A Remarkable Debut & an Overlooked Rematch (diary entry)

Cassius Clay's debut opponent was Tunney Hunsaker. Hunsaker was born in Princeton, Kentucky on 1st September 1930. He served in the airforce before taking up boxing and was also a police officer in West Virginia. He considered himself to be a boxer-puncher and was quite small for his chosen division. His record going into the fight was 15-9-1. Clay received $2,000 for his first pro fight and Hunsaker got $300. Clay entered the fight as a heavyweight, weighing 192 lbs to Hunsaker's 186 lbs. The fight took place at the Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky. The sparse footage - not even a minute long - of Clay's first professional fight sees Hunsaker's slip and fall off balance as he missed his opponent. We just saw Clay run easy circles around his 30 year-old opponent, scoring with ease. Despite being a counter-puncher, this was yet another example of Clay taking the offensive from start to finish. The six-round fight was apparently a one-sided affair from start to finish. Hunsaker contended he won the first and last rounds and never said Clay hurt him. However, his face did tell a similar story. Hunsaker's nose was streaming blood and one eye was swollen closed by the final bell. Hunsaker commented that Clay moved as fast a middleweight. Clay said the extra weight slowed him down. The fight looked promising and Clay went on to win his second fight, footage of which is not available. He stopped Herb Siler in round four of their eight-round contest.

Pone Kingpetch versus Pascuel Perez NBA and Ring World Flyweight Championship 22.09.1960

Given the importance of both fighters, it is surprising that there is very little information on their rematch. This was the first time Pone Kingpetch had fought outside of Thailand. The fight took place at The Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles USA. It was Kingpetch's first title defence. Neither man had fought another since they had last met.

The fight looked pretty tight for the most part. Rounds 1 and 2 were fairly even with perhaps the advantage going to Kingpetch who did well to control the centre of the ring as Perez used gazelle punches to force the fight. Round 3 was Perez's as he took the champion up on the offer of more aggression. It appeared to be a poor strategy on Pone's behalf at least for the time being. Round 4 saw the champion move back into his counter-punching style but the challenger continued his assault. This continued over into Round 5 with Perez still having a slight edge. 6 and 7 might have revealed a few telltale signs that although Perez was leading the aggression, Kingpetch's punches were catching him on the way in. I also noticed that throughout the fight, the taller fighter was actually the more active in the clinch. By these stages of the fight the Argentinian was using a measuring jab to bridge the gap although, given, their huge reach difference a pier or a diving board might be a more a more apt metaphor.

Kingpetch's footwork was a showcase of effective range control, shortening and lengthening on a regular basis and nearly always on the champion's terms. Perez's own footwork was as ever too. He demonstrated a lot of his switch-hitting as constantly worked at angles at the mid-range that he dominated. At long range he relied more on a hopping, bouncy style of movement that had become his trademark and something of a necessity for facing taller opponents. Kingpetch's counter-punching was put to the test with at least one moment where he stumbled in his efforts to maintain fighting whilst moving backwards.

In the end, it was predictably Kingpetch's huge reach advantage that won the day. Perez just accumulated too much damage as he worked his way into the pocket. In round 7 Kingpetch took the fight when his regular work in the clinch and clear dominance at long range finally exploded out into the mid-range and he unleashed combination after combination. Using his own control of angles and momentum, Kingpetch continued the assault even as Perez shifted direction and attempted clinching.

Round 8 saw Perez stopped after he wrestled the champion into the corner. The referee intervened for some reason that we couldn't quite make out. However, it appeared that he wasn't throwing many punches at this point and the ones he had thrown previously had missed a lot. This was definitely Kingpetch's round with the challenger more clinching. He was possibly trying to hide a facial injury and get through the round. Pone Kingpetch retained the world flyweight title.

Perez wouldn't fight again until March next year and wouldn't ever get another title shot. Kingpetch fought at the same time back in Thailand in a non-title match, which he won. Then we would make his second trip outside of Thailand to defend his title, this time giving Japan another chance.

Next time we return to Los Angeles as Brazil throws its hat into the ring for the bantamweight title as Eder Jofre challenges Mexico's Eloy Sanchez in highlights from their fight. We also go back to 1959 and Henry Cooper's defence of his British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles.

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