'The Ferocious Four' and their fights, ranked
Photo by Ken Papaleo/Los Angeles Herald Examiner Photo Collection/Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
This is a patreon request from Dan DeMarco, great friend of The Fight Site. Thanks to Dan for this excellent request!
I once wrote thousands of words on ‘The Ferocious Four’.
I wasn’t really a ‘writer’ then. I was just a forum dweller, sharing ideas and knowledge with other like-minded folks. Of those that posted there, we ended up doing pretty well for ourselves: Steve Compton wrote one of the all-time great boxing books when he released his magnum opus on Harry Greb; Springs Toledo won awards left, right and center and released peerless prose like it was easy; Matt McGrain ended up writing for The Sweet Science and turned out top 50 lists quicker and more brilliantly written than I can even muster for my top tens.
As for me? Well I started The Fight Site.
But back then I wanted to share my knowledge and enthusiasm for these tough men, so I wrote a multi-part ‘encyclopedia’ piece on Alexis Arguello and ‘the ferocious four’.
That’s what I named the ragtag bunch of fighters who at first challenged Arguello, then took the baton he gently placed at their feet when he moved up in weight searching more pound-for-pound glory.
By the time they’d put the baton back down it had been passed between all of them, now covered in blood and guts.
To watch their fights is to know them, and with Bobby ‘Schoolboy’ Chacon, Rafael ‘Bazooka’ Limon, Cornelius Boza-Edwards and Rolando ‘Bad Boy of Dadiangas’ Navarette—and in particular the fights in which they took years off of each others careers—this is as fitting a statement as I can think of. Their fights are not just sporting contests but human interest stories, in which the hard lives of the combatants are as apparent as their fistic ability, the years of pain and struggle coming out in the punches they threw at other.
So for this piece, I have decided not to explore their life stories chronologically, but to rank their fights based on how good I think they were. Hopefully Dan will feel I’ve dropped in some interesting tidbits along the way, and hopefully anyone else will feel compelled to check these fights out. They truly are some of the greatest in boxing history.
Some boring fine print before we get to the exciting stuff: I will only be ranking the fights for which footage is readily available.
Oh, and the name? Before George Kimball’s excellent ‘Four Kings’ was released in 2008, I referred to the holy quartet of Duran, Hagler, Hearns and Leonard as ‘The Fabulous Four’ due to the documentary of the same name.
Wanna’ know something even more interesting than the incredible series of fights between the ‘Four Kings’?
The fights of the ferocious four are even better.
8. Cornelius Boza-Edwards - Bobby Chacon I
Cornelius Boza was a member of the legendary Kampala City Bombers amateur boxing squad. An Olympic qualifier with a first-round bye (so a top amateur essentially) his hopes of Olympic glory were dashed when the African nations staged a boycott. Bullied by Idi Amin’s regime, he fled to Britain, taking the surname of the man who helped him escape.
Under the tutelage of Mickey Duff and George Francis, ‘Corny’—as he was affectionately known—built an impressive 27-1 record (one loss on cuts) before fighting super featherweight champ Alexis Arguello in a non-title lightweight bout. With a gutsy showing (in which he was hit so hard he emptied his bowls) Boza-Edwards was wisely saved by his corner. He had class, but he wasn’t ready for the elites just yet.
Dropping to 130lbs, the Ugandan exile won the WBC strap in an excellent clash with the dangerous ‘Bazooka’ Limon (see #2) and made his first defence against former WBC featherweight champ Bobby ‘Schoolboy’ Chacon.
To give an idea of where Chacon was at in his career at this point:
‘In the history of prizefighting, there have only been a handful of fighters who gave up the brutal sport without receiving a bloody reminder of their fading skills.
Bobby Chacon isn’t one of them.’ — UPI report of the fight
It’s a Bobby Chacon fight so of course this bout is worth watching, but for the best part of it Cornelius Boza-Edwards put forth a clinical display of accurate range boxing, busting Chacon up and forcing the former featherweight champion to remain on his stool at the beginning of the 14th round.
Chacon’s face was a mess, and Boza-Edwards—who had won the title from Chacon’s great rival Rafael ‘Bazooka’ Limon just two months prior—looked like a great champion in waiting, learning lessons from his title-winning bout and remaining patient throughout.
Chacon looked done. By the end of their careers Chacon would win the title again, and these two would face each other in a rematch that looked completely different from their first.
7. Bobby Chacon - Rafael ‘Bazooka’ Limon II
Even an ardent collector like myself has been unable to find footage of the first meeting between these legendary rivals, which rather fittingly took place in a Mexicali bullring. Also, kinda’ ironically as neither of these men could be seen as matadors, rather two bulls causing carnage in testosterone fueled dust-ups. Whether a bullring or a parking lot, a fight or a funeral, putting these two together would almost certainly guarantee a violent exchange of some sort.
Rafael Limon supposedly got the nickname ‘Bazooka’ due to his exploits as a power-punching amateur boxer in the Mexican army, a brief stint in the unpaid ranks that saw him finish with a winning record and a body on his record.
Still raw and unknown going into his first fight with Bobby Chacon, ‘Bazooka’ impressed, The Los Angeles Times reported that the Mexican had won 7 of the 10 rounds, counter-punching Chacon repeatedly and leaving him swollen. An impressive victory considering Chacon was far more battle-tested, having beaten the devastating puncher Danny ‘Little Red’ Lopez, having twice fought Ruben Olivares and beating Alfredo Marcano for the WBC featherweight title.
By the time of their second meeting—held in Los Angeles—Chacon had beaten Olivares and Shig Fukuyama, with a total record of 14-1 since his last fight with Limon.
The second meeting between Chacon and Limon was a good one with an unfortunate ending, but even before the first bell they had begun to stoke the flames of their yet-to-be-great rivalry.
The Los Angeles Times:
During the prefight buildup, Chacon had publicly questioned Limon’s manhood and courage, and Limon had responded with angry words.
Limon was introduced with a qualifier; ‘He wants Arguello next’. Chacon’s pre-fight offensive had not knocked Limon’s confidence.
Limon didn’t look like the next title challenger though, as much of the fight is perhaps an indication of how their first fight went; Limon patiently stalking Chacon and looking for a good time to strike.
Chacon used lateral movement and a boxing-first mentality. This was his strategy going into the fight, the ‘Schoolboy’ known for hard partying claiming he had trained harder for this fight than any other.
Due to Chacon’s tactics this was not a war, but a skirmish, with a ceasefire called at the first sight of blood. Judged to have been caught by an accidental headbutt from Chacon (ironic given that Limon loved to throw the head in to punctuate his attacks) a technical draw was announced, the tally after two fights 1-0-1 in favour of ‘Bazooka’ Limon. In today’s game, Chacon would have won a technical decision. As he was up on the cards, the officials chose a draw. If Limon had been winning, he would’ve taken the victory.
Before the fight was stopped, Limon intensified his attacks, perhaps hoping to stop Chacon before he himself was pulled out of the fight. This was not important in the end, but a telling sign of what was to come in this fierce rivalry.
Limon would get his wish: by the time they had their rubber match, both Limon and Chacon had fallen to the legendary Nicaraguan in 130lb title fights. Instead of Arguello being their legacy-defining fights, they would make their legend against each other.
6. Bobby Chacon - Rafael ‘Bazooka’ Limon III
They’ll hold Grudge Fight II, Friday night in the Forum, latest in the Bobby Chacon-Bazooka Limon series. It’s actually their third fight, but only the second time that hatred has entered in. The first time they fought they didn’t know anything about each other.
Well, not a lot anyway.
“I thought I was fighting a bum in Mexicali”, Chacon said, laughing, a couple of days ago. “I did. I happened to be worse than the bum.” — Mark Heisler, The Los Angeles Times
These two were now in the midst of their legendary rivalry. Asked for his opinion of Limon before the fight Chacon begrudgingly gave the Mexican credit for his strength.
Asked about his speed, he said, ‘It takes him about four minutes to throw a punch’.
If that was the case, it must have taken Chacon five minutes to move his head. After 10 back-and-forth rounds Chacon was awarded the decision, despite having been on the deck and leaving the fight wearing a crimson mask he hadn’t arrived in.
Limon said through interpreters it was “the worst robbery of my life”, that he had stayed away from the at the corner of Chacon’s left eye—opened in the fifth round—because it looked bad.
If the decision was bad (and it’s hard to definitively tell as I believe all versions I’ve seen of the footage have at least a round missing) then it might have evened the score somewhat as their prior fight was ruled a draw despite Chacon leading on the cards.
And if the Mexican had tried not to exacerbate Chacon’s damaged eye, Limon would carry not gentlemanly gestures into their fourth and final meeting. 15 rounds were needed to settle things, but there would need to be a title on the line for that.
5. Rolando Navarrete - Rafael ‘Bazooka’ Limon I
‘Bazooka’ Limon reclaimed the title from the big puncher from the Philippines.
Navarrete had made a single defence of the title he’d smashed out of Boza Edwards’ hands (see #4) against talented Chung Il-Choi of South Korea. Choi—a ‘76 Olympic quarter finalist and ‘78 Asian Games gold medalist—put forth a quality effort, and might well have snagged the strap if not for some bizarre hometown refereeing. Navarrete eventually stopped him, and it is a fight that is well worth watching, a perfect compliment to the overs covered here.
Speaking to The Honolulu Advertiser from his Hawaiian training camp, Navarrete still had Alexis Arguello on his mind:
“I watched him knock out Andrew Ganigan last weekend and all I could think of was how glad I was he changed classes”
As for Limon, Navarrete wasn’t convinced:
“I respect Limon as a human being but I don’t respect his ability. Choi is a tougher opponent”.
Limon was at his usual excuse-making best, claiming he only lost to Boza-Edwards (see #2) because he hadn’t trained.
Navarrete made a prescient prediction though:
“It’ll be a close fight if it goes the distance. If we both slug it out, it won’t go (the distance) and it’ll be either him or me”.
The defending and soon to be ex-champ was right: in a fight where the defending champ’s speed and timing showed early, it was a momentous seventh round—where Navarrete found his attacks could not miss—that was the beginning of the end.
Buoyed by his success in the seventh, Navarrete saw Limon as a sitting duck and pressured him, trying to bring about an end to proceedings. Big mistake, as getting close to ‘Bazooka’ Limon was exactly what the challenger wanted, a punch-up favouring him immensely.
Navarette’s early success was for nothing, as although he still got his licks in Limon put his hands on him until he could take no more, wilting in the 12th from a head and body assault that would fell most. A fight of two halves but competitive throughout, it is well deserving of its placing here, and mandatory viewing for fans of action-packed fights.
Limon would make his first defence (second reign) against the aforementioned Choi, who again showed talent before being ground away by Limon’s persistent attacks.
They fought again, years later when both were past their primes and ‘The Bad Boy’ was not just a nickname, the Filipino having served time behind bars for a sex crime. Navarrete won a 10-round decision.
Their first fight is the one that defines their rivalry though, and Navarrete showed flashes of the superb fighter who had first won the championship.
Which brings us to…
4. Cornelius Boza-Edwards - Rolando Navarrete
Due to defend his title for the second time in Italy against the man he took it from (‘Bazooka’ Limon) Cornelius Boza-Edwards saw a late switcheroo as tenth-ranked—but unheralded—Rolando Navarrete.
Boza-Edwards had shown his ability to withstand punishment in his stoppage loss to Alexis Arguello, not once going down. He had shown his ability to mix it up with Limon, boxing and fighting. And he had shown that superb amateur boxing ability against Chacon, dicing him up and forcing him to quit. Boza-Edwards was on such a tear that there were talks for him to drop down again and challenge the winner of the featherweight super fight between Salvador Sanchez and Wilfredo Gomez.
Rolando Navarrete proved a tougher challenge than any of them, Arguello included. His speed and ability to close the distance quickly necessitated a shoot-out, and after a tough opening two rounds the champion forced the issue, threatening to drown Navarrete under a constant stream of punches.
However, in getting close, Boza-Edwards suffered a cut eye, and perhaps hampered by this was unable to see Navarrete’s excellent 3-2 coming, twice being flattened in the fourth and sprinting round the ring trying to survive.
In the fifth, Boza-Edwards seemed to recover, but Navarrete was patient, varying his attack and dropping the Ugandan heavily with a 2-3, sapping him of all his strength and winning the title in a most unexpected fashion.
These two warriors crammed as much action into five rounds as some of these listed bouts have in more. Boza-Edwards would get two more title fights in his career but never lift the strap again, although perhaps he deserved to in his final title fight at super featherweight.
3. Bobby Chacon - Cornelius Boza-Edwards II
The rematch between Cornelius Boza-Edwards and Bobby Chacon could not have been more different than their first.
This time, Chacon was the defending champion. Well, sorta’, as a legal battle with Don King (with whom Chacon had apparently agreed a fight against Hector ‘Macho’ Camacho with) saw the fight scuppered numerous times, even on the day of the fight. Having agreed to fight Camacho for just over $200,000, Chacon got a better deal of nearly $500,000 to rematch Boza-Edwards. With Dong King involved, of course it got messy. Hence, despite holding the strap, the fight between champion and number-one contender Boza-Edwards was a non-title affair, billed as a clash of ‘the people’s champions’.
Then, the fight itself: gone was the clinical display of efficient boxing as Boza-Edwards deployed first time round, but a bout in which both men took on the role of yo-yos: numerous knockdowns, blood and gore spilling out over shorts and canvas alike, and enough drama that Bobby Chacon was one-half of The Ring magazine ‘fight of the year’ for the second year running.
Watching in a vacuum, you could make the case that this fight deserves to be ranked second overall. Watching chronologically, and with all the added context to this fight I have tried to convey when exploring the rest of the careers of these brave men, I can’t help but ponder whether my love for blood sport is misplaced. The sight of Bobby Chacon—who spends the majority of the fight with his back against the ropes—bleeding profusely from the paper thin skin around his eyes and a waterfall of blood gushing out of his nose like he’s taken a trip in the elevator from The Shining, is not pretty when you consider what he had already been through in the ring, and in his life.
On a slightly different note—and one that slaps me across the face with my own hypocrisy—the fight also suffers for being a scheduled twelve-rounder, especially considering the great 15 round fights these men had brought to the fans.
Boza-Edwards is dropped in each of the first two rounds, frames to which my eyes saw him a clear winner (so 10-9 Chacon in the first two). On my scorecard at least, Boza evens up the score despite those flash knockdowns with one of his own in the third.
Chacon’s reaction to being dropped—leaping to his feet and mugging to his corner with an, ‘Aww, shucks’ expression on his face—perfectly encapsulates the ‘Schoolboy’ fighting in an ageing warriors body, a little rascal playing a grown mans game.
By the end of the ninth round, ‘The Fight Doctor’ Ferdie Pacheco (in the commentary booth) was imploring Chacon to think about his health, to think about his family, noting that Boza-Edwards was in complete control of the fight.
After a consistent beating in the last few rounds in which Chacon desperately tried to give as good as he got, he turned the tide in the final round with some last minute heroics, catching Boza in an exchange and taking the strength out of his legs. Contrary to the rest of the fight, it was the challenger now desperate to survive, barely managing to cling on. As the closing bell dinged, it also brought to an end this glorious and gory series of super featherweight title fights.
Chacon had his arm raised, coming out of ‘The Ferocious Four’ as the last man standing wearing championship gold. This slightly sours the fight for me because although you could make the case that his efforts went above-and-beyond what a ‘loser’ would be able to do, I still don’t feel he deserved the decision. Thus, this fight—which I’m sure many would see as second only to the top ranked fight on this list—finds itself in third place.
2. Rafael ‘Bazooka’ Limon - Cornelius Boza-Edwards
“Edwards, a very gentlemanly fellow, has become a tiger” — Howard Cosell
Ugandan amateur standout Cornelius Boza-Edwards came of age in this fight, despite the fearsome ‘Bazooka’ Limon trying to take his head off with his winging power punches.
This fight has it all: the stand-up, well-schooled straight punching amateur stylings of Boza-Edwards, the wide and wild aggression of the Mexican champion, and the back-and-forth exchanges brought about by the more skilled operator refusing to back down.
The fifth round is the best in the fight: Limon went down off a well-time straight left, but got up and fought back with ferocity. Boza obliged him.
It’s some sight to see Limon exhausted late in the fight: hands down by his waist, only sending in single hooks to try and fend Boza-Edwards off. It’s even more of a sight to see him get his second wind and fight hard in the 14th and 15th rounds, showing the tenacity and will that won him the WBC super featherweight title from Idelfonso Bethelmy with a 15th round stoppage just three months before.
These final few rounds show why the Uganda born-Brit was such an action fighter himself: Limon’s renewed assault causes him to loosen up. He feints with his shoulders, pulls out an Ali shuffle, waves the Mexican warmonger in for more exchanges, fires back with two-fisted combinations that have Limon reeling. The final minute of the 14th round is fought primarily shoulder-to-shoulder and the exchanges are truly incredible.
The 15th round was an even better, making a strong challenge to the fifth stanza to be called the best of the fight: it was the challenger chasing the fight, and Limon happily obliging him. The inside battle here is absorbing: both men attempting proactive head movement to land powerful counter blows on the inside but usually failing and simply teeing off on each other. The Ugandan switching to othordox and sending bolo punches to body and head is a sight to see. Limon sends fist to mouth and Boza-Edwards temporarily wilts, trying desperately to fire back. They embrace at the end of the fight, Boza-Edwards a worthy winner.
Not that Limon agreed, saying he deserved the decision, something his own trainer Arturo Hernandez disagreed with.
Limon certainly made an impression on the new champion:
“He hit me below the belt many times. He’s the dirtiest fighter I’ve ever faced” — Cornelius Boza-Edwards
Only 1,722 fans were in attendance in Stockton, California, a paltry turn-out for what was a truly excellent fight. This writer considers it to be the best all-southpaw clash of all time, high praise considering there are two other all-timers in this list alone.
1. Bobby Chacon - 'Rafael ‘Bazooka’ Limon IV
I know this, from what I watched Saturday. The real victims are the survivors.
There is nothing in sport that can be more brutal than this was—the WBC super featherweight title fight between Rafael Limon and challenger Bobby Chacon.
For blood sport it was a classic.
It was a bloody, murderous, shredding battery that must have left marks that will never be healed
— Barry Westgate
There is no greater fight. Of that I am convinced, and I’ve seen many.
I don’t just mean in the pantheon of boxing’s greatest dust-ups, but in all of combat sports. And I watch many, from brutal bare knuckle Burmese Lethwei, from Japanese kickboxing to no-holds barred cage fighting, from the days of Jack Dempsey to the 1980s golden era of Muay Thai.
I consider myself a historian, and watch as much as I can: the thought that there is a better fight out there than the fourth meeting between Bobby ‘Schoolboy’ Chacon and Rafael ‘Bazooka’ Limon is to consider there is a better album out there than Trout Mask Replica. To me, it is inconceivable.
The fight has everything: A built-in narrative that only a fourth meeting of 1-1-1 fighters can have. A personal backstory that if committed to celluloid you would consider unrealistic Hollywood tosh. Extended sequences of extreme pugilistic violence, capped off by one of the most unbelievable—yet clearly fitting—final stanzas in the history of boxing.
Bobby Chacon should not even have been fighting. That was the opinion of his wife Valorie, who implored her battle-scarred husband to leave the fight game alone. He was a veteran of 54 fights, and has been stopped four times. How many times had she tended his wounds? How many times had she seen her husband forget where he was?
For Bobby Chacon, leaving the fight game was not so easy. He loved to fight. Thus, Valorie felt she had no other choice but to remove herself from the situation, something she did with a bullet.
The day after her tragic death, Chacon knocked out a journeyman and dedicated the win to his late wife. After that he put a gun to his own head, racked by guilt over the suicide of Valorie. He lived on for his kids. He lived on to fight.
Nothing Rafael Limon could bring to the table would have an effect on a man hardened by loss, but the Mexican would certainly try. His business was violence of an equally personal sort.
These two had been building their knowledge of each other’s tendencies through a trilogy of leather and blood. In their fourth fight they did their best Jackson Pollock impressions, using skin as canvasses for the public to see, and each other’s brains for blotted art that would only show up on a CT scan.
The painting Chacon and Limon made at the end of 45-torrid minutes remains indelible to this day. The Ring magazine agreed, giving it top honours at the end of 1982. Hold it up against any winner from any year, and Chacon-Limon IV would win. After 14 rounds of the highest drama, Chacon punctuated his victory with a dramatic 15th round surge that saw Limon down and out. That Limon was not out, and returned to his feet to barely survive and hear the final bell is testament to his own toughness.
These two wrote their names into the history books in each others blood. Their fourth fight is the greatest boxing match of all time. Thus, it is only fitting it sits at the top of this list.
After the fights
This is it, for sure. Now that he is a world champion again, Bobby Chacon can finally hang up the gloves and bow out proudly and gracefully from the sport that cripples or kills those that stay one fight too long.
For Bobby, it’s time. He’s 31 years old in a young man’s division, he took a pretty good beating last Saturday in upsetting Bazooka Limon for the WBC super-featherweight title, making weight is a major battle, and his three kids need him around in one piece.
But Chacon has never been very good at retiring. He tried it about four times and it never worked.
Even when his wife threatened to commit suicide, he couldn’t quit. Even when his wife committed suicide, he couldn’t quit — The Los Angeles Times
And of course, Bobby Chacon didn’t quit. He moved up in weight and was trounced by Ray Mancini. He at least ended his career after an inexplicable seven-fight win streak. But more tragedy befell him. Those three kids became two when his son Bobby Jr was killed in a gang dispute in the early 90s. He ran out of money. The sport that cripples those that stay one fight too long struck him down with pugilistic dementia, the legendary fighter who could fight through anything needing full-time care in old age. He died in 2016 aged 64. Hopefully this piece will bring his incredible, action-packed career to a new audience and remind those that already knew of his fights what an amazing fighter he was.
Rolando Navarrete had his previously mentioned battles with the law, and returned to the ring with mixed success, never again winning a world title. He lost all his money, had further brushes with the law and survived an ice pick attack in 2008. He makes pennies selling fish nowadays, a far cry from his prizefighting days.
Cornelius Boza-Edwards and ‘Bazooka’ Limon were chewed up by the next wave of excellent super-featherweights and lightweights. Between them both they lost to Rocky Lockridge, Hector Camacho and one of Limon’s sparring partners, a kid called Julio Cesar Chavez. Boza-Edwards eventually became an assistant trainer at the Mayweather gym in Las Vegas.
For all his wars, ‘Bazooka’ Limon appears to still have all his faculties. Talking to The Ring in 2018, he said of his most famous rival Bobby Chacon:
“He was a mad dog! Maybe it was because he was addicted to drugs but all four fights with him were dog fights. I was able to knock him down in the first three fights but he put me down in the fourth.”
As someone who has partied themselves, I say this: don’t seek the nightlife like Bobby Chacon did. In watching the fights featured in this article you will feel a rush no amphetamine can bring. You will have your mind blown in a way that even hallucinogens cannot do. You will introspectively respect the achievements and possibilities of your fellow man in a way that even a hazy conversation with an old friend over a potent joint will not provoke.
Watch them, love them. The Ferocious Four deserve it.