THIS SUNDAY (October 19), a quite astonishing fight will mark its 40th anniversary; a boxing match that came about as close to replicating a Rocky movie scene as could be imagined.
Then-IBF cruiserweight champion Lee Roy Murphy of Chicago met Zambia’s Chisanda Mutti in Fontvieille, Monaco, in defence of his belt, and the two men slugged it out in exhausting, almost surreal fashion.
The two traded power shots from the get-go, and by the middle rounds, the savagery of the fight was staggering.
Then, in round 12, both men went down, at exactly the same time, after simultaneously landing power shots on their equally exhausted adversary – just as the fictitious Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed did in the 1979 sequel to the Oscar-winning flick.
But this was real, and today Murphy – who channelled his inner Balboa by getting up when Mutti, in the Creed role, was unable to do so, thus retaining his title – is here to speak about it.
Murphy, who walked away with a good 30-4, 23 KOs, record in 1998, speaks well today, and his memory is sharp. Lee Roy says people still come up to him to ask him about the jaw-dropping war he had with Mutti.
“I know what fight you’re gonna ask me about first – the Mutti fight, right?” Murphy says.
“Everybody likes the Mutti fight. Everybody wants to talk about that fight.
“He was a good fighter; he was a tough, tough man. I hit him with everything, but every time I turned around, he was right there.
“He wasn’t a hard puncher, but he was a good puncher, if that makes sense.”
Regarding the anniversary of that classic fight, which has been resurrected in the consciousness of boxing fans thanks to YouTube, Murphy can scarcely believe it happened 40 years ago.
“No, it’s gone too fast,” he says. “But even today, when I go out, when I get on the bus and folks recognise me, which they do from time to time, that’s the fight they want to ask me about.
“It wasn’t no damn Rocky II fight – it was real, man. We did that for real.
“In that fight, I had to break him down, so that’s why I went to the body the way I did. A lot of fighters, they don’t work the body the way they should. But I did, and he started to loosen up, to get tired.
“Finally, I wore him down and I told him: ‘It’s time to go now!’”
Sadly, Mutti is not around to share the memories with Murphy, as he died in July 1995, aged just 38.
“I’m not sure what happened to him,” says Murphy. “But yes, he passed. He was a good guy, a good fighter – but I had to beat him up.”
Murphy fought several more top cruiserweight names before, during and after his IBF reign, which began in October 1994 with a 14th-round knockout of Marvin Camel and lasted two years, encompassing three successful defences.
Three fights after dropping the belt, to Rickey Parkey in October 1986, Murphy went to war with one of the greatest cruiserweights, Dwight Muhammad Qawi – another former foe who is sadly no longer with us, having passed away this past July.
“It’s sad when a brother fighter passes,” says Murphy.
“Dwight was another one who was tough, but honestly, he didn’t hit hard; I never felt any of his punches. But that wasn’t me at my best. At my best, I would have stopped him.
“They [Team Qawi] were going for the rematch, the big-money rematch, with [Evander] Holyfield. And he got that fight and Holyfield knocked him out, the way I would have done had I been at my best.”
Murphy, along with his contemporaries such as Qawi, Mutti, Camel and Parkey, helped gain respect and attention for the cruiserweight class, which was established in the late 1970s
“I’m happy about that, yeah,” says Murphy of his role in that nascent scene.
“I had a good career. I fought all over the world, in numerous different countries.
“I came right out of the amateurs and I went pro. I would fight anyone, anywhere.
“The thing that bothered me, when I look back, at the time of the Mutti fight, it seemed as though everyone had their hands in my pockets.
“I didn’t keep the amount of money I should have kept. But I’m not complaining. It was tough, but I always had a place to live.”
Like many cruiserweights, Murphy would try his hand at heavyweight, too. The final six fights of his career took place in boxing’s glamour division, but he couldn’t replicate his world-level success among the big guys.
“Yeah, I went up there,” he says. “I won the Illinois State title at heavyweight [against another ex-cruiser champ, and fellow Chicago native Alfonso Ratliff].
“The thing is, I sparred so many great fighters, and I learned so much. I sparred Matthew Saad Muhammad, who was having money problems at the time.
“As far as heavyweights, I sparred Oliver McCall a lot. I always made him quit in the gym, in sparring. McCall would never go more than three rounds with me when we sparred.
“But he was another nice guy and I understand he’s still fighting today!
“I also sparred Lennox Lewis – he didn’t want to spar too many rounds with me after his team found out I was a puncher. I sparred him in the US and in the UK.”
Now 67, and with a 34-fight pro career behind him, Murphy looks great and sounds in fine health,
“That’s because I made a constant habit of always getting checked out [neurologically] after a fight, no matter where I was in the world,” he says.
“I made sure I was OK and ready to fight again.
“I never wanted to have any health issues the way so many other fighters have. I took care of myself.
“Today, I feel blessed. I had a good career and I’m happy to talk about it. I’ve got nothing to complain about in life.”
