Frankie Randall
| Frankie Randall | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Frankie Billy Randall |
| Nickname(s) | The Surgeon |
| Rated at | Welterweight Light Welterweight |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) |
| Reach | 72 in (183 cm) |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | September 25, 1961 Birmingham, Alabama, USA |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 77 |
| Wins | 58 |
| Wins by KO | 42 |
| Losses | 18 |
| Draws | 1 |
| No contests | 0 |
Frankie Billy Randall (born September 25, 1961 in Birmingham, Alabama) is a three-time world champion boxer, who is best known as the man who handed Mexican legend Julio César Chávez his first professional defeat.
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[edit] Pro career
Known as "The Surgeon", Randall, who was born in Birmingham, Alabama and grew up in Morristown, Tennessee, turned pro in 1981 after a lengthy career as an amateur boxer. He started slowly, winning his pro debut in June of that year, but was inactive in 1982 and did not fight again until February 1983.
Once his career started in earnest, Randall stayed busy, fighting and winning 23 times between 1983 and June 1985, when he fought former and future champ Edwin Rosario and lost a unanimous decision over 10 rounds. The loss probably cost him a chance to fight for the WBC lightweight title later that year. It didn't seem like much at the time, but Randall ended up waiting years for another shot.
On July 4, 1986, Randall drew with Freddie Pendleton for the USBA regional lightweight title, then watched Pendleton get a title shot instead of him even though Randall had previously defeated him. Then, in October 1987, he was knocked out by Mexican lightweight champion Primo Ramos for the NABF regional belt.
Randall then signed with promoter Don King and spent the next six and a half years fighting on the undercards of various championship fights promoted by King. But he also won all 17 of those fights, and on January 30, 1993, earned another title shot when he knocked out Rosario in the seventh round of a rematch.
[edit] Title Shot against Julio César Chávez
That shot came on January 29, 1994 against the legendary champion Julio César Chávez, in the grand opening of the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. Chávez came into the fight with an 90-0-1 record and was an 18-to-1 favorite to beat the 32-year-old challenger.
Randall felt differently, though. In a 2004 interview, he said "The moment that Don King informed that I was fighting Julio Cesar Chávez, I knew that I was going to be the first to beat him."
Randall knew the Mexican legend was a slow starter who often lost the first few rounds of a fight, only to come back and dominate. In this fight, Randall indeed won the early rounds, but kept the pressure on in the middle of the fight and began to build a large lead on the scorecards. Chávez then rallied, and by the 10th round, Randall held only a narrow lead. With the championship on the line, Randall took the fight to Chávez, compelling the champion to slow him down with an illegal low blow that cost Chávez a point. Then, in the 11th round, Randall knocked Chávez down for the first time in his career.
Minutes later, the fight ended and Randall had made boxing history, as well as claiming Chávez' WBC light welterweight championship on a split decision.
Chavez disputed the decision and demanded a rematch. Chávez blamed his loss on referee Richard Steele, who deducted two points from Chávez for low blows, including one in the eleventh round that made the difference on judge Angel Guzman's card, making the ultimate difference on the scorecards. (Guzman scored the bout 114-113 for Randall, meaning that the fight would have ended in a draw as Chuck Giampa had Randall winning by a 116-111 margin and Abraham Chavarria scored it 114-113 for Chavez.)[1]
The press stated that Chavez was not one hundred per cent of his capacities, claiming a supposed drug use and alcoholism by the Mexican legend, Randall's victory was discredited on numerous occasions.
[edit] Rematch with Chavez
Chávez got a rematch on May 7 of the same year and regained the title from Randall on an eight-round technical split decision [2]. As before, a deducted point played in the outcome of the fight. Chavez was injured in an accidental clash of heads and unable to continue. Per the WBC's rules, Randall was deducted a point for the incident and this proved costly to him. Judge Dalby Shirley's scorecard reflected this as his scorecard read 76-75 for Chavez; since judge Ray Solis had Chavez winning by a 77-74 margin on his card and judge Tamotsu Tomihara had the fight 76-75 in Randall's favor, a technical split draw would have been the result had Randall not lost that point.
On September 17, he was given a shot at the WBA version of the light welterweight title owned by Juan Martin Coggi. He beat Coggi, defended his title twice, then lost a rematch to Coggi in January 1996 in the same manner he'd lost to Chávez—a four-round decision in a fight ended early by a clash of heads.
Seven months later, Randall regained the WBA title, beating Coggi by unanimous decision in Buenos Aires, Argentina. But he lost it in his first defense, against Khalid Rahilou on January 11, 1997.
After taking 18 months off, Randall came back in an attempt to become a four-time world champ. He won a pair of tune-up fights, then faced contender Oba Carr in February 1999 for a chance to fight for a welterweight title. But Carr beat him on a 10-round unanimous decision.
The loss to Carr was the end of Randall's time as a contender, but he's continued to fight with mixed results over the years since.
[edit] Third fight against Chavez
On May 22, 2004, Randall got back into the news when old rival Chávez chose him for his last fight before going into retirement. In what was described in the media as an entertaining fight, Randall lost a 10-round decision to Chávez in Mexico City.
[edit] Retirement
He announced his retirement on January 1, 2005 after losing a fight to light-middleweight Mexican Marco Antonio Rubio. He continued to fight after the announcement though, and lost a bout the following month to Mauro Lucero, and another bout later in the year. Randall's final career record is 58 wins, 18 losses and one draw, with 42 wins by way of knockout.[1]
[edit] See also
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Julio César Chávez |
WBC Light Welterweight Champion January 29, 1994 – May 7, 1994 |
Succeeded by Julio César Chávez |
| Preceded by Juan Martin Coggi |
WBA Light Welterweight Champion September 17, 1994 – January 13, 1996 |
Succeeded by Juan Martin Coggi |
| WBA Light Welterweight Champion August 16, 1996 – January 11, 1997 |
Succeeded by Khalid Rahilou |
|
