For this week’s fight of the week we have a classic and I do mean Classic with a capital C!
This is a rematch of another Classic between two of the toughest fighters around circa 1955: Carmen Basilio and Tony Demarco.
I first heard of this particular match up some 20 years ago when hall of fame trainer Emmanuel Steward mentioned it during commentary of fight of the decade Gatti V Ward 1. That bruising encounter reminded him of this fight, one of which legends are made of.
Carmen Basilio was the reigning welterweight champion of the world, was 28 years of age and had a record of 47 wins, 11 losses and 7 draws. He had won the title beating Tony Demarco in another fiery clash some five months previously. Rather amusingly the no nonsense Basilio had taken two fights in the interim before rematching Demarco closing out of the year which by today’s standards is mind boggling.
Demarco was a younger man at just 23 years old with a record of 47 wins, 6 losses and 1 draw. He was looking to reclaim his title after taking an interim fight since losing to Basilio. To say that fighters of his era were a different breed is an understatement of Carlylean proportions.
As the fight begins you pick up from the commentator that both fighters are left handed but stand in an orthdox stance making their left hook their favoured hurting weapons. What stood out to me straight away were both men’s backs, they looked thickly muscled and solid. As the fight began both looked to establish the range and size each other up but it wasn’t long before both looked to land power shots with either hand. Demarco seemed to get the better of it with sporadic flurries of combinations some of which landed on Basilio. There was not much skipping around the ring, the two come forward punchers were circling each other both looking to land hurtful blows. First round Demarco.
The second round seemed a more even affair with Basilio seemingly beginning to settle into the fight. Both fighters were looking to land hard shots on each other neither willing to play the boxer, it was as if two bulls had met at centre ring to find out which one had the biggest heart. The punch output from both was high with only a brief appearance by the referee to break them from a few lively clinches. It’s hard to pick one of them for this round so I’ll call it even.
Round three was another close round with a tit for tat back and forth tempo. Close quarter exchanges punctuated this round with more action coming from this range than the previous round. At no time did the referee break them even though they were working more at close range, both fighter’s were more than willing to work from this range without tying up. Both threw hurtful punches that seemed to leave them open for counters but at this early stage neither one was able to capitalise. I nodded towards Basilio for this round although it was very close.
Round four was a good rebound round for Demarco with him landing clean with right hands and left hooks throughout the round. Both fighters were so keen to get at each other they were both guilty of lunging forward opening themselves up to dangerous counters. At one point in the round they both landed hard right hands, it seemed Demarco landed with more authority. Demarco was jabbing well in patches then looking to load his left hook and throw it as a lead. Demarco looked great in this round but I did get the sense he was feeling the pace just a little as he sometimes took big swings and missed wildly which cost a lot of energy with no reward.
Round five was a hellacious round with Demarco stunning Basilio with a strong left hook that had him stagger back into the ropes. The Boston crowd roared as they cheered on the hometown fighter Demarco, urging him on to finish Basilio and regain his title. Demarco seemed to get even more aggressive this round, trying with all his strength to put the legendarily tough Basilio away. As the round wore on Basilio managed to get some of his own offence going and avoid a few more of Demarco’s vicious punches. This was definitely Demarco’s round but the amount of effort he was putting in was costing him energy. Basilio seemed to be getting hit a bit more but was content to put his punches together rather than going for the home run shot.
Round six was a calmer affair then the fiery previous round. Basilio to me was looking more efficient in his work, more refined and as so was able to operate at a faster tempo as he was using less energy than the big punching Demarco. Basilio seemed to be doing a better job of avoiding Demarco’s left hook by ducking down underneath it. Basilio was boxing smart this round with a constant level of activity and an absence of lunging into Demarco. Demarco was starting to look a little laboured and unrefined next to Basilio’s smart boxing. This round definitely goes to Basilio.
Into round number 7 we go. Both fighters were continually circling to their left avoiding each other’s powerful left hooks, for brief moments during the round Basilio stood still and was caught by Demarco seeming to stun him. This was a back and forth round with plenty of leather thrown both by fighters, Basilio was not doing as good a job of avoiding and outworking Demarco here. After a brief lull the referee broke the fighters from a clinch, Basilio lunged into Demarco with a clumsy left hook right hand combination that left him off balance and momentarily southpaw, as he retreated back into his stance Demarco struck with a clean left hook to the jaw that staggered the iron chinned Basilio. He was hurt badly, his legs recovered quickly as he began to circle away from Demarco, ducking this way and that and clinching when Demarco got too close. The bell sounded and Basilio had survived with a combination of superhuman toughness and defensive nous. This round obviously went for Demarco.
Round 8 began with Basilio seemingly recovered from the punishing previous round. He was cognizant of his defensive responsibilities and spent much of the round circling to his left to avoid the power of the Demarco hook. As in the early rounds Basilio did his best work when putting his punches together and then looking to get out of the way. The champion appeared to have the smarter feet and slicker head movement and although Demarco might have won this round on aggression he was putting a lot of horsepower into his punches which would leave him short of energy if the fight went late. A closer round but one I would favour the aggression of Demarco.
Round 9 saw Basilio box with great balance and poise, he jabbed at range, tied up when he needed to, weaved under Demarco’s powerful hook and peeled away from his long right hands all the while scoring with his own flurries. Demarco in his eagerness to hurt Basilio again lunged forward a few times stepping southpaw and risking walking into big counters. Both on the offensive and defensive side Basilio was showing more polish which kept more energy in the tank as we were approaching the latter part of the fight. Basilio’s round and his best for a while.
Round 10 saw more great boxing from Basilio, he began to throw uppercuts to head and heart to slow down the marauding Demarco. Basilio’s upper body movement was helping him to avoid the big swings of Demarco and allowing him to counter to the body slowing down the younger big puncher. As Demarco’s activity continued to slide Basilio was busy, as Demarco looked to load up and land devastating shots Basilio was economical with his power. Demarco for the whole fight would throw himself off balance looking to land hurtful punches, this was now giving Basilio ample opportunity to outwork him. Another round to Basilio.
Round 11 saw Tony Demarco show tremendous heart, for the first time in the fight it seemed like he was getting pushed back by Basilio. He refused to be put onto the back foot for long however and responded with heavy offence of his own to force Basilio back to boxing. Basilio was still the fresher of the two and the one with more tools in his tool box compared with the slugger Demarco. Activity level was what seperated the fighters in this round for me with the busier Basilio winning a closer round.
The 12th round began with Basilio again stalking his opponent, perhaps sensing that Demarco was fading. Basilio again worked continually to the body of his opponent with uppercuts, one of which seemed to take something out of Demarco. Demarco responded with a burst of aggressive offence but to little avail as Basilio tied him up in the clinch and went back to working his body. A gruelling exchange of clinch fighting ensued for a good 40 seconds which seemed to take a lot out of Demarco. As they were broken apart Basilio switched up his attack to the head and stunned Demarco with a straight right hand that had him almost collapse on top of Basilio who was crouching over expecting a counter. Demarco failed to respond and so Basilio continued his assault before Demarco fell from what looked like a combination of pain and exhaustion. Demarco was laid out on his back not looking like he was going to make the count but he gamely rose to his feet at 6. Basilio set about his man landing clean overhand rights that stunned Demarco again forcing the referee to stop the fight.
A blood and thunder war from the archives this was. A quote that I read about this fight before watching it came back to me: Demarco was a very good fighter, Basilio was a great fighter. What separates the greats from the very good is, as we have said before, the ability to be effective in all ranges. Seldom are knock out artists great at evasion and vice versa. Having an iron chin is great but being able to avoid shots, tie up and use your feet when hurt will save even the most durable of fighters and allow them to regroup and come back.
Basilio later moved up in weight to challenge the great Sugar Ray Robininson for the middleweight title, defeating him before losing a controversial rematch. Tony Demarco never did become world champion again but did contest the title two years later unsuccessfully. Both men solidified their status as legendary fighters from an era of legendary fighters with this fight.
What did you think?
Come back next week for another fight of the week retrospective.