Although McGuigan trained for this match in Palm Springs — one of the most consistently hot locales in the U.S. — and despite having outlasted Bernard Taylor in the stifling heat inside the King’s Hall nearly nine months earlier, the champion was distressed by the possibility of fighting in what would be 110-degree heat. “McGuigan’s outgoing personality surprised quite a few reporters, who came expecting to find the ponderous young man they had seen on television. He was a man who had “star” written all over him, and he was ready to expand his sphere of influence. All the Clones man needed to do was avoid two knockdowns. Even when McGuigan lands a good shot, Cruz just has something better. With barely 30 seconds remaining he was felled the fatal third time. The best fan-driven site for fan scores. Though hardly fresh, the Texan was at this point the calmer and more compact of the two men and he went about his work with greater efficiency. Despite his present position of ascendancy, McGuigan cut a distressed figure on his stool before the 10th as the early symptoms of dehydration and heat exhaustion bubbled to the surface. By scoring two knockdowns in the final round, Cruz did exactly what he needed to do to snatch away the championship, for had McGuigan kept his feet for the entire round, he would have retained his belt by split decision and even if McGuigan had suffered just one knockdown he would have kept the title by majority draw. Steve Cruz throws a punch at Barry McGuigan. A Catholic born in a border town in the Republic of Ireland, Finbar “Barry” McGuigan married a Protestant from the North and contested the majority of his fights in a fraught Belfast that was buckling under the weight of a sustained period of bloody sectarian violence. On June 1, 2019, a charismatic and powerful world champion from “across the pond” was poised to make his mark in America against a challenger summoned from the sidelines on painfully short notice and for reasons that could not be foreseen. The 14th was closer, but McGuigan’s improbable show of strength helped create a lead on the scorecards that appeared almost unassailable. Belfast and London had hosted the vast majority of McGuigan’s glory nights, but after his historic victory over the legendary Eusebio Pedroza, the newly crowned featherweight champion of the world understandably craved the prestige and universal recognition that meaningful triumphs on US soil guaranteed. That was the key difference between McGuigan and others who simply wanted to stay out of it altogether. Later, he experienced nausea and vomited, which ringside physician Dr. Edwin “Flip” Homansky said was evidence of heat prostration. Photo by Mike Powell/ Allsport. His muscles twitched like they knew they should but the connection with his brain was as sketchy as a long distance call on a cheap mobile phone. Round-by-round analysis from Bad Left Hook. In the September 1986 issue of KO, writer Mike Steinke described a scene that illustrated McGuigan’s considerable charm, his sense of humor and his ease with the big stage. “I had planned for McGuigan to come out in a crouch, like he usually does,” Cruz said in the December 1986 issue of KO. Suffice it to say, by anyone’s standards, it was extremely hot. It was to be part of a card dubbed “The Triple Hitter” in which two of “The Four Kings” would grace the bill: Thomas Hearns (who would defend his WBC junior middleweight title against Mark Medal) and Roberto Duran (who would face Robbie Sims — the half-brother of undisputed middleweight champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler — in a 10-round crossroads match). Both men left large pieces of themselves inside that broiling ring in Las Vegas, and their Fight of the Year-quality effort will be remembered for its ferocity, its tenaciousness and its melodramatic and life-changing conclusion. The Caesars crowd booed lustily for the only time in the fight when McGuigan immediately sought a clinch, but the survival tactic worked and McGuigan managed to finish the fight on his feet — barely. The next five rounds would determine his fate — and that fate was nowhere near certain. With the finish line in sight, the two men picked up their pace even more, but following the first exchange, Cruz connected with a right-left to the chin.
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