oubobcat
Well-known member
Today (08/09) is the 28th anniversary of Vince Phillips-Micky Ward. Phillips held a 140 pound title belt after springing a massive upset over Kostya Tszyu a few months earlier and Ward was coming off an equally stunning ko win vs. Alfonso Sanchez.
The fight was broadcast during the day on ABC and there was quite a bit of anticipation for it amongst boxing fans. The thought being that Phillips was known for being aggressive and if Ward fought like he was capable, and had shown previous that baffling effort vs. Sanchez, this could turn into a barnburner, With the bout being for a world title and taking place in Ward's backyard of Boston there was full anticipation that we'd see the best of Ward on this night.
And the fight was starting to heat up going into the third round. That is when a bad cut opened on Ward's left eye toward the end of the round. The referee almost immediately called for a doctor and when the doctor examined Ward's eye she recommended the bout be stopped.
A lot of people watching were miffed that Ward's corner was at least not given an opportunity to work on the cut. Of course there was an epic rant post fight too from Bob Arum that can readily be found on YouTube regarding the stoppage.
Fast forward almost 28 years later to HOF weekend in Canastota and I, along with many others, learned something new about the events during that day. Ward was giving a ringside lecture and was asked about his feelings on the stoppage today given that it was his only shot at a world title. His response surprised me. According to Ward when he was in the hospital post fight the doctor there told him he was within centimeters of losing vision in the eye. Ward said that doctor told him literally one more punch and he would have lost vision in that eye permantely. Ward went on to say that to this day he is thankful the ringside physician stopped the bout when she did b/c he wasn't going to stop fighting.
The fight was broadcast during the day on ABC and there was quite a bit of anticipation for it amongst boxing fans. The thought being that Phillips was known for being aggressive and if Ward fought like he was capable, and had shown previous that baffling effort vs. Sanchez, this could turn into a barnburner, With the bout being for a world title and taking place in Ward's backyard of Boston there was full anticipation that we'd see the best of Ward on this night.
And the fight was starting to heat up going into the third round. That is when a bad cut opened on Ward's left eye toward the end of the round. The referee almost immediately called for a doctor and when the doctor examined Ward's eye she recommended the bout be stopped.
A lot of people watching were miffed that Ward's corner was at least not given an opportunity to work on the cut. Of course there was an epic rant post fight too from Bob Arum that can readily be found on YouTube regarding the stoppage.
Fast forward almost 28 years later to HOF weekend in Canastota and I, along with many others, learned something new about the events during that day. Ward was giving a ringside lecture and was asked about his feelings on the stoppage today given that it was his only shot at a world title. His response surprised me. According to Ward when he was in the hospital post fight the doctor there told him he was within centimeters of losing vision in the eye. Ward said that doctor told him literally one more punch and he would have lost vision in that eye permantely. Ward went on to say that to this day he is thankful the ringside physician stopped the bout when she did b/c he wasn't going to stop fighting.
