On March 10, 1992, welterweight Tim Rabon met Philadelphian William
“The Hammer” Jones at the Blue Horizon in Philadelphia in a 4-rounder that was televised on Tuesday Night fights as part of a bigger venue. Those who were fortunate enough to see this one will never forget it.
Rabon was 13-7-2 at the time. Jones was 18-0 but his only notable win was a KO over Rafael Williams, and his overall level of opposition was very poor. In fact, only five opponents had winning records. As well, most of the Hammer’s fights took place in the friendly confines of the Blue Horizon Rabon, out of Broussard, Louisiana, had duked with much better fighters, but had just fair success. He was knocked out by Santos Cardona and Tyrone Moore,fought a draw with then undefeated Chad Parker (19-0), split a pair of SD’s with Jason Watters, and lost on points to Kevin Pompey, Reggie Miller and the very capable Aussie Jeff “Flash” Malcom (for
the IBC Welterweight Title). Malcom was 77-21-10 at the time.
One other thing, Rabon was a National Golden Gloves Champion in 1984 (along with such notables as Ronnie Essett, Virgil Hill, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson). On paper, the undefeated Jones looked ripe for the picking.
The fight was a barnburner during the first two rounds with both tall and skinny fighters wasted no time as they teed off on each other with long and looping shots that had deadly intentions written all over them. The punishment absorbed by both fighters was alarming, and those at ringside were sprayed by the sweat as each thundering shot came down the pike. Then, in the incredible third round, things heated up fast as “The Hammer” lived up to his nickname by flooring and punishing Rabon in the early going and appeared to be on his way to a crunching finish.
But miraculously, Rabon caught Jones with a solid hook that had him hurt and hanging on. He then floored him and when he got up, stalked him down like a Tiger sensing a fresh kill and floored him again. But in so doing, he used up serious energy and Jones knew it. Indeed, Rabon had punched himself out and was now helpless and ready to be hammered into submission, but time was running out.
With seconds to go in the round, Jones backed Rabon into a corner and took him out with a single debilitating shot to the liver. The bell had rung but Tim could not get up. He was counted out four seconds after the round was over. These nine minutes of unmitigated mayhem featured everything: give and take, ebb and flow, courage, determination and ferocity. Rabon would lose most of his remaining fights against very creditable opposition and finished with a slate of 14-12-2.
Jones would never be the same losing two of his next four. Both defeats came at the hands of another Philadelphian, ultra tough Eric Holland. His
final record was 21-2 and he retired in 1994 after being KOd by
Holland in 1995.
The career of both would be defined by what happened at the Blue Horizon on March 10, 1992. They call it the “Legendary Blue Horizon" and fights like this contributed greatly to that Moniker.
Postscript
: Beau Williford, Tim’s proud manager/trainer, recently shared this poignant email message:
“My boxer Timmy Rabon (MAY HE REST IN PEACE) who passed away a few months ago from Lou Gehrig’s disease, was one of the most fun guys I ever had the opportunity to work with. Timmy [a two-time National Golden Gloves Champion] said the reason he lost to Jones was the altitude, the ring was very high he joked. He jokingly said he was not in shape to climb five steps.
One Christmas Eve, (1989 I think) Timmy called me to borrow some money to buy presents for his children. He wanted to borrow $50.00 and I told him NO! Astonished he said Beau I promise to pay you back. I then told him I would not loan him $50.00, but would loan him $300.00. I waited for over two hours for him to show up but he never did. He phoned me to tell me he had two dollars when he left to come to my house and stopped at a gas station to put a dollars worth of gas in his car and then decided to take a chance on a $10,000.00 lottery ticket. He purchased the winning lottery ticket and asked me if I needed any Christmas money!!!
A truly wonderful guy who I am sure is entertaining the angels with his great stories.”
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Re: What are the 5 best rare fights of all time?
Originally Posted by ICB
Well i've seen 4 of them on his list, Lee Roy Murphy fight is an all out brawl. With a Rocky 2 like ending.
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