Wrath of the Honeybear (diary entry)

28.09.2022

Virgil Akins versus Tony DeMarco 29.10.1957

Virgil "Honey Bear" Akins was born on 10th March 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. He began his professional career in 1948 where he fought as a lightweight. After an initial points victory he suffered his first loss, a TKO to Charlie Baxter, in his second match. He would win a points victory over Baxter in his third match. After seven straight victories, he ventured out of Missouri to take three fights in New York, Wyoming and Colorado respectively losing them all on points. Returning home, he won another four straight victories before losing a unanimous decision in Minnesota to Gene Parker. This time, however, he would avenge the loss with a sixth round TKO over Parker when they fought in Madison Square Garden. At the same venue he took on future world lightweight boxing champion Wallace Bud Smith and won a points victory. They met again in Missouri and Akins won again the same way. He then lost twice to Smith's future nemesis, Joe Brown, on points both times in Louisiana, sandwiching in a points victory over Tommy Campbell. This was followed by three fights in Missouri. He would win all three, two on split decisions and the last by unanimous decision over Joe Brown. That was now two future world lightweight champions Akins could add to his record but this would not be his division.

By September 1957 he had a record of 45-17-1 and had proven to be a powerful welterweight contender. After Carmen Basilio had won the world middleweight championship, he had vacated the welterweight belt triggering a six-man elimination tournament that included Atkins.

After failing to win the title back from Carmen Basilio in their rematch, Tony DeMarco stopped Wallace Bud Smith in round nine in 1956. He then took three unanimous decisions that included Vince Martinez, who we watched fight later, and the ex-world welterweight champion, Kid Gavilan now on his career descent. DeMarco then lost two split decisions to Gasper Ortega before winning a unanimous decision over him in their third match-up. He beat Larry Boardman by unanimous decision and then won a majority decision over Walter Byars.

Atkins and DeMarco's match was billed as a world welterweight title bout and is sometimes listed as a fight recognised by the NYSAC. However, contemporary reports verify that this was not the case and part of the contender tournament for the title. Going by a later newspaper report the match might have been for the Massachusetts welterweight championship. The fight took place at the Boston Garden.

Atkins stood at 5'9" with a reach of 73". He carried power in both of his hands and just over half his career victories came via knockout. On the night of the fight he weighed in at 144 lbs to DeMarco's 146 lbs.

Round 1 - Atkins worked the outside and demonstrated some good defensive upper body work. He slipped and rolled as DeMarco came in aggressively early on. DeMarco worked flat-footed throwing power jabs, one-twos and waded in with hooks. Atkins primarily worked his jab and did well to stay off the ropes, but it wasn't a convincing start.

Round 9 - By this time in the match, the out-boxing strategy had worked well for Akins. Journalists noted he mainly avoided DeMarco's heavy shots and picked him off with jabs and lead hooks. In this round he was giving a convincing display of hitting without getting hit as he snapped back DeMarco's head with his lefts whilst moving out of harm's way from DeMarco's bombs. Still the ex-world champion continued an unrelenting pursuit. The action was regular with both men getting their way in their own particular styles to some degree in the last minute during the exchanges.

Round 10 - After the exchanges began to intensify it was Akins who landed the bomb on the slugger. Moving him towards the corner, he shook him with a hard right. DeMarco looked briefly in trouble as he almost went down and covered up. However, it wasn't long before he cleared his head and took the fight to Atkins, driving him across the ring with haymakers. The fight got back on even ground for a while and then at long range an innocuous looking straight right hit DeMarco on the button. He walked back and received an onslaught of punches that sent him to the canvas. He lay down prostrate before jumping to his feet after a count and re-entering the fray. However, the damage had been done and he was back down again within a few seconds. This time he got to his feet faster and referee wiped his gloves to continue. DeMarco covered up and threw a few obligatory punches to show he was still in the fight before the round ended.

Round 11 - DeMarco looked rejuvenated now and came out early with heavy hook/uppercut combinations that Akins shielded off. He kept his foot on the gas and Akins found himself back on the back-foot again flicking out jabs when he could. DeMarco looked like he was making up for the previous round and continued to press the fight with continuous lefts and rights. After looking like he was finished, DeMarco took the round.

Round 12 - DeMarco kept the pace and workrate up from the beginning of this round. Akins was more active early on and even landed the odd telling jab, but it was looking like DeMarco had turned the tables at this point. As to confirm this, his work seemed to pay off when he got through with a powerful left hook that sent Atkins down for a count. Keen to finish it, he pursued the Honey Bear around the ring with hooks but was unable to capitalise on the knockdown.

Round 14 - Presumably the previous round had seen Atkins regroup. In this round, he completely changed his strategy and met DeMarco in the pocket. The crucial footage was missing from our version of the fight, but we saw DeMarco teeter backwards across the ring into the ropes only to be met by vicious hooks and a rear hand uppercut. He went down and lay with his head against the rope. It was over and it looked like DeMarco was unconscious again. Apparently this was the sixth time he had gone down during the fight.

DeMarco and Atkins would have a rematch in January 1958. This time Akins stopped him in round 12.

The Associated Press reported that Akins played a waiting with DeMarco, using a similar strategy as their previous meeting but with more vigour. DeMarco showed the type of resilience we have come to expect as he was first knocked down for a seven-count in the eighth via two hard lefts and a right uppercut and was bleeding from his right eye by the ninth. In round 10 Akins hurt his opponent again with an uppercut and pummelled him through the round until DeMarco fought back, landing seven clean shots to the head before the bell rang. However, in round 11 DeMarco was sent down twice first with a left to the body and head that sat him down for a count of three. He was down on his knee before the round was out and in the 12th Akins finished the job, with a powerful right uppercut prompting the referee to step in to save DeMarco from more punishment.

Tony DeMarco won his next fight the following year over George Monroe, stopping him in the eighth round. He then won a unanimous decision over Edward G. Connors the same year before losing a second round TKO to future world light middleweight champion Denny Moyer. DeMarco then knockout out Don Jordan in the second of their 1961 clash and finished his career with a 10 round unanimous decision over Stefan Redl in 1962. He retired with a record of 58-12-1. 33 of his wins came via knockout and DeMarco went on record to state that he considered himself to be a slugger by style. He was beloved in his native Boston and his fights held at the Boston Garden broke box office records. Mayor Thomas Menino even named a street "Tony DeMarco Way" in the famous North End of Boston where DeMarco had grown up. A statue of him was unveiled on 20th October 2012 at the corners of Hanover and Cross Streets. His many honours included being inducted Official National Italian American Hall of Fame in Chicago and in 2019 he became part of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Tony DeMarco died just under a decade after his statue was unveiled on 11th October 2021.

Back in 1958, Virgil Akins had now qualified to face Isaac Logart who he stopped in round six. He would now face Vince Martinez for the world welterweight title.

Virgil Akins verus Vince Martinez Undisputed World Welterweight Championship 06.06.1958

Vince Martinez was born on 5th May 1929 in Mount Kisco, New York but resided in Paterson, New Jersey after his family moved there when he was four years old. He was the second of four brothers. Despite his Spanish name, he was from Italian heritage and was always proud of this fact.

He began boxing at Newark Boys Club after learning fundamentals from his father. Despite also having skills as musician (he played the trumpet) and working as a draftsman, his interest was in sports. When at the Central High School his entire football team decided to enter the Paterson Diamond Gloves in 1947 and Martinez made it to the finals it to the surprise of everyone. He joined the Mickey Connelly Gym in Paterson soon after and decided to pursue a career as a professional fighter. In 1948 he re-entered the Paterson Diamond Gloves as well the Passaic Diamond Gloves tournament bring home gold in both.

He turned pro in 1949 and came under the management of Bill Daly and Tex Pelte, and trainer “Shine” Fiorita. He won his first 14 fights, by which time had come out of New Jersey to fights in Brooklyn and Madison Square Garden. He lost his second fight of 1950 and his 15th fight overall to Joe Mullins on points before joining the National Guard for six months where he attained the rank of sergeant. However, he was back in the ring by 10th October 1950 taking a fifth round knockout over Jack Randolph in New York. This was the beginning of a 13 bout winning streak with most of these victories coming via stoppage. His sixth round stoppage over veteran Mario Moreno on 28th January 1952 caught the attention of the press.

So impressive was his performance that year that he was voted "Rookie of the Year". He then lost a split decision and a unanimous decision both in Madison Square Garden to Chico Vejar and Danny Giovanelli in 1953. However, he won his next 23 bouts and, again, most of them by stoppage.

His fourth loss came in 1956 when Tony DeMarco won a unanimous decision over him in DeMarco's hometown of Boston. He won his next five fights, three by stoppage and also beat the ex-welterweight king Kid Gavilan. Martinez then lost a unanimous decision to Ralph Dupas in New Orleans. His next five fights were all victories, including a second win over Kid Gavilan, a majority decision over the well-respected Gil Turner and a technical seventh round knockout over Armand Savoie.

Turner had been one of the six welterweights selected to fight in the tournament. Others included Virgil Akins, Isaac Logart, Gasper Ortega  and George Barnes. Barnes withdrew from the tournament due to the belief he could "capitalize more on his status as welterweight champion of the British Empire." This gave Martinez a bye. Akins knocked out Logart after Logart had defeated Ortega. Now only Akins and Martinez were left standing to decide Carmine Basilio's successor and world welterweight champion.

Both Virgil Akins and Vince Martinez could be described as boxer-punchers. However, it would appear that Akins leant closer to the puncher side and Martinez to the boxer side. Martinez was faster on his feet but, as his stoppage record demonstrated, he had knockout power. This was evident in his straight rights early on his career, but later on he showed he could do similar damage with his left hook. His out-boxing was often described as very cautious and, unlike Akins, he had not been stopped once in his 65 fights. This had sometimes drawn criticism from spectators wishing to see more engagement. However, his film-star looks that had caught the attention of Hollywood and his knockout ability had tipped the popularity balance at this stage. As for his courage, when it was required, he was never lacking in tenacity or bravery as we would see in today's fight.

Akins said he had seen a weakness in Martinez's supposed impenetrable defence. Having watched four of his televised fights, Akins said Martinez telegraphed his famous left hook by moving his head in a peculiar way and dropping his left hand too low. After knocking out Logart in welter semi-final tournament, he told boxing historian Chuck Hasson that he would knock Martinez out because the man had a habit of dropping his hands and his head back after throwing a double-jab. Akins had told Hasson that all was required to connect at this point was to throw two straight rights, the first would probably miss but the second would take him out.

By contrast, Martinez had decided he would take an entirely different strategy than normal. Relying on his greater speed, he decided to take the fight to Akins and catch him off-balance.

Martinez matched Akins' height at 5'9" but lacked his reach at 69 1/2". His record was 60-5 to Akins' 48-17-1.

Round 1 - Akins came out in a crouched stance as he advanced on Martinez. Martinez appeared to be on the back-foot in his usual style at the beginning, but soon began shooting out his jab as Akins ducked and lunged into the pocket with a left hook to the body. Martinez threw his jabs, Akins saw his moment and filled the gap with a huge right cross, sending his opponent to the canvas.

Martinez was up pretty quickly and went back into the middle of the ring trying to get purchase with his lefts. However, Akins was too aggressive and on his game. Martinez tied him up when he could and began to back-pedal, but a left hook bounced him into ropes and this was followed by a big straight right that sent him to the adjacent ropes. Martinez slid down the ropes and chose to take the count on one knee. When he returned to his feet it was only to meet more destruction as he tried to clinch Akins now hungry for blood. His attempts to tie up his opponent's arms failed and he took big punches to the jaw, saved by the ropes from another knockdown. However, it wouldn't last for long. Akins moved out into the ring and Martinez desperately tried to hang on, at one point his arms were wrapped around his opponent's legs as the referee parted them. As the fight resumed, Akins continued the onslaught and sent him down for a third time in the same round. Martinez almost went through the ropes and lay flat on the canvas as Akins returned to the neutral corner.

Although Martinez was back on his feet he looked drowsy as Akins charged forward. Martinez was down again and it didn't look like Akins landed a single punch this time.  He was up for fifth time only to be sent down with a left hook/straight combination, toppling face first on the ground. As Martinez rose for a sixth time, he held on taking punishment as the bell saved him.

Round 2 - The pattern was set. Every time Martinez threw his left, now severely compromised, Akins was on him with his vicious right. However, despite being noticeably injured from the previous round there was little doubt Martinez was still game. Tired as he was he worked to circle and revert back to his old style. However, now he was tired and had been robbed of his speed. It looked like he was getting something of a rhythm back and a return to caution as he circled Akins with stick and move tactics through most of the round. Although sporting a cut under his right eye and a profusely bleeding nose, it looked like he was either gathering strength or all he could do to attempt to clear his head and stay in the game.

Round 3 - The action heated back up again but Martinez just appeared to be desperately trying to revert back to his old style whilst Akins was still in the zone, exploiting those weaknesses now laid bear. He exploded in with a sharp jab/rear uppercut. Then there was a sudden apparent lull in the storm. Martinez moved out and circled, dabbing with his jab. Akins relentlessly stalked him, rolling and crouching sometimes probing with a body jab. Martinez had now opened a small cut above Akins' eye.

After some conservative single jabs off each of the fighters and a short clinch Martinez had used to stem an Akins assault, Akins just clipped Martinez with a lunging, straight arm hook. Martinez circled out but was then chopped down with a big overhand right that floored him again. He landed face first but got up in short time. This time he went back into the pocket and started flicking out regular jabs, little realising Akins was doing exactly what he said he would do. After rolling and ducking off a few he got his timing in and powered through with straights. Martinez back into the ropes but it was clearly in trouble and Akins landed bomb after bomb. Finally, after beating him halfway around the ring with a two-fisted assault Akins put Martinez down for the second time in this round with a short left hook. Martinez was up again but the damage was evident and he went straight into a clinch, holding on with desperation before staggering backwards to his awaiting corner as the bell rang.

Round 4 - Early into the round Akins moved into Martinez's corner and slipped on the water used to douse Martinez. He also dropped his mouthpiece and the referee kicked it out of the ring. Martinez was clearly in terrible shape as he stood in front of Akins with his guard low. Akins moved in a crouch and, seeing the glaring opening, launched a powerful overhand right that sent Martinez down. He took a six count on one knee. A left and right hook combination followed by a jab sent him reeling into a corner. Martinez bounced out of it only to receive more of the same as well as hook to the body. Akins battered him along the ropes sending him down with a big left hook. As he lay flat out on the canvas the referee stopped the fight. Virgil Akins was the new world welterweight champion.

The loss for Martinez was described as heartbreaking. Despite his record and still being ranked as number 8 after his loss, he would never get another shot at a world title. He returned to the ring that December to win a close 10 decision over the tough 25 year-old Stefan Redl of Newark. He would lose on points to rising star, Denny Moyer, then the number four in the Ring welterweight rankings and just shy of his 20th birthday. Nine months later he returned the ring with a split decision win over old rival Chico Vejar. In 1960 he attempted a new campaign for the welterweight title.

According to Cyberzone Boxing:

"He defeated in succession: Clem Florio (TKO-6) in Tampa, FL on April 1; Stephen Redl in a return match (TKO-5) in Paterson, NJ on June 11; Frankie Belma (TKO-5) in Miami Beach on August 2; Bobby Shaw (TKO-4) in Nassau on August 26; Basil Campbell (W-10) in Miami Beach on October 5; and Enrique Esqueda (KO-9) in Monterrey, Mexico on October 15."

However, ultimately time ran out for Martinez. He fought another rising star in the form of Cleveland's Cecil Shorts. Shorts came into the fight with a 16-4-1 (8) record and stopped Martinez in round four after he had knocked him down three times. This was only the second time in his career that he had been stopped and it is notable that both occasions were technical knockouts where the referee had stepped in to prevent Martinez suffering any more punishment. Martinez is testament that a cleverness is often mistaken for caution and that he was never lacking in courage. He took one more fight in 1961, winning a split decision over Miguel Angel Aguero and giving the Argentinian his third career loss amongst 54 wins and four draws.

Martinez retired with a record of 69-8. His face was left unmarked, proof of his superb defensive skills. His loss to Akins is a classic and distaterous outlier in his career and proof what happens when the best and worst strategies clash.

Vince Martinez first ran a motel business with his father in Florida. After selling the business, he worked as an engineer for IBM and during this time travelled to Italy where he met his wife, Angela. The two settled in Hollywood, Florida where they raised their four children (two girls and two boys). He died on 29th January 2003 after a long illness.

https://clubbchimera.com/services/