Julio César Chávez vs. Meldrick Taylor

Fight of the Century

Date	March 17, 1990
Venue	Las Vegas Hilton, Winchester, Nevada, US
Title(s) on the line	WBC and IBF light welterweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer Julio César Chávez Meldrick Taylor Nickname The Great Mexican Champion TNT Hometown Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US Pre-fight record 68–0 (55 KO) 24–0–1 (14 KO) Height 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) 5 ft 6+1⁄2 in (169 cm) Weight 139+1⁄2 lb (63 kg) 139+3⁄4 lb (63 kg) Recognition WBC light welterweight champion The Ring No. 2 ranked pound-for-pound fighter 3-division world champion IBF light welterweight champion The Ring No. 6 ranked pound-for-pound fighter
Result
Chávez won via 12th-round TKO

Julio César Chávez vs. Meldrick Taylor, also billed as Thunder Meets Lightning, was a light welterweight world championship bout held on March 17, 1990 between WBC world champion Julio César Chávez of Mexico and IBF world champion Meldrick Taylor of the United States, both at light welterweight. It was titled "Thunder Meets Lightning" as an allusion to the punching power of Chávez and fast hand speed of Taylor. Chavez won the fight by a controversial TKO of Taylor only two seconds before the end of the twelfth and last round, while he was behind on the score cards. The fight would later be named The Ring magazine's Fight of the Year for 1990, and later the "Fight of the Decade" for the 1990s.

Build-up and fighters

Julio César Chávez had an undefeated record of 68–0 with 55 wins by knockout and had won world championships in three weight classes: super featherweight, lightweight and, the previous year against Roger Mayweather, the WBC light welterweight title.

Meldrick Taylor had won, at only 17 years, a gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics. He also had an undefeated professional record and had won the IBF light welterweight title in 1988 from Buddy McGirt.

This fight was the third title defense for both boxers and a unification fight of the WBC and IBF title.

The fight took place only one month after Mike Tyson's upset loss to James "Buster" Douglas.

The fight

Taylor's hand and foot speed and boxing abilities gave him the early advantage, allowing him to begin building a large lead on points. He frequently hit Chávez with combinations and danced around the other man, making it difficult for Chávez, a skilled combination puncher who relied on an accumulation of damage to knock out his foes, to land more than one blow at a time. But coming into the later rounds, Taylor was bleeding from the mouth, his entire face was swollen, the bones around his eye socket had been broken, he had swallowed a considerable amount of his own blood, and as he grew tired, Taylor was increasingly forced into exchanging blows with Chávez. While Taylor was ahead on the score cards late into the fight, he was dazed, especially after the end of the 11th round when Taylor nearly went into Chávez' corner, until referee Richard Steele directed him back to his own.

Going into the final round, Taylor held a secure lead on the scorecards of two of the three judges, (Dave Moretti and Jerry Roth had the score 107–102 and 108–101 respectively for Taylor, while Chuck Giampa had Chávez ahead 105–104). However Taylor's trainer Lou Duva told him that he needed to win the final round. Taylor showed signs of exhaustion, which included staggering around the ring, visibly wobbling as he moved. At one point, he fell to the canvas after missing Chávez with a wild left.

With about a minute left in the round, Chávez hit Taylor squarely with several hard punches, and Taylor responded by mockingly feigning weakness. Finally, with 25 seconds left, Chávez landed a hard right hand that caused Taylor to stagger forward towards a corner. Chávez then dropped him with a right hand. By using the ring ropes to pull himself up, Taylor managed to return to his feet and was given the mandatory standing 8-count. Referee Richard Steele then asked Taylor twice if he was okay, received no reaction and then signaled that he was ending the fight, resulting in a TKO victory for Chávez with only two seconds to go in the bout.

Aftermath

To this day, Steele's decision to stop the fight remains debated.

Chávez' status was cemented by the bout, and for the next several years he was widely considered the best fighter in the world. His unbeaten streak would stretch to 89–0–1 before he suffered his first loss, to Frankie Randall. Towards the end of his career Chávez began to cut easily, a tendency that cost him several fights. Like many fighters, he continued to fight even after time had diminished his skills, and would go in and out of retirement several times. He retired for good after a loss on September 17, 2005, in a bout where he claimed to have injured his hand. His final career record stands at 108–6–2. He holds several records, including for most title defenses and championship fights.

It is popularly believed that Meldrick Taylor was never the same physically or psychologically after the Chavez bout. Sportswriter William Nack claimed that Taylor's "prime" was literally beaten out of him. Dr. Flip Homansky, who examined Taylor following the fight, said that Taylor suffered broken bones behind the eye and received a transfusion for blood loss because of a cut lower lip.

Taylor would continue fighting and succeed in winning the WBA welterweight title in 1991, which he lost in 1992. He was knocked out in a rematch with Chávez in 1994, his last title fight.

Meldrick Taylor still resides in his native Philadelphia. On May 15, 2009, Taylor released a book titled "Two Seconds From Glory" detailing the fight with Julio Cesar Chávez along with other controversial subjects.

Undercard

• Greg Page knocks out Martis Fleming at 1:36 of round 1.