In my boxing lifetime, the best fight that I have ever watched is Diego Corrales vs Jose Luis Castillo I. That fight was 10 rounds of unbelievable ebb and flow with a finish not even a rocky movie could do justice. However, the point of this article series isto focus on the classic wars that do not get the attention that they rightfully deserve. Corrales-Castillo has receivedmore than enough adulation and praise from all areas of the boxing world. The first fight that I thought of that was so underrated and in need of a spotlight was Merqui Sosa vs Prince Charles Williams. To me their 2 fights were the most violent that I have ever seen at light heavyweight
Merqui Sosa was a tough hard punching fighter from the Dominican Republic who operated from 160 to 175. He had been in the ring with some of the boxing best of the time: James Toney, Michael Nunn, and Frankie Liles. In fact he had come very close to handing toJ ames Toney his first career loss in an unsuccessful bid for the IBF Middleweight title. Prince Charles Williams, a pro since 1978, was looking to regain some career momentum coming off an almost 6 year title reign as IBF Light Heavyweight Champion.
The first fight, held on 1/13/1995,is one of the most savage fights ever seen at the time. There were very few clinches in this phone booth war. Absolutely mind numbing ebb and flow. Blood and sweat flying everywhere. The punishment doled out by both men was incredible. To watch this as it played out it had the feel that that someone needed to save these 2 warriors from themselves. After the 7th round, referee Ron Lipton and the ringside doctor stepped in and stopped the fight. What made this stoppage unique is that they ruled that both men were unable to continue. Sosa had a possible broken cheekbone while Prince Charles had a nasty cut around his eye. The result was an extremely rare double TKO which was ruled official asa technical draw. The scorecards though showed that Sosa was up significantly on all 3 judges’ cards, something that didn’t sit right with Sosa.
Now after a fight like that one would think that a significant time off for rest and recovery would be the movefor both fighters. Instead a rematch wassigned and took place only a mere 5 months on 6/30/1995 after that fight. Both men picked up where they left off in an even more savage slugfest. However the judges were not needed this time around. At the beginning of the 10th round, the tank went zero all ofa sudden for Prince Charles. Prince Charles got hit with a right hand that had him out on his feet in a corner. Sosa then ripped off a murderous left uppercut, overhand right, left hook, and right hook combination that had Prince Charles swaying helplessly in the corner. The referee, John Carroll, incredulously issued a standing 8 count instead of stopping the fight like it needed tobe. It took some missteps from Prince Charles for him to officially bring an end to the fight giving Sosa arguably his career best win.
The aftermath of this fight was not pretty. Prince Charles was carried out of the ring on a stretcher while a visibly emotional Sosa was on the verge of tears in the post-fight interview concerned about his condition. His skills completely faded after these 2 wars,Prince Charles would fight and win one more low level fight a year after and retire in 1996. Merqui would soldier on until 2000 going 9 and 5 in his final 14 fights but never really regaining the brief world class form he had as the wars added up. You never hear these 2 fighters mentioned much less these series of fights or for that matter any of their fights. If you’re a boxing fan check these fights out, you will not be disappointed.
Written by PatScorpio