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00:00drop down and rip that belly apart on this guy here I want to see how much punishment he can
00:03take some good punishment uh he got hit one time in the Tyson fight only one time he got dropped
00:10with an uppercut let's see how what happens when he gets an accumulation of punches from
00:13Evander Holyfield when he puts the pressure on him and don't make him fight his fight that's
00:17the way Evander's got to win and that's what he's got this how he's got to perform he's got to make
00:21him fight Evander's fight we don't have to fight Douglas's fight or then we got a hard tough night
00:26ahead of us the words from the corners and we are at the Mirage in Las Vegas Nevada Bob Papa
00:35along with Ferdy Pacheco and Jim Hill as we continue to roll on toward the moment of truth
00:39our next bout junior middleweight bout between Floyd Weaver the younger brother of former
00:44heavyweight champ Mike Weaver he takes on Michael Ward in our next bout of the evening and both
00:50fighters have made their way into the ring on this comfortable Thursday evening outdoors and
00:55let's take a look at the tail of the tape you see Weaver at 26 years of age Ward at 19 Ward with
01:01the height advantage Weaver a pound and a half heavier and the reach advantage in favor of
01:05Weaver 76 inches 272 those are the key numbers for our next bout of this evening
01:13Ferdy as you get a look at those numbers we take a look at the judges Art Lurie, Cindy Barton
01:18and Bill Graham they will judge this fight on the 10-point bus system and right now our
01:22ring announcer Robert Fulk is standing by for the introductions and he is getting set as we
01:27take a look at the fighters in the ring and there's Robert Weaver now here's Robert Fulk
01:33ladies and gentlemen our next bout is in the junior middleweight division
01:38six rounds of boxing the judges for this bout are Art Lurie, Al Silciano and Bill Graham
01:47the referee is Carlos Padilla in the red corner weighing in at 148 and one half pounds
01:55with a record of six and one three by knockout fighting out of Fort Washington Maryland Magic
02:03Mike Ward and his opponent in the blue corner weighing 150 pounds with a record of 10
02:14two and one eight by way of knockout fighting out of Diamond Bar California pretty boy Floyd Weaver
02:34okay you are ready to give the instructions in your respective dressing room and he goes
02:38ahead with his fist in his second shot for us
02:41the fine actors action movies taking in the sights tonight here at the Mirage as
02:46Floyd Weaver heads back to his corner the first born of Weaver triplets his brothers Troy
02:52and Lloyd also in the corner there is Michael Ward I worked in their first fight all three
02:58fought on one afternoon in Atlantic City two one by knockout and one got knocked out
03:04quite an eventful undercard and sure starting out at his fast speed
03:10as Floyd Weaver he likes a fast pace he likes to go after a guy set him up and no rest for the weary
03:19Weaver 10 2 and 1 with eight knockouts Ward 6 and 1 with three KOs Ward just 19 years of age
03:29his trainer is Pepe Correa
03:34you can see the action the difference in action between the heavyweights these guys are fast
03:38boy those fists are flying
03:44young 19 year old Michael Ward fighting with a great deal of adrenaline pumping as well as you
03:50can imagine here we are in front of the Mirage and a star-studded audience as people have come
03:56out now filling the place and he has a chance to impress him
04:04asked him about just that point yesterday at the weigh-in and he said it really wasn't that phased
04:09he says after a lot of amateur bouts and uh after being in the pro ranks he says it's a job I can't
04:14worry about the other things that are going on around as long as he can maintain that attitude
04:19he will be a professional fighter that's exactly what you got to think about
04:23this is round number one of a scheduled six round bout
04:26Michael Ward in the black trunks Floyd Weaver in the white
04:31good left hand by Ward knock back Weaver
04:38good shot to the body by Ward as well
04:44and Weaver is hurt trying to fight his way out of trouble
04:53oh
04:56Ward is a punching machine he's got to get a little a little bit more calm about the
05:03taking out Weaver who was just covering up and waiting out the storm
05:09he has shown the presence of mind to go to the body a little bit he has a good combined attack
05:14goes under he goes over he's fast it's very impressive right now it's a good first round
05:18for young Michael Ward getting Floyd Weaver all he can handle at this point scheduled for six
05:25these are junior middleweights oh look Sugar Ray Leonard moving
05:29figuring Sugar Ray's in the audience he might appreciate what that looks like
05:35the Sugar Ray's taunting maneuver
05:42well he has Pepe Gray in his corner
05:44second he's gonna he's gonna hear in the corner that he's got to cut out that stuff
05:49and get down to work
05:58and round number one is in the books as Floyd Weaver was rocked heads back to his corner
06:04James Buster Douglas against Evander Holyfield the moment of truth as Douglas puts his
06:09undisputed heavyweight championship on the line and the number one undisputed contender Evander
06:14the real deal Holyfield in his dressing room trying to get loose Freddie Witt goes through
06:18a fighter's mind at this point in the show believe me he is concentrating he's thinking everything
06:23he's got to think to get in in the case of Evander Holyfield however he is a religious man and he is
06:28given to prayer and I would not be surprised to have him thinking in those terms somewhere along
06:34in here you see he only had 12 rounds over the last 466 days that was in preparation for two
06:39fights an eight-round fight against Alex Stewart four rounds against Jameis McDonough
06:47so Evander Holyfield going through the mental preparation part all the physical work has been
06:53done and we return you to ringside Michael Ward against Floyd Weaver in the scheduled six-round
06:59junior middleweight bout we start round number two Bob Papa along with Bertie Pacheco and Michael
07:04Ward at round number one the 19-year-old out of Fort Washington Maryland came out with a good
07:09round number one very impressive round for Ward I'm sure that the corner has said to Weaver you
07:14got to step it up now can't let this guy take command because he was doing all right till he
07:19got cornered there on the ropes and the speed of Michael Ward was just too much for Weaver to have
07:24how about the children aspect early on well I think so many
07:28oh there goes Weaver I have locked up legs there but he was hit
07:33well Weaver's legs did a complete waffles but apparently he wasn't hurt that badly it was just
07:41a momentary stunning just remember that Ward can bang he's got a good knockout punch
07:54one minute gone by in round number two scheduled for six I think generations of fighters have been
08:04spoiled by Muhammad Ali's clowning and by Sugar Ray Leonard two of the finest boxers to ever put
08:09on gloves and if it's okay for them to do it guys to come along follow them of course guys like
08:15Camacho Pazienza the uh great Mexican champion from Mexicali Jorge Paez they all clown on
08:24of course it gets some television exposure people like to see this comedy along with drama
08:29it's not a good idea they shouldn't pay attention to business it's almost a lack of respect for your
08:34opponent Michael Ward in the black trunks it's named magic throwing a lot less punches here in
08:40round number two after having a good round number one Floyd Weaver in the white trying to get some
08:45rhythm going he's trying to take some kind of command here to be the aggressor to do something
08:50to win these rounds it was uh Weaver while trying to seek some kind of an edge he got in trouble at
08:55the early part of this round so right now he's got a little mountain to climb to win even this
08:59round he lost the first one on my scorecard unofficially and so he's got to try to get
09:05back in the fight here it's only opening up it's only starting so you got a whites to go
09:10back
09:14time remaining in round number two a much slower pace in round one
09:26oh
09:32Ward's corner asking him to double up when he lands a shot not to get on the bicycle and back
09:37away Weaver with a wild miss and Ward being warned for a push that started the
09:49difference here is speed the difference in this equation is speed
09:52uh Ward being able to punch and get away before the other guy can really get on track and this
09:57corner doesn't want him to do but he that's exactly what the right thing to do is punch
10:02and not get hit get away Michael Ward heads back to his corner and here's Pepe Correa
10:12you get a look at the mirage as you hear Pepe Correa
10:16giving out information to Michael Ward
10:19asking him to dig to the body more well he is so fast and he has been able to dominate with a jab
10:27and uh superior speed there's Bruce Willis from Die Hard 1, 2, 4, 6, 18. He's got as long as many
10:33comps yeah he is a New Yorker yeah all the New York Giants are back at Lawrence Taylor's place
10:40watching the fight tonight well they're having a heck of a season they're having a wonderful season
10:45uh what this young man now has to do is to maintain what he's done so far I don't know
10:51how much he's going to change this guy if he's going to go to the body he's going to get hit
10:54by Weaver who is trying to find him in counter punch but has not been able to beginning
10:59of round three and we start this third round of the scheduled six round junior middleweight bout
11:04Michael Ward the black trunks Floyd Weaver in the white Weaver the younger brother of former
11:10heavyweight WBA heavyweight champion Michael Weaver his brothers Troy and Lloyd in his corner
11:21in a very animated corner in the Ward corner in between rounds they were pleased with round one
11:26and disappointed with round two well there wasn't enough action but there was enough action for him
11:29to win it I mean anything you win is pretty good but they want him to win decisively they want him
11:35to mix it up more Weaver for his part has got to try to cut that distance he is being outspeeded
11:43on slick by a much younger man this guy's got 19 year old reflexes right hand by Ward
11:54right now Ward is just beating Weaver to the punch speed speed speed
12:00he doesn't want him to hold on the top of the head but that was incidental and not intentional
12:11of course he does not figure in on the scoring three judges
12:17Weaver just wants this guy to stop and fight he just wants him to get it here's where he wants
12:21to look at where he's at Ward gets in when things get hot he's gone very impressive looking
12:29young
12:34Ward suffered his only pro loss in a second pro fight that's a Ron Morgan in Atlantic City New
12:39Jersey a four-round loss Carlos Padilla separates the fighters here in round number three
12:53scheduled for six this is the kind of round that's hard to score the aggressor and the
12:59guy that's trying to make the fight is Weaver Ward is not fighting enough in a retreat to
13:06build up points and all while he's out slicking him still there's not much action and there's
13:11not much to pick up and many many judges go for the aggressor
13:17warning not to push off next time he'll get a deduction
13:23oh
13:40now he's got him up against the ropes he's got him cornered and if he lets him out of this
13:45then you see you got a ward points for defense he had him where he wanted him he didn't come
13:49in and take it take advantage of the ward and now i mean did weaver ward got away and then he
13:55came back to fight so that's where the points come in and that is the end of round number three as
14:01Floyd Weaver heads back to his corner fans continue to file in here at the mirage and
14:07now let's take you back up top to our host for the evening Jim Hill Jim okay Bob thank you so
14:12very much you know when this fight was announced everyone immediately came out and they figured
14:16they were starting to talk about who they thought was going to win the the fight tonight well we
14:21went out a couple of days ago and talked to some of the so-called experts the boxing writers of
14:25america and got their prediction as to who will win and why tonight's heavyweight championship
14:29fight here at the mirage in las vegas i like inventor hollowfield to stop buster douglas i
14:36would say around the 11th round my thoughts on hollowfield is that he's been very consistent
14:40throughout his career which should come back and benefit him here all throughout his heavyweight
14:44career he's had to come up with obstacles and the biggest one being michael ducks that he overcame
14:49uh vendor hollowfield is fighting someone in buster douglas who will be much better
14:55psychologically than he was against mike tyson but as far as styles i see this
14:59possibly as a repeat as buster douglas when he fought tony tucker hollowfield should box
15:04he'll be consistently pressing and if he gets through the first three rounds his work ethical
15:08carrier and dave bontempo always long-winded as he gave us his prediction we start round number four
15:19of the schedule six round junior middleweight bout i don't think bontempo heard the bell
15:25gonna wind that up a little bit he didn't we didn't miss anything we
15:29came out a few seconds that started started just like they ended uh with ward in the fighting
15:35retreat and we were aggressively trying to get this thing into a punch-out michael ward in the
15:41black trunks floyd weaver he in the white as they get tied up in the center of the ring and a low
15:47shot there what a beautiful body shot it might have been a little low
15:52his back was to us and we didn't see but it was a beautiful
15:56okay
16:01looks like it woke up floyd weaver a little bit
16:05weaver weaver's not oh there's a little hitting on the break there i mean the action was continuous
16:10that was not really hitting on the break what can weaver do to try to slow down ward and catch him
16:18he's got to cut him off he just saw a perfect example of how he gets away he's got him right
16:22to the point where he can step over and cut him off and then pound him into the ropes and he lets
16:27him scurry away uh he's got to learn how to do that there are times when you see ward approaching
16:35the ropes in a corner and all that weaver has to do is step over and start throwing punches
16:40and he doesn't he lets him slide lord has been able to duck out of the way of any serious punishment
16:50hurt weaver in round number one you know what's amazing to you he just got hurt by a terrific body
16:57shot whether it was low or borderline and then he comes back fighting like nothing hurt you know i
17:01mean one of those shots carries over to the next day if you're not a boxer you know i mean that
17:06hurts and these guys come back and keep on fighting like nothing happened to them
17:11there have been no knockdowns in this fight to this point
17:14watch that right hand time remaining in round number four michael ward out of
17:22fort washington maryland of black trumps floyd weaver from dunbar california 26 years of age and
17:27the wife we were still the aggressor still the guy trying to make the fight and uh this thing
17:35could get close if the judges are warning him points for that because while ward started off
17:40magnificently very fast and beautiful combinations hurting uh weaver he has been content to fight a
17:47sort of retreat this is what i'm talking about on the ropes we just saw a perfect example referee
17:53breaks him out and spins uh ward he better start doing some fighting instead he's climbing a bit
18:02we were trying to swarm inside
18:06he needs more aggression it's almost in the stage of none none is such superior fighter that he
18:14doesn't get aggressive and finish anybody else that's what's the matter with with michael ward
18:18round number four in the books here at the mirage and former laker coach and now one of your
18:24colleagues at nbc sports pat riley taking in the sights here at the mirage and jim hill is standing
18:30by with chuck norris jim okay bob thank you very much and if there's one person that knows about
18:36being in physical condition it is indeed chuck norris we got a little guy who's in great shape
18:40against a big guy who is some people think out of shape and you just brought up a very interesting
18:44point you know maybe buster's taking a chance well i think the thing is that if i was buster i would
18:50been i would be at the weight that i beat mike tyson at because it seemed like that was his
18:54perfect weight he's 12 pounds heavier for tonight i don't know if that means that he's lost that
19:00hunger and that intense desire because you know what happens when you become a celebrity you gotta
19:05have a tendency to back off a little bit so you gotta be real careful about that um holly field
19:10looks in phenomenal shape but like you say he is lighter weight it'll be interesting to see
19:16just how the two weights compare that's turned out actually may work for buster's advantage
19:21we'll have to wait and see okay chuck thank you so much enjoy the evening thanks jim okay bob back
19:24to you at ringside all right we start round number five michael ward in the black floyd weaver and
19:29weintraub scheduled for six in the junior middleweight division ferdy how do you see it
19:33scored through the first four i have a 39 37 for ward it is a very difficult uh fight to score
19:40because of uh ward's defensive mastery but lack of uh offensive uh desire i mean he's he's content
19:47to outbox him but you don't see too much offense coming the other way after the first two rounds
19:52which were total mastery won by war and he's been on a bicycle especially round one he's been
19:59fighting a non-michael nunn kind of fight a guy that's so expert and so good and so fast that he
20:05doesn't feel like he has to take any chances weaver's stuck with this horrible frustration
20:12of coming in there to punch to try get him every time he gets by a corner weaver's got to be
20:18sliding over and he's not doing it's like a baseball team that gets an early first inning
20:22lead and then uh stops trying to advance the runner and things like that tries to sit on
20:26him a little sometimes you can get burned that way see here's exactly what weaver should have
20:34done he landed six or seven punches in the corner and the other ward didn't get any anything but one
20:40going away
20:46ward with excellent quickness as he drives the back way to be able to get off the ropes when he
20:52has to it's hard to imagine why ward has abandoned any any desire for offensive action
21:02he certainly shouldn't be tired he hasn't taken any punishment at all
21:11oh we were just trying to get inside
21:15this corner sees what i see the only way the only way to get this done is to get inside
21:20unless the judges have to reward him for the patience of an offensive fighter
21:29and referee carlos padilla has done a lot of
21:32tugging over the last couple of rounds these two fighters continue to tie each other up
21:40oh
21:52but at least weaver's getting a little closer and he is hitting him and he is tying him up so
21:56he's doing something whereas ward is not doing much of anything
22:02now there was a nice combination but hitting the gloves
22:05of weaver so no points that is the end of round number five in the schedule six round
22:13junior middleweight bout michael ward in this corner let's listen in with happy correa you've
22:16got three minutes three minutes give me three minutes of smooth boxing this kid needs a knock
22:22out to win do you understand that there you get a look at the sights of the mirage hotel in the
22:26arena set inside the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world james buster douglas
22:31going through his final mental checklist as he gets ready for the moment of truth against
22:36evander holyfield they tape up the wrist at this point and you do wonder what's going through his
22:42mind i know it's going through evander holyfield's mind both of them are religious men as we said and
22:46i'm sure he said his prayers but i wonder if he's thinking did i overeat a little bit was that 15
22:51pounds really too much or is this exactly where i want to be and everybody else is mistaken they
22:55don't know what i've got i mean a lot of criticism heaped on this young man a lot of criticism
23:01and we'll soon see whether it's justified or whether he's right to overeat himself into a 15
23:06pound disadvantage that right hand as we return ringside with the sixth and final round of this
23:13junior middleweight bout michael ward in the black trunks against floyd weaver in the white
23:17and weaver comes out bombing this is a round that could determine this is a very even fight now
23:25because of uh ward going to sleep through those middle rounds now this is just the kind of fight
23:30weaver should have been fighting all along he should have been fighting that kind of fight all
23:35padilla having a little bit of difficulty getting ward to let go
23:43i'm out i'm out now called by padilla one round okay you watch out one pound one point taken away
23:50he just motioned to each judge now that could have cost him
23:55because this is a very close fight going into this last round
24:00that could have been the deciding factor now this just means that
24:04ward must win this round or else he's going to have a two-point disadvantage
24:10i thought weaver may need a two-point round coming in to win this fight now with the point
24:14deduction he can get it without a knockdown he was on the way to getting it he's doing all the
24:18fighting right now
24:26it doesn't appear that ward is tired with his lack of offense he just lost interest in taking
24:31the offensive exactly lost the concentration i don't know we didn't hear his corner exhorting
24:36him too much maybe they were satisfied with his performance but it's a lack of concentration
24:41is deadly that tip your cap to floyd weaver he has continued to work his way through and
24:48and and get in and score points
24:56he has maintained his concentration despite the frustration
25:01that was almost football it's a lucky thing that he
25:04get cut the weaver just rushing across there palmell and put his head in it and butted
25:09he butted ward but it didn't seem to bother
25:24as weavers seems to sense that he's got this round pretty well won he's slowing down a little
25:30bit too but if he continues the pressure that he's got then he'll have a two-point round he
25:34has a two-point round then he wins his fight and the ward will go back and wonder for the
25:38rest of his days why he let this get away from after such a fast and marvelous start
25:44he just needs some
25:48is a nice-looking young fighter
25:52and there is the time remaining in the fight
26:01floyd weaver pulled this one out i believe he did i believe he pulled it up remember there's
26:07a point taken away from michael ward in this round and that is it
26:16that one is over and we are inching closer to the moment of truth evander holyfield
26:25getting set the number one contender 24 and 0 with 20 knockouts out of atlanta georgia
26:31and you get there you get a look at clint eastwood taking in the action here at the
26:34mirage this evening part of this star-studded audience seated outside on this comfortable
26:41evening at the foot of steve wins masterpiece the mirage hotel the outlaw josey wales is here
26:47watching this wonderful picture michael ward right now standing in the ring and he's wondering if he
26:57won did he hand this one away that last point given away may have been the uh the difference
27:03and again i charge you that that it's really that was hard to judge it was purely a judge's opinion
27:08but they're just mad at this guy running around losing his fire and giving those rounds to weaver
27:12he has no problem if they were admiring his defensive skill weaver may have won anyway
27:17with the last point taking the last round that's just two points in a six-round fight that's enormous
27:25here you get a look at the crowd packing their way in
27:28this will be a capacity crowd some 16 000 fans on hand and millions watching across the world
27:37and talking with jack nicholson with his back to us chevy chase
27:43he and jack discussing tonight's events there's michael ward from fort washington maryland
27:50here with the decision our ring announcer robert falk ladies and gentlemen we have a majority
27:56decision judge arm lorry scores at 58 55 for weaver
28:08judge bill graham scores at 57 57 and judge al ciciliano scores at 58 55
28:18and the winner by majority decision pretty boy floyd weaver
28:23so floyd weaver comes up with the victory michael ward is stunned but ferdy you're not
28:30no i'm not i added 58 57 weaver that last round certainly did it i don't agree with 58 55
28:36because uh those are the judges that as we said like the idea of the aggressive fighter over the
28:41the retreating fighter but you really can't you can't argue with us the the entire the entire
28:46fight was won to be won by the superior fighter ward superior in technique superior in speed
28:52there's uh the cause the number one guy in america right now for making money as they say
28:57and a very intelligent man second to you second to uh marv albert all right jim hill is standing
29:04by with a man who knows about boxing and some money as well sugar ray leonard jim okay bob thank
29:10you very much now ray you and i went the way in yesterday and everyone's mouth flew open and some
29:15people including yourself said well you know maybe he's a little bit too heavy talking about buster
29:18douglass now that you've had a day to think about it have you have you changed in your thinking as
29:22to who you think will win well not necessarily who i think will win the fight but you know something
29:27jim yesterday's weigh-in was a big shock to everyone because 246 but what i also noticed
29:33is the fact that he was not grotesquely overweight he wasn't bubbly or anything
29:38you can get in shape and not make weight i think that's the case there uh today coming to the arena
29:44buster doesn't look like a champion very very confident very poised very relaxed so uh who knows
29:50i think we're in for a big surprise if you were evander holyfield would you charge him
29:56no no he can't afford to you have to perfect your defense first i think he has to work his way in
30:02holyfield must be very cautious and uh patient but he also must be aggressive i mean that's
30:07kind of contradictive but he must be those things and he also must what try to make the fight go
30:12the distance the longer the fight goes the more i favor holyfield i think what you're going to see
30:16from buster douglas is a much more flat-footed buster douglas and a much more deliberate buster
30:21douglas and a lot of people don't really realize just how hard douglas can hit one thing about here
30:26is one of the best and most potent left jabs in the heavyweight division uh you may see a lot of
30:31left jabs thrown by buster douglas jim this is uh this is one of the few heavyweight championship
30:35fights where it is really kind of hard to pick who the winner usually is going to be not originally
30:40because when the first was first announced you say douglas all the way but since that shocking
30:45news of the 246 i think there's much more intrigue here much more mystique to this fight
30:50you know i think it's 50 50 all right ray thank you so much and enjoy the evening always jim okay
30:54sugar ray leonard okay let's go back to ringside once again here's bob popper bop all right thank
30:58you very much jim hill earlier this evening riddick bowe came up with a second round knockout over
31:04burt cooper and standing along the fight dr freddie pacheco i'm bob popper there's the real
31:08deal evander holyfield 24 and 0 with 20 knockouts from the state of georgia the number one ranked
31:15heavyweight contender getting ready for his chance