Thirty-One Years Later: Alexis’ Right Hand Still Resonates

The punch landed with the ferocity of a man aggressively seeking an end to the bout. Yet, it emanated from the right hand of a man merely patiently waiting for an opening. Once he found one, the fight was over.

When junior welterweight newcomer Alexis Arguello landed a straight right to the jaw of a game Kevin Rooney 31 years ago today, the punch proved to be the final link that solidified the memorable 140-pound battle between Arguello and Aaron Pryor. To that point Arguello had cultivated a reputation as one of the great punchers of his generation, but this one was different.

The punch transported Rooney into another place entirely.

Rooney, a native of Catskill, NY, went into the bout, which was held at Bally’s Park Place Casino in Atlantic City, NJ, with only a stoppage loss to eventual world champ Davey Moore a year earlier. Having fought hard to make the weight, Rooney was well aware of the force he was going up against. More importantly, he knew in boxing circles that he was merely thought of as a steppingstone to bigger paydays.

That didn’t matter to Rooney, who would later rise to fame as the trainer behind the indomitable, youthful version of Mike Tyson. Rooney was 19-1 (7 KOs) by the time he signed to face Arguello, who recently left the lightweight division for greener pastures.

The bout, which was televised nationally by CBS Sports Spectacular and picked up internationally in England, Italy, and throughout Latin America, represented Arguello’s initial foray into the 140-pound ranks. Since cleaning out the 135-pound weight class, Arguello recognized the implications of getting by Rooney: A $1.5 million meeting with the great, but erratic Pryor hung in the balance. Several dates for the blockbuster bout had already been mentioned for October or November in preliminary talks spearheaded by Bob Arum.

Despite the tantalizing payday and career-defining matchup in his sights, Arguello rarely overlooked an opponent. He dropped a non-title bout to the slippery lightweight Vilomar Fernandez earlier in his career, but as he searched for his record fourth-title in as many weight classes, he focused his gaze on Rooney.

Yet, there was even more incentive, as Pryor sat ringside watching the Nicaraguan’s every move.

On July 31, 1982 in Atlantic City, there would be no typical feeling-out process. Rooney’s bulldog mentality and occasional head movement served him well in the first round as he made Arguello miss and landed a few effective hooks of his own. He played the role of agitator, often disrupting the rhythm Arguello, a notorious slow starter, was hoping to establish.

Still in the first minute of the bout, Arguello managed a left hook lead later followed by a straight right, left hook combination, but there was no reason for concern in either corner.Bobbing and weaving in the Cus D’ Amato mode, Rooney grazed Arguello with a hook nearly halfway through the round, but also absorbed short uppercuts on his way inside.

Being able to set the pace to his liking was an Arguello staple when he was fighting at 126 and 130 pounds, but Rooney must have felt the only way to hurt the three-time champ was by relentlessly pressuring him the way Andy Ganigan did several fights earlier. (Note: Ganigan stunned Arguello with a first-round knockdown.) What Rooney was forced to acknowledge was that even though the shotgun right hand whistled by his ear time and again, the jab or compact hook would find him instead.

Arguello edged Rooney in output and punches landed to win that first round, but he could no longer move effectively. Earlier in his career against boxer-punchers like Alfredo Escalera and Cornelius Boza-Edwards, Arguello was adept at setting up each punch through pivots or sidestepping his opponent. He never wasted movements, but he couldn’t rely on his legs anymore. There was no bounce left in them. Nearby, Pryor must have been salivating. Then came round two.

Arguello came out sharper in the second and final round. As he had done earlier, Rooney pressured Arguello from the opening bell. This time, there would be repercussions. First, Arguello stymied the incoming Rooney with a straight right that buckled Rooney’s legs. Pushed back to the ropes, Rooney tried to escape, but moved to his left and directly into another right hand and a left hook. Once content to crowd Arguello, Rooney reconsidered and looked to counterpunch. Before they reached the midpoint of the round, Rooney, in a crouchng position, took one more Arguello right hand.

This was when Arguello was most dangerous. Often, Arguello waited until the later rounds to attack so voraciously, but now he saw that Rooney was ripe for the attack. Despite his punches no longer having a visible effect on Arguello, who was now more accurate and precise, Rooney managed to avoid receiving the brunt of those vicious right hands.

Seconds later it was over. Just like that.

With ten seconds remaining in the round, Arguello spun Rooney, setting him up for the final blow, feinted two jabs, and released the punch with three seconds remaining in the round. The punch, reminiscent of a shotgun blast, was thrown with such precision and power that Rooney would not remember the details in the dressing room.

Rooney fell backwards into the ropes, and instinctively put his left arm along the bottom rope to hold him up. Referee Larry Hazzard ran over to him, got to the count of nine, waved off the fight, and immediately called in for assistance. He cradled the fighter’s head and gently placed it on the canvas. Instead of celebrating his victory, Arguello ran over to his opponent having definitively answered his critics regarding his move up in weight.

“It was a sensational right hand,” said Harold Lederman, a judge in the bout. “Rooney threw a jab and Arguello shot that right hand directly over it. He was moving up in weight when he did it. It was one heck of a good punch, and it was clear that Alexis took his punching power with him.”

Not everyone was impressed by the punch.

“He was trying to impress me,” Pryor told a reporter. “We are human. We know about psyche. He wanted me to know he can start fast too.” Pryor later stressed, “Aaron don’t stand still.”

Asked to describe the punch, Arguello said, “At that moment when he dropped his left hand it happened. I was waiting for that moment.”

Four months later he would arrive at the moment he was truly waiting for.