BOXING / TIM KAWAKAMI : Chavez’s Loss Has Aftershocks

Has time finally passed Julio Cesar Chavez by?

Even in this upset-strewn period in boxing, full of new faces and fallen champions, Chavez’s loss to little-known Frankie Randall on Jan. 29 was staggering, an end-of-an-era kind of moment.

Terry Norris lost recently, but he had been driven to the canvas before.

Riddick Bowe’s defeat by Evander Holyfield didn’t surprise insiders nearly as much as it did the public.

Tommy Morrison was a disaster waiting to happen.

Chavez barely getting a draw against Pernell Whitaker couldn’t be called a shock given Whitaker’s technical proficiency. Whitaker is left-handed and a top fighter in his prime; he fought a brilliant fight, and still did not knock down Chavez. The decision? That was merely a joke.

But Chavez losing to Randall? And most stunning of all, getting knocked down for the first time in his career in the 11th round by a 32-year-old fighter getting his first title opportunity?

It was similar to the moment when Roberto Duran quit against Sugar Ray Leonard, or when Mike Tyson was upset by Buster Douglas. These events cannot be explained away or ignored.

Anybody who saw Chavez collapse onto the MGM Grand Garden canvas, victim of a jolting Randall right hand to the face, anybody who saw the dazed, desperate look in his eyes during his last-gasp 12th-round attack, understands that things will be different from now on.

At 31, he is slower. He is not as strong. He is tired.

“It’s sort of sad,” veteran trainer Eddie Futch said. “Chavez was a great fighter who meant a lot to a lot of people. But we knew this day was going to come someday.”

He gave glimpses during the Whitaker fight of his growing frustration, but after the Randall loss, obviously, Chavez is not the same fighter who dominated boxing for years, who had gone undefeated in 28 previous title fights, who seemed to win by sheer force of will.

After the Randall bout, Chavez is merely another aging, beatable fighter, and for boxing, that changes everything.

“He’s still a big draw, still a national hero (in Mexico),” trainer Alex Shearer said. “People want to see if he can climb the mountain again. He’s still a part of history--he’s the greatest Mexican fighter of all time.

“But he’s been losing it gradually. I don’t think people were paying attention. Ever since he fought Meldrick Taylor, he’s been fighting bums, with the exception of Whitaker.

“There was a time you couldn’t hit Chavez with a clean right hand. Now, guys just go jab, jab, jab and then stick Chavez with a strong right hand. Frankie Randall, of all people, drops him with it.

“Time has beaten down the man. Think about all the fights, the thousands of punches. Sooner or later, it has to take its toll.”

Through his promoter, Don King, Chavez turned down the Whitaker camp’s offer of $9 million for a rematch. Last week, Whitaker promoter Dan Duva said they no longer have any interest in the fight.

“Julio Cesar Chavez should punch Don King in the mouth, and then punch himself in the mouth for allowing Don King to bully him into not taking Pernell Whitaker instead of taking Frankie Randall for one-fifth of the money,” Duva said.

“I thought it before, but now there’s no question, Pernell Whitaker is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Julio Cesar Chavez now is in the ranks of the also-rans.”

Chavez has had 91 professional fights and has won 89 of them, so his bitterness and sour grapes immediately after the loss were hardly surprising.

An acquaintance of his said last week that Chavez, after watching the tape of the fight carefully, has finally acknowledged that he lost the fight.

But does it matter now? Even if he comes back and defeats Randall in their scheduled May 7 rematch, has Chavez slipped permanently from boxing’s highest level?

“Chavez was a great, great champion,” Oscar De La Hoya said. “I called up my father right after (the fight) and he said, ‘It’s over for him.’ I believe it, too. He’s had fights, just tough fights, and he’s been getting hit a lot and it’s been wearing him out. He got dropped, and when he got up he was stung.

“Randall wasn’t a fast, good-technician fighter. It was a big disappointment for everybody, but he’s had so many fights, he should just quit.”

De La Hoya, who was being suggested as a possible opponent for Chavez, said every boxer coming up in the Chavez-dominated divisions will feel the effect of his loss.

“It means that a lot of fighters coming up, a lot of young stars, a lot of fighters who didn’t have the opportunity to be in the limelight, they have a chance to prove themselves,” De La Hoya said. “There was a lot of attention on Chavez, they would just focus on him. Now a lot of fighters in the junior-lightweights, lightweights, junior-welterweights have a chance at it.”

And De La Hoya said he no longer believes that he will fight Chavez. “I believe that was HBO’s idea, me fighting Chavez,” he said. “But now he’s going downhill and I’m picking up more experience and coming up. It would’ve been a big, big, huge fight.”

Boxing Notes

Evander Holyfield, who has signed to defend his International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Assn. heavyweight titles against No. 1 contender Michael Moorer (34-0, 30 knockouts) at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on April 22, hasn’t fought a left-hander since 1986. If Moorer wins, he would become the first left-handed heavyweight champion in history.

Want an indication of how the local fight scene is heating up? Go to Larry Goossen’s gym in Big Bear City, where Oscar De La Hoya is training for his March 5 fight, where Rafael Ruelas is sparring with junior-welterweight Hector Lopez and others before Ruelas’ Feb. 19 title bout at the Forum and where Kennedy McKinney, the International Boxing Federation junior-featherweight champion, is training for his Feb. 19 fight overseas. Last week, the most compelling action was four fast rounds of sparring between Ruelas and Lopez, who has the same kind of busy style as Ruelas’ opponent, IBF lightweight champion Freddie Pendleton. “Hector will be here until the end because he can give me the inside work and he can move like the dickens,” said Joe Goossen, Ruelas’ trainer. “He’s in the top 10 in the world--how often can you get sparring with the top 10 in the world? He knows every trick, he’s had many, many fights, so he’s going to prepare Rafa with a variety of styles and punches, and that’s what you need.” Said Ruelas: “He’s somebody that I can definitely push myself with. . . . I can push myself to the level I need to be at.”

Boxing Calendar

* Today: Lionel Butler vs. Jerry Jones, heavyweights; Gabriel Ruelas vs. Raul Hernandez, junior-lightweights. Reseda Country Club, 5 p.m.