Neither Michael Brodie nor In Jin Chi are headed to boxing’s Hall of Fame, but the two warriors put on a classic just under 17 years ago in Manchester, when they met for the vacant WBC featherweight title.
In that Oct. 18 fight, the hometown fighter Brodie (35-1, 23 KO coming in) came in on a roll, having lost just once in his career, back in 2000 against Willie Jorrin in a WBC 122-pound title fight, a split decision defeat. He’d won six in a row since then.
Chi (27-2, 16 KO coming in) had a more recent defeat, in July 2001 against the great Erik Morales. Against Morales, he was overmatched in skill but showed an incredible toughness and willingness to push the fight and take punishment to give himself a shot at victory.
This isn’t a legendary fight to most, but it’s a hell of a war, and the controversy at the end with the scoring was a lot more intense than normal. But don’t just take my word for it. Watch the fight and see for yourself how it all went down.