By Ted Sares

Photo © Chris Cozzone/FightWireImages.com

Golden Johnson met Oscar "El Torito" Diaz on November 11, 2006 in San Antonio for local bragging rights and what happened was a display of brutality the likes of which have not been seen in these parts since another "El Torito" named Tony Ayala did his nasty thing.

But this was not one-sided stuff; this was give and take the result of which would eventually reduce Oscar's great manager, Lou Duva, to tears With a team that included new trainer "Jesse James” Leja, Johnson was a revived and brilliant fighter on this night showing resiliency, grit, and the ability to close matters.

What made the fight a great one was the ebb and flow that kept the 10,000 screaming throughout. Johnson controlled the early part of the fight, but Diaz took over in the middle rounds and hurt Johnson badly in the seventh with a vicious body shot. Indeed, he was poised to take Johnson out when the bell ended the round and arguably saved Golden. It would be Oscar’s last chance.

Diaz, his spirit now rapidly depleting, then took an unbelievable amount of punishment from Johnson before a straight right in the 11th canter caught him flush sending him staggering against the ropes. After a series of savage and unanswered shots, referee Ruben Carrion finally stopped the slaughter....way too late in my view, proving once again the corner is a lot braver than the fighter. His one eye was completely closed and a possible career-ending hideous cut opened over the eyelid of his other eye that even master cut man Joe Souza couldn't close.

Blood was coming from his mouth and his hand may have been broken as well. His face was a bloody mess and made some in the crowd yell "stop it stop it." Incredibly, all three judges had it scored 95-95 before the stoppage. Of course, this was San Antonio and dry gulch decisions are no surprise here.

"He wanted to win so badly for the fans of San Antonio," Lou Duva said, fighting back tears. "He's such a great kid. He's like a son to me. We all feel bad for him." But at what cost? Oscar may have been "ruined” by this fight even though he fought a valiant one.

Even Johnson's corner was critical of Diaz's corner for not stopping the fight sooner. If ever there was a case of discretion being the better part of valor, this was it. Curiously, Oscar has not fought since that night in the Alamodome.

The same thing happened on March 2, 2007 in Tampa, Florida when Nate "The Galaxxy Warrior" Campbell pounded Ricky "Showtime" Quilies for 12 rounds prompting ESPN commentator Teddy Atlas to scream, “Stop the fight. Stop the fight” at the normally solid referee, Jorge Alonso.

But if Alonso should be criticized, what about Ricky’s corner? Teddy should have been yelling at Ricky’s corner as well.

And then the very next night, as if to punctuate Teddy's point, Vic (Vakhtang) Darchinian perpetrated more than 11 rounds of accumulating punishment (the worse kind) on Victor "El Acorazado" Burgos before finally stopping the tough Mexican...who had too much heart for his own good... in the final round.

Immediately after the fight, Burgos was taken away in an ambulance and he is recovering in a hospital after undergoing brain surgery to remove a blood clot. While the fight could have been stopped earlier by referee Jon Schorle, the blame for letting this one go too long rests squarely on Victor's corner. What part of a white towel don't they get?

All of this brings to mind a question posed to Sonny Liston after he carved up and stopped Chuck Wepner in Jersey City back in 1970. Sonny was asked if Wepner was the bravest man he had ever fought. He replied, “No but his manager is!”

“A minority of boxing fans enjoy watching someone get beaten up. The rest of us wrestle with this issue from time to time. We ponder, not only how a fighter will feel the following morning, but also what the condition of his brain will be ten years from now. We're aware of the fact that a "good fight" means that two boxers have engaged in combat with a brutal ebb and flow and been punched in the head and hurt multiple times.” Thomas Hauser, The Disconnect.