Chavez Crushes Haugen In Fifth -- Mexican Fighter Defends Title Before 130,000

MEXICO CITY - Boxing's biggest crowd got what it wanted last night.

Saluted by 130,000 countrymen, Julio Cesar Chavez pummeled Greg Haugen for five rounds before referee Joe Cortez stopped the beating, as Chavez defended his World Boxing Council (WBC) super-lightweight title in the main attraction of the four-title card billed as the "Grand Slam of Boxing."

"He deserved to be punished like this. He said some bad things," said Chavez.

According to officials of the Don King-promoted show, the near sellout at the Aztec Stadium easily shattered the record of 120,470 set in 1926 at the first Jack Dempsey-Gene Tunney heavyweight championship bout in Philadelphia.

And Chavez (85-0, with 73 knockouts) easily shattered any upset hopes of Haugen with a textbook display of boxing punishment. Head shots, followed by body shots, uppercuts and short hooks disfigured and bloodied Haugen and put him down twice.

"The better man won," Haugen said.

Although Haugen was a 25-1 underdog, he never stepped back from the moment he walked into the ring to the sound of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA," dressed in red, white and blue.

Haugen (32-4-1 with 16 knockouts) had promised a fight during the pre-bout hype, and the former "Toughman" contest winner and lightweight champion didn't back down from his boast.

But, Haugen went down right away in the first round from two rights. By the end of the round, Haugen's nose was bloody.

The Auburn native gamely fought on, but none of his punches seemed to hurt Chavez.

In the fifth round, Chavez unloaded a series of rights to Haugen's head. Then a crunching right to the side of Haugen's head dropped him to his knee. Haugen got up at eight, but was soon pinned against the ropes when Cortez stepped in to stop the beating at 2:02 of the round.

"He caught me flush with the right hand and I couldn't recover," said Haugen.

Tickets were scaled from $850 for field seats around ringside to nearly 25,000 seats at $1.65 in the upper reaches of the cavernous soccer stadium built for the 1968 Olympics. Four large TV screens on the 30-foot-high canopy relayed the action to the fans.

A hefty and visible security force of 1,571 police with 60 guard dogs patrolled the stadium. Outside, 400 mounted police stood guard. Barbed wire fence and a 6-foot-deep, 6-foot-wide moat kept the masses from the ring.

Just in case, a squad of about 75 riot police, armed with nightsticks and protective shields, stood at the ready near the locker room area.

Despite the armed-camp look, a festive atmosphere filled the air. The "wave" circled the upper deck and chants of "Mexico, Mexico" rang out in the crowd. A flickering of flashlights in the upper deck lit the darkened stadium.

Mexican flags were draped around the four-tier stadium. Red was the popular color, and headbands and hats with Chavez's name were popular souvenirs.

"Mexico is a country that does not have many winners," explained WBC president Jose Sulaiman, a Mexican businessman. "So when a figure like Chavez comes along, they embrace him as a hero."

In the co-feature, World Boxing Council super-welterweight champion Terry Norris punched out Maurice Blocker in two punishing rounds.

Norris (34-3) put Blocker down twice in the opening round of thier scheduled 12-round fight and had Blocker dazed against the ropes when referee Richard Steele called off the punishment at 49 seconds of the round.

"It was the right time to stop it," said Norris. "I wanted to take him out early; everything I threw was working."

Blocker could muster no firepower to keep the 154-pound champion from unloading.

The undercard bouts featured a first-round TKO win by Michael Nunn, the World Boxing Association super-middleweight (168-pound) champion, and a bruising 12 round majority decision victory by Azumah Nelson, the WBC super-featherweight champion.

Nelson (37-2-1) had his hands full with tough Gabriel Ruelas (33-2), needing a closing rally to pull out the win.

"I was too strong for the boy," Nelson said. "In the 10th, 11th, 12th rounds I was too strong, and that is why I was the professor and he was the student."

Judge Tom Kaczmarek had it 115-114, David Chung scored it 115-113 and Jose Medina saw a 115 tie.

Nunn (40-1 with 26 knockouts), showing no signs of overuse after a 12-round victory just three weeks ago, put down an overmatched Danny Morgan (41-3) twice before referee Enzo Montero waved off the contest at 2:59.

"I wished it could have gone a couple rounds more, but there was nothing I could do but knock him out," Nunn said of his crunching finishing left hand to the side of Morgan's head.

--------------------------------- GRAND SLAM ---------------------------------

Julio Cesar Chavez stopped Auburn native Greg Haugen in the fifth round to retain his WBC super-lightweight title.

Terry Norris stopped Maurice Blocker in the second round to retain his WBC super-welterweight title.

Michael Nunn stopped Dan Morgan in the first round in defense of the WBA super-middleweight title.

Azumah Nelson scored a 12-round majority decision over Gabriel Ruelas in defense of the WBC super-featherweight title.