Fallen Idol

Charles Pierce ("Chuck") Davey is well educated (an M.A. in education from Michigan State), well built (147 Ibs., 5 ft. 8 1/2 in.), and he was well ballyhooed as an up & coming boxer. Turning pro in 1949, he fought 39 straight fights without a loss. Kid Gavilan, born about the same time as Davey, was educated in the sugar-cane fields of Camaguey, Cuba, where he developed a sleekly muscled body (146 Ibs., 5 ft. 10 in.) and a demonstrated ability to take care of himself with his fists (105 pro fights since 1943).

Davey, fresh-faced, sandy-haired, and the scholarly looking victim of a retreating hairline, won six straight TV fights last year and became the idol of the fans. Gavilan, who bears the ugly scars of his profession--cauliflower ears, flattened nose, scarred eye tissue--was merely the welterweight champion of the world. Last week in Chicago, for the biggest gate in welterweight history ($275,415), the TV idol met the old pro. The result was as predictable as the 14-5 odds favoring Gavilan.

Davey, a southpaw powderpuff puncher with fancy-Dan footwork, stayed on even terms with Gavilan for the first two rounds. In Round 3, Gavilan opened up with one of his famed flurries, pummeling with lefts, rights and his own uppercutting bolo punch. Davey, bewildered by the barrage, was dumped to the canvas for a nine count, the first time he had ever been knocked down. From then on it was just a matter of time, and Gavilan took his time. In Rounds 5 and 6, Gavilan switched styles and fought southpaw too, "just for the fun of it."

In Round 8, Gavilan tired of his cat & mouse tactics and went to work in earnest. The champion's slam-bang attack opened a cut under Davey's right eye. In Round 9, throwing bolos, uppercuts, hooks and crosses, Gavilan pounded Davey to the canvas three times, once clear through the ring ropes. Each time, Davey gamely got back on his feet, but it was clear that he was through for the night. When the bell sounded for Round 10, Davey sat in his corner, gagging from a bolo punch in the Adam's apple, unable to continue.

Gavilan, bouncy, exuberant and unmarked, clasped his hands over his head in the victory pose, then rushed to the ringside TV mike to tell an estimated 30 million viewers what had happened to their fallen idol. Said Gavilan: "He's a good fighter, but he no punch hard. He needs more experience. He's, well, you know ..." The welterweight champion left the thought unfinished. His next objective: the middleweight (160 lbs.) title. After all, says Gavilan: "I beat all the beeg welterweights, didn't I? Who else I gonna fight? Who gotta chance with the Keed?"

The "interim" world featherweight (126 Ibs.) championship was settled last week in Paris. With the champion, Pvt. Sandy Saddler, as a ringside spectator, Philadelphia Negro Percy Bassett pounded France's Ray Famechon into submission with a fourth-round technical knockout. Famechon was not the only loser. French bookies, who backed their favorite against the weight of the money bet at the fight, lost an estimated 800 million francs ($2,288,000) on the fight.

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