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Michael Moorer vs. Vaughn Bean

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The March of Ides
DateMarch 29, 1997
VenueLas Vegas Hilton, Winchester, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the lineIBF Heavyweight Championship
Tale of the tape
Boxer Michael Moorer Vaughn Bean
Nickname Double M Shake & Bake
Hometown Monessen, Pennsylvania, U.S. Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Purse $3,600,000 $500,000
Pre-fight record 38–1 (31 KO) 27–0 (21 KO)
Age 29 years, 4 months 22 years, 6 months
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 212 lb (96 kg) 212 lb (96 kg)
Style Southpaw Orthodox
Recognition IBF
Heavyweight Champion
The Ring
No. 4 Ranked Heavyweight
IBF
No. 5 Ranked Heavyweight
Result
Moorer wins via majority decision (116–113, 115–113, 114–114)

Michael Moorer vs. Vaughn Bean, billed as The March of Ides, was a professional boxing match contested on March 29, 1997, for the IBF heavyweight title.[1]

Background

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Michael Moorer, in his second reign as IBF heavyweight champion, was coming off a TKO victory over Francois Botha on the undercard of first Mike Tyson–Evander Holyfield fight on November 9, 1996.[2] Following his victory, Moorer was given the opportunity to headline his own pay-per-view by taking on the undefeated but little-known Vaughn Bean. Bean came in to the fight with a 27–0 record and was ranked by IBF as the number-five heavyweight contender, but had faced marginal competition up to that point and he was installed as sizeable 5–1 underdog.[3] Just before the fight, Moorer took ill with the common cold forcing him to no-show a pre-fight press conference the week of the fight, though his manager John Davimos dismissed the illness and insisted Moorer would be "100 percent" come fight time. Moorer had a lot riding on the fight as a victory over Bean all but insured him a chance to face the winner of the Holyfield–Tyson rematch originally scheduled to take place a month later in May, but later pushed back to June. Moorer, however, remained focused on his fight with Bean and refused to entertain the thought of a fight with Tyson, who was a slight favorite over Holyfield, stating "We can't talk about Tyson because if I don't beat Bean, then there's no fight."[4]

The fight, which took place on March 29, 1997, was originally scheduled to take place two week before that date on March 15, but problems within Moorer's camp, namely with his manager John Davimos, whom Moorer was looking to replace, and trainer Teddy Atlas, who vowed to leave Moorer should he part ways with Davimos, caused the fight to be pushed back.[5] Moorer ultimately retained both Davimos and Atlas' services.

The Moorer–Bean main event was complemented with three other world championship fights as well as a non-title bout featuring Julio César Chávez taking on journeyman Tony Martin in what was the featured extraction on the undercard. Chávez was originally set to face Gary Kirkland, but Kirkland was forced to pull out of the fight after suffering a cut during training leading to Martin taking the fight on two weeks notice.[6] Chávez and Martin had agreed to a catchweight of 145 pounds, between the super lightweight and welterweight divisions, but Chávez weighed in at 151 pounds six pounds over the contracted limit and had to pay Martin $100,000 out of his $700,000 purse in order to get Martin to agree to fight at a heavier weight. Chávez would win the fight by unanimous decision.[7]

The fight

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Despite a lackluster effort, Moorer would nevertheless earn a close majority decision victory. Moorer fought an extremely cautious, defense-orientated style and despite pleas from Atlas for Moorer to press the action and fight more aggressively. Moorer ultimate did just enough as two judges scored the fight 116–113 (seven rounds to four, one round even) and 115–113 (seven rounds to five) while the third judge scored the fight even at 114–114, having had Moorer down four rounds going into the ninth before giving Moorer the final four rounds.[8]

Aftermath

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The fight was Moorer's last with Atlas as his trainer. Atlas was so displeased with Moorer's subpar performance that he announced his decision to leave Moorer just two days after the Bean fight, admitting that he had and Moorer had a volatile training camp leading up to the fight in which the two had almost come to blows. Explaining his decision to part ways with Moorer, Atlas explained "I watched Cus D'Amato at the end, saying he would always be true to his principles, and allow himself to be treated badly (by Tyson) just to be with a fighter. I saw that and I vowed it would never happen to me."[9] Moorer would hire Freddie Roach to replace Atlas for his next fight; a unification bout with Evander Holyfield, who had defeated Tyson in their rematch by disqualification to set up a rematch with Moorer three years after Moorer had previously defeated him for the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles.[10]

Fight card

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Confirmed bouts:[11]

Weight Class Weight vs. Method Round Notes
Heavyweight 200+ lbs. Michael Moorer (c) def Vaughn Bean MD 12/12 Note 1
Super Welterweight 154 lbs. Laurent Boudouani (c) def Carl Daniels UD 12/12 Note 2
Strawweight 105 lbs. Ricardo López (c) def. Mongkol Charoen UD 12/12 Note 3
Super Welterweight 154 lbs. Julio César Chávez def. Tony Martin UD 10/10
Mini Flyweight 105 lbs. Alex Sánchez (c) def. Víctor Burgos UD 12/12 Note 4
Middleweight 160 lbs. Julio César Green def. Bernice Barber KO 4/8
Lightweight 135 lbs. Laura Serrano def. Cheryl Nance TKO 3/4
Heavyweight 200+ lbs. Nate Jones def. Ricardo Phillips UD 4/4

^Note 1 For IBF heavyweight title
^Note 2 For WBA super welterweight title
^Note 3 For WBC strawweight title
^Note 4 For WBO mini flyweight title

Broadcasting

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Country Broadcaster
 United States Showtime

References

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  1. ^ "Michael Moorer vs. Vaughn Bean". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  2. ^ The Bigger They Are . . . Holyfield Stops Tyson, NY Times article, 1996-11-10 Retrieved on 2024-09-02
  3. ^ Moorer to Take on Unknown Bean, LA Times article, 1997-03-29 Retrieved on 2024-09-02
  4. ^ Moorer low-key self as fight nears, Las Vegas Sun article, 1997-03-26 Retrieved on 2024-09-02
  5. ^ Moorer or Less, Atlas Shrugged, NY Daily News article, 1997-01-22 Retrieved on 2024-09-02
  6. ^ A New Trainer for Moorer, and Possibly a New Holyfield, NWI Times article, 1997-03-16 Retrieved on 2024-09-03
  7. ^ Chavez fails to impress in victory over journeyman, Tampa Bay Times article, 1997-03-30 Retrieved on 2024-09-03
  8. ^ Moorer clings to IBF title with lethargic win over Bean, Tampa Bay Times article, 1997-03-30 Retrieved on 2024-09-02
  9. ^ Poor Moorer fight leads Atlas to leave, Tampa Bay Times article, 1997-03-31 Retrieved on 2024-09-03
  10. ^ A New Trainer for Moorer, and Possibly a New Holyfield, NY Times article, 1997-11-06 Retrieved on 2024-09-03
  11. ^ "BoxRec - event".
Preceded by Michael Moorer's bouts
29 March 1997
Succeeded by
Preceded by
vs. Earl Talley
Vaughn Bean's bouts
29 March 1997
Succeeded by
vs. Bryant Smith