When Mexican hero Julio Cesar Chavez went 89-0 against Andy Holligan
Andy Holligan loses to Julio Cesar Chavez, Norris is stunned by Brown and I’m floored by the mind-bending conditions, recalls Steve Bunce
AT a bullring in Mexico in the winter of 1993 the great Robbie Davies was at ringside wearing his Commonwealth Games blazer. Backstage, in a cold room used by the apprentice matadors, Andy Holligan was getting ready for the fight of his life against the hero of all Mexico, Julio Cesar Chavez, for the WBC light-welterweight title. There was no need for bookies.
On the night, as he walked to the ring, the fans were clustered in the cheapest seats – not seats, just concrete slabs – around fires burning in metal drums. I could see the high flames whenever anybody spat a mouth full of beer into the barrels. It was a vision of hell from my safe ringside seat, but Holligan had a serious go and knew exactly what he had signed for. “I’m not stupid, I’m fighting a living legend,” he said on the Wednesday.