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1) BOBBY CHACON: This man just may be the most exciting fighter that ever lived. Time after time Chacon was in wars. Born in Los Angeles, CA. Nov 28th, 1951. As he grew up in the slums he gained a reputation as a street fighter. His girlfriend giving up on ever breaking him of his ways told him if you are going to fight you may as well get paid for it. He turned pro in 1972. A fast fighter with a KO punch Bobby quickly became a fan favorite. He went 19-0 with 17 KOs including a KO win over former Champion Chucho Castillo before losing a bid for the NABF featherweight title to Ruben Olivares by 9th round KO. He rebounded with four straight KOs before meeting future Featherweight Champion and fellow fan favorite Danny "Little Red" Lopez. In an action packed bout Bobby stopped Lopez in the 9th round. This earned him a shot at the WBC Featherweight Title vs. Alfredo Marcano. Chacon was too much knocking him cold in the 9th to win the title. 1975 was the beginning of very hard times after one defense he was again knocked out by Olivares in the second round and lost his title. He would finish out the year losing a decision to Rafael "Bazooka" Limon a name that he would hear again. Over the next two years he remained a fan favorite winning 14 and losing one on points to Arturo Leon. In 1979 he would fight Bazooka Limon again in a dirty affair. It was stopped and ruled a technical draw. There was bad blood and unfinished business between the now heated rivals. Chacon advanced to a Title fight with Alexis Arguello for the WBC Jr. Lightweight belt. Arguello was too strong stopping Bobby on cuts in the 7th round. It appeared to be over but it was just beginning for him.

His Wife Valorie began pleading with him to retire but he insisted that there was another title in him. In 1980 he met Bazooka Limon for the 3rd time finally Chacon evened up the score winning a disputed decision. Two more KO wins later and he took on the new WBC champion Cornelius Boza Edwards, in a fight which he was dominated. Bobby was again stopped on cuts and Valorie again pleaded with him to quit. He said he would but just a few months later the warrior in him took over and he was back in the ring. On the night before he faced Salvidore Ugalde, Valorie took her own life with a shotgun blast to the head. Chacon decided that he would fight on March 16th, 1982 the night after his wife’s suicide. He knocked out Ugalde in three rounds and broke down and cried in the ring before a packed house in LA. With this win he earned a shot at his heated rival and new WBC Jr. Lightweight Champion Bazooka Limon. It would be their forth meeting and some say the best fight of all times. Back and forth it went at a furious pace, Chacon dropped the iron jawed Limon right at the bell of round 15. It won him the fight and 8 years after becoming Featherweight Champion he was again Champion. Crying "I knew I could do it why couldn't she just wait" in the post fight interview. It was a Hollywood like story. Ring Magazine elected it the fight of the year. The following year he defended that title avenging his defeat to Bazooka Edwards in a great fight that for the second year in the row landed Bobby in Rings fight of the year. A dispute with Don King led to his being stripped of the title. He would face Boom Boom Mancini for the Lightweight title and lose in 3. After that he was always in a war but never in contention again. Beating Former champ Art Frias and top contender Rafael Solis are the highlights before retiring for good in 1988 with a record of 58 wins 7 loses and 47 KOs. Those that saw him won't ever forget him, he gave everything he had to the sport and today is in bad shape with a series of run-ins with the law and a reported drug problem. He is my all time favorite fighter.

2) MATTHEW SAAD MUHAMMAD: Born Aug. 5th, 1954 as Maxwell Loach, he was abandoned as a baby and grew up not knowing his parents. Under the name Matthew Franklin, the name which he turned pro under, he later became a Muslim and changed it to Matthew Saad Muhammad a name which would come to be identified with dramatic come from behind wins. In 1977 Saad went from a boxer with ok skills to a pure warrior in a fight with future 3 time Light Heavyweight Champion Marvin Johnson in a battle for the NABF title, a belt which Saad won by stopping Johnson in the 12th. He defended that title three times beating Billy Douglas (father of Buster), Richie Kates and Yaqui Lopez. April 22, 1979 he again knocked out Marvin Johnson to become the WBC Champion. He would hold this title until 1981 defending it 8 times including a dramatic come from behind KO of Yaqui Lopez that is considered one of the best fights ever, before losing it to Dwight Braxton by tenth round KO. He failed to regain the title in a rematch with Braxton, this time he was stopped in 6. Saad Muhammad who had made a career out of absorbing everything his opponents had then coming back to stop them, who had done so often enough to be dubbed Miracle Matthew had run out of miracles. Sadly he refused to realize this and fought on into the 1990s ending it with a KO loss to an unknown in 1992. His final record was 39 wins, 16 loses, 3 draws, with 29 KOs.