homecoming and break the hearts of all true Mexican fight
00:37fans is the pride of Sacramento, Tony Lopez. It's six-time world champion Julio Cesar Chavez
00:45against three-time world title holder Tony Lopez for Chavez's WBC super lightweight title.
00:51Undefeated champion super slugger Felix Trinidad from Puerto Rico takes on unbeaten number one
00:58challenger Detroit stylish Oba Carr for the IVF welterweight title. The only man to beat Julio
01:04Cesar Chavez, Frankie Rantel is on a mission to prove he is one of the world's best as he
01:09defends his title against Philadelphia's own Rockin' Rodney Moore for the WBA junior welterweight
01:14championship. And Argentinian sensation champion Jorge Fernando Castro who has won an impressive 95
01:22bouts takes on undefeated John David Jackson for the WBA middleweight title. It's a world
01:28championship quadruple header coming to you live from Monterrey, Mexico.
01:33Welcome to Monterrey, Mexico. We are 140 miles south of the United States border. This stadium
02:03is the home field of the Monterey Sultans of the Mexican league. And when the ballpark is not being
02:08used for baseball, it serves as an outdoor concert hall for some of the world's most popular musical
02:13performers. But tonight for the first time in the stadium's history, it will be converted into a
02:19boxing venue. Hello everybody, I'm Jim Hill, your host for tonight's championship boxing card from
02:26Monterrey, Mexico. Our main event features Mexican boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez. Now while El
02:32Grand Campeon is no longer undefeated, he still has the respect and admiration of his fellow
02:37countrymen. Chavez continues to march towards the 100 victory mark with hopes of possible return
02:42matches with his two ring rivals Frankie Randall and Pernell Whitaker. But standing between Chavez and
02:48his aspirations is Tony the Tiger Lopez. For years, Lopez sought a fight with Chavez because a showdown
02:55with Chavez has long been considered the ultimate test in the lightweight divisions. The Tiger has come to
03:00Mexico to confront Chavez on his home turf. For more on tonight's main event, let's go down to
03:06ringside and Steve Albert. Steve. Thanks very much, Jim. Let's bring you up to date on the careers of
03:11Chavez and Lopez. The 32-year-old Chavez, an eye-popping 92-1-1 with 78 KOs. The lone blemish, the loss to
03:19Frankie Randall last January, which he avenged, albeit in controversial fashion. He comes off the eighth
03:24round TKO win over Meldrick Taylor in the rematch this past September to retain the title. Chavez
03:30going for his 14th successful defense overall of this title, his second in his current reign as WBC
03:36super lightweight champion. Meanwhile, 31-year-old Tony the Tiger Lopez is braced for the challenge of
03:41his life, 45-4-1 with 32 knockouts, rated number two by the WBC. Lopez, a three-time world champion in
03:49his own right. Now, back in 88, he took the IBF junior lightweight belt from Rocky Lockridge,
03:55making three successful defenses before losing to John John Molina. He regained the title over
04:00Molina in 90. Then he won the WBA lightweight title over Joey Gamache in 92. He's had three non-title
04:07fights as a super lightweight since October of 93, with the most recent being an impressive 10th round TKO
04:13over Greg Haugen this past June. And earlier this evening, the arrival of the champion, Mexico's
04:20favorite son, Julio Cesar Chavez, along with his own son, Julio Jr. Chavez making Monterey the 14th
04:27city in his native Mexico, in which he has laced up the gloves. Chavez has won six world titles in
04:33three weight divisions during his remarkable career. He's the winner of 28 world championship
04:39bouts, placing him number one in that category, recently surpassing the legendary Joe Lewis.
04:47And we've got the challenger, Tony the Tiger Lopez. Tony the Tiger in his dressing room. Yes,
04:54the Tiger taking a little catnap, making the journey to Monterey from his hometown of Sacramento,
04:59California. Lopez has had 36 of his 50 fights in Sacramento, venturing south of the border for the
05:06first time. Sweet dreams, Tony. Lopez comes in with a wealth of experience, very aggressive,
05:11strong power, good chin. He's been knocked out only once in 50 fights. But that was back in 89 by
05:17John John Molina, which he avenged the following year. Both Tony Lopez and Julio Cesar Chavez are
05:26still at the top of the division and among the world's best, despite being in the twilight of
05:30their careers. And time now to bring in my partners at ringside with that, starting with the fight,
05:36Dr. Ferdi Pacheco and Ferdi Chavez and Lopez have certainly withstood the test of time.
05:40Yes, and they're both so used to championship competition. These guys know how to compete at
05:45the very top level of the game. They know what it means, especially Julio Cesar Chavez going for that
05:50goal of 100. Now, Julio is rubbing his hands in glee. For once, he doesn't have to go and chase
05:55somebody all over the ring because Tony's going to stand right in front of him, arms akimbo and
06:00going at him like a machine. And Tony, for his part, is licking his lips. He's saying, hey, this guy's
06:05going downhill. I'm catching him going downhill and I'm the one that's going to beat him. So I look for
06:09a very interesting and spectacular bout while it lasts. All right, Ferdi, we turn now to Bobby Chez.
06:16And Bobby, let's get your insight on the styles of Chavez and Lopez and what type of fight you expect
06:20tonight? Well, Steve, I expect this is going to be a great fight. It may start out slowly, but it's
06:24guaranteed to heat up by the middle rounds. Julio Cesar Chavez has always been the quintessential
06:29search and destroy fighter. His M.O. is a head and body attack like no other fighter has been able to do
06:34and route to the destruction of all of his opponents. Tony Tiger Lopez, however, brings in all
06:38the best tools of a good boxer puncher. Good chin and good power. He's defensively smart. He can box from the
06:43outside. He's got a good right hand. Chavez, as of recent times, at least, has appeared to slip a little bit.
06:49With these two styles, both men like to go forward. They like to get into the fight.
06:54This has to be an explosive war. Yeah, we could have a war on our hands here tonight. We look forward
06:58to your observations along with the fight doctor throughout. And before we move on, let's check
07:03the weather conditions here at the Estatio Baseball de Monterey. And the weather is a factor. First of
07:09all, the altitude is high, not quite as high as Mexico City, but high enough. But the story,
07:14the temperature, 52 degrees and dropping 44% humidity. The wind out of the Northwest at 12
07:21miles per hour. And in one word, it is cold. And with that, let's go back up to Jim Hill.
07:28All right, Steve, thank you very much. Now, the amazing career of Julio Cesar Chavez is renowned
07:33for dramatic moments in the ring. Now, Chavez's most exciting exploits are available to you
07:39on videocassette. 92 professional fights, 77 knockouts, five world titles. Now, dream of the glory,
07:49the fury, the awesome power of Julio Cesar Chavez. Now, here's an exciting card from Bob Sheridan.
07:54Here's a call. All right, we're all set to go here. This is a scheduled 12-round WBC Strawweight
08:05Championship of the World. That's the 105-pound division. Since both of the men are in white
08:11trunks, the fellow with the red trim to the left of your screen is Yamil Caraballo. The champion is
08:17Ricardo Lopez, and he is a good one. He's from Mexico City. Comes into this tilt, 38-0 with 28
08:23knockouts. Last time out, if you've been watching King Vision around the world, you know that he
08:27knocked out the Thai opponent in the very first round of that fight.
08:31Yamil Caraballo has a record of 12-4-1 with four knockouts to his record. More of a boxer than a
08:37puncher, but he's the pride of Cartagena, Colombia, and he just walked into a pretty good right hand
08:42by little Ricardo Lopez. As I take a look at my tail of the tape, Lopez is an inch taller that
08:47weights exactly the same at 104 pounds. Ricardo Lopez, at 27 years old, is two years older.
08:53Then Caraballo, he has a one-inch reach advantage over Caraballo, and then both giving up victories.
08:59Down goes the challenger already. I don't know if he can recover. It's up to four and five and six.
09:06He's not going to make it. He doesn't even bother to count him out. It's all over.
09:10Another first-round knockout for Ricardo Lopez.
09:14Let's watch this now as I watch along with you and see if we can see where that right hand came.
09:22He tested it once earlier in the round. There it is right there, and he caught him right on the button with it.
09:28Just a long, looping right hand, and it was lights out for Yamil Caraballo.
09:37Ricardo Lopez winning in impressive fashion. His record improved to 39-0 with 29 knockouts,
09:43and this mighty might has held a 105-pound title longer than anyone in the division's history.
Comments