Unforgettable: The fourth fight between Bobby Chacon and Rafael Limon

Strolling around downtown Sacramento recently, I spotted a building that sent my personal time machine into rewind. I hadn’t seen it in years, and never this close and personal.

It’s huge, filling half the street, brownish, with pillars and a few stairs leading to the entrance doors. I walked on, needing to get closer.

Engraved above the pillars is The Sacramento Memorial Auditorium – venue of rock concerts, political events, and boxing.

Fighters have been throwing hands there since 1927. The great Henry Armstrong boxed at the Auditorium five times in the early thirties.

In the 1970s and 80s, local fighters Pete Ranzany and future world titleholders Tony Lopez and Loreto Garza fought at Memorial multiple times.

The fight that sent my memory banks into overdrive went down on December 11, 1982.

Anyone who saw it still remembers it fondly.

It had everything: rivalry, history, brutality, guts, and finally, respect.

Bobby Chacon and Rafael Limon were meeting for the fourth time. The WBC super featherweight title was up for grabs. Chacon was wildly popular, while Limon was the bad guy. I had followed Chacon’s career for years.

Neither fighter had a very high opinion of the other. Limon considered Chacon a pretty boy, while Limon’s arrogance got on Chacon’s nerves.

They had first fought in Mexicali, Mexico, in 1975. Chacon, 24, had won the featherweight crown the year before, and lost it soon after. Limon was on the rise. Chacon was a party animal and felt he gave his title away. He wanted another crack at it.

Limon outworked Chacon over 10 furious rounds.

Four years later, they fought again. Chacon did better and was leading after seven rugged rounds until an accidental headbutt halted matters.

Chacon went toe-to-toe with Alexis Arguello at the Forum in Inglewood, CA, seven months later. He was up on two of the three judges’ scorecards through six rounds, but a nasty cut over his left eye convinced the ringside doctor to stop the contest. Cuts were becoming a problem.

Limon and Chacon fought for the third time in 1980, back at the Forum. Chacon was leaking blood from both eyes. His nose was broken. Limon knocked him down in round seven, but as always, he battled back. Chacon won the fight by split decision.

Limon was furious.

Chacon’s title shot against Cornelius Boza Edwards in 1981 started well, but changed in the middle rounds. Chacon was battered and exhausted.

Many thought Chacon should retire. He was only 30 years old, but in the boxing lexicon, he was old, having boxed in several wars.

Scars marred his once “pretty” face.

No matter. Chacon wanted another title.

Chacon fought four times in succession at the Memorial Auditorium in 1981, avenging an earlier loss to Arturo Leon. Chacon’s old foe, Limon, had lost in earlier bids to win a title. The third time was the charm. Limon, behind on the judges’ scorecards, rallied to knock out favored Rolando Naverrete in the 12th round in Las Vegas.

Chacon and Limon would meet for the fourth time on December 11, 1982.

Nerves attacked Chacon in the dressing room before the bout. “I can’t lose, I can’t lose,” he muttered to himself.

He had already lost his wife, Valerie, six months before. She had wanted him to retire. Her death was devastating, but boxing was all he knew. He dedicated the fight to her memory.

Electricity was in the air as the sold-out boxing crowd was ready to explode as Chacon and Limon went at it. There was no feeling out with these guys. Limon, with a reach advantage, landed hard shots to the body and head. His blows were awkward in delivery but very effective.

He was doing well until Chacon battled back with ferocity, backing Limon up and teeing off.

Chacon was down in round three, but got up and tagged Limon with shots. His lead right hand was finding pay dirt against his southpaw opponent. The give-and-take continued in the middle rounds.

The Sacramento crowd was yelling itself hoarse.

Limon hurt Chacon with a hard left, but Chacon again reached into his deep reserve to win rounds eight and nine. Limon’s counter left knocked him down in the next round, halting his momentum.

Chacon shook his head to clear it. He was bleeding from a cut on the bridge of his nose.

The warriors were soon back at it.

They exchanged shots consistently. They staggered each other. Through 14 rounds, Chacon appeared to be slightly ahead.

The 15th and final round would decide the contest.

The crowd chanted Bobby, Bobby as Chacon pressed forward. Limon was tired, but something possessed Chacon. I can’t lose, I can’t lose.

With approximately 15 seconds to go in the last round, Chacon clobbered Limon with successive right hands. Limon collapsed near the ropes as the crowd (and Chacon) screamed.

It was dramatic and amazing.

There was more drama as the crowd waited for the decision to be announced. The judges declared Chacon the worthy victor.

He was a world champion again. The last-second knockdown had won Chacon the fight. Without the knockdown, the result would have been a draw.

“I fought him four times,” Chacon told me several years ago.

Fight of the Year, 1982 : Bobby Chacon UD15 Rafael Limon IV

“He beat me the first time. It really depended how serious I was. We fought to a draw. I beat him in the rematch.”

“The last fight we had was a hard, hard fight.”

Yes, it was, and everything else.

As I stood near the auditorium, remembering, I tried to hear the crowd from that day.

A gust of wind created a rumble near the pillars.

Some things last forever.

Unforgettable.

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