Referee Ron Lipton: Merqui Sosa versus Charles Williams, A Forgotten Historical Gem
By Robert Brizel, Head RCM Boxing Correspondent
Merqui Sosa did great work on the inside, with Prince Charles Williams fighting off the ropes and landing uppercuts. The inside bout caused heads to clash inside too often too soon. Ron Lipton never had to separate the two light heavyweights in the first round, but Williams had a cut on the left eyebrow from a punch which was bad. The vacant North American Boxing Federation Light Heavyweight title bout took place at Bally’s Park Place Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on January 13, 1995, promoted by Top Rank and televised on ESPN.
Williams, a former International boxing Federation Light Heavyweight world champion, fought in ten consecutive IBF World Light Heavyweight title fights, and an IBF Super Middleweight fight as well. Round two turned out to be equally as extraordinary as the first, with the two fighters continuing to fight in a telephone booth. Williams slipped to the canvas neare the end of the second round.
In the weird round three, Lipton warned both fighters from butting, but the caution could not help. Both fighters were fighting to the head and the body in a brutal war, bomb for bomb. By this point, it was evident the fight could never go the distance. Jabs and hooks were flying in both directions with great skill from both combatants.
Sosa, a super middleweight moving up, was fighting for his wife and new baby. Williams was fighting for a shot at regaining the light heavyweight title. The bout with Sosa would be his last significant flash in the light heavyweight division.
By round four, with 70 or more punches from both men in every round, the telephone booth war featuring ripping head shots and great action on the inside. Lipton had accomplished magic by this point, setting the tempo and enforcing the rules with his presence in the ring. Both fighters were letting their hands go.
Between eye and nose cuts, both fighters had bloody faces in rounds four and five. The level of the bout was a classic above most regional title bouts. Sosa pressured Williams, pushing and bullying him backwards to set up his shots late in round six. Williams landed some head shot and uppercut counters.
In round seven, the bout went to center ring. So many power shots had been thrown by both men, one wonders how both men remained standing. Williams was being outworked, but still had significant opportunities to scores. Lipton’s closeness to the action made the fight memorable, his positioning where today’s referees never are, right on top of the action, preventing holding, and making for an exciting fight.
Sosa made every effort to wear Charles down. Both fighters put it all on the table. By late in round seven, Williams began to hold. The right eye of Sosa was nearly closed, with Williams fighting with a severe left eye cut. At the end of the round, ringside doctor, Dr. Frank B. Doggett, ruled both fighters were unable to continue. With the New Jersey Athletic Commission and the NABF rules in force, the bout was uniquely ruled a technical draw. Three judges had it for Sosa, including Melvina Lathan, the current New York state Athletic Commissioner, who scored it 69-64 for Sosa. Precisely which rule caused the draw and why, and whether this could happen in another state or ever again, I cannot say. The rarity of a double stoppage put Ron Lipton into the record books as the man in the middle of perhaps the most unique outcome this boxing writer has ever seen.
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