“THEY’RE both young men and they have a long way to go”. And just moments after Angelo Dundee’s piece of commentary came Bruce Curry’s crushing left hook. Monroe Brooks was finally beaten in the ninth round.

Dundee’s words were setting everyone up for a thrilling climax to what had already been a grudge match, a war contested over almost nine punishing rounds. It was April 7, 1978 and the former room-mates were squaring off on the same card as a 23-year old Marvin Hagler having, remarkably, his 45th professional fight against Doug Demmings en route to middleweight glory.

Curry, brother of former pound-for-pound king Donald, entered the ring as challenger for the NABF light-welterweight title and the recognised No. 2 10-stoner in the world at that time. He was also coming off a controversial decision defeat to Wilfred Benitez, at Madison Square Garden, in which Curry had his man down four times, and saw the contest scored in his favour by the New York writers ringside.

Brooks, the NABF champion and recognised as the third best light-welter in the world, was also seeking to get back in the mix after a failed world title attempt in 1977 against Saensak Muangsurin in Thailand.

But the way both men fought that night and the persistent rumours beforehand of a bitter feud over a woman suggested that there was an awful lot more at stake than just a title. This was indeed a grudge match.

And yet for all the infamous classics that there have been in this division such as Aaron Pryor –Alexis Arguello and Julio Cesar Chavez-Meldrick Taylor, fights that roll off the tongue, this fight stands up there with the best of them.

The intensity from the opening bell was relentless. There was no real artistry to the fight and from the onset Brooks was the wilder of the two. He was jumping in with his punches and putting lots of power behind them, unfortunately missing more often than not. But his energy and fire did not sap nor burn out. Curry, trying to stay out of harm’s way in the opening round, was circling the ring throwing out jabs to the head and the body. All the while Brooks was looking to tee off against his opponent and at the end of the first his wildness paid off with a winging hook that certainly caught his opponent off guard. With that punch the crowd knew the fuse on this fight had been lit.

And in the early stages the flames in this contest grew. Brooks continued with powerful hooks but Curry landed a left hook of his own which put his man on the canvas in the second. Back on his feet Brooks stubbornly tried to land the big punch time and again and more often than not he continued to get tagged by Curry.

The old boxing wives’ tale of West Coast fighters not being tough enough was not in evidence during this contest. In the third both men settled down and Curry, constantly on his toes, was trying to use his boxing skills but Brooks would not be deterred in his bid to land the bombs. A vicious left hook by Brooks in the fourth got Curry’s attention as both men threw the rulebook out of the window and started swinging. Curry, despite having a cut on the right eyebrow, landed two neck-snapping right hands but Brooks would not go away and it was he who finished the round the stronger, landing the more telling shots. A right-hand counter by Curry in the fifth that would’ve shook most men to their boots saw Brooks stop and turn to his opponent who had moved to his left, and simply went after him again.

The grudge seemed to have gripped Brooks more than it had Curry. And with 20 seconds left in the fifth Brooks lunged and fired a left hook that saw Curry retreat. Tiredness looked to be setting into Curry due to his effort made during the fight and in making weight for the contest.

An exchange in the sixth, in which most punches missed, saw Brooks tagged again and despite slumping against the ropes and Curry wading in, remarkably he would not be stopped. This fighter was attempting to walk through anything his enemy threw at him and his own sickening body shots were beginning to get to Curry. And again with less than 20 seconds left in the round Curry unloaded but could not finish his man.

The seventh began and most people by this time probably knew that the fight would not go the scheduled 12 rounds. Now it was a question of when Curry would get his man out of there. Things began with Brooks landing a thudding left jab despite looking tired. Remarkably there was a period of inactivity from both men… for about a minute before the second half of the round saw them go after one another in toe-to-toe exchanges. The look Curry gave his old friend at the end of the round was of sheer disbelief that this fight was not over.

The eighth was the quietest round of the bout, both men taking a well overdue breather as Brooks, heavy-footed, boxed on the back foot, which seemed like a dangerous tactic as any decent punch from Curry that landed could’ve knocked him over.

The ninth and what would be the final round of the fight saw Brooks, ironically, get back to boxing. He flicked out the jab as both men attempted to conserve energy and strength for the final few rounds. But as Brooks threw his millionth left hook of the contest Curry ducked down, sprang back up and landed a one-two to the body and jaw that saw Brooks drop to the canvas with his arms stretched out. And with 34 seconds left in the round Curry had finally won this war of attrition, this survival of the fittest and defeated his rival. Brooks got back to his feet but his will had been broken. And after all the violence that had ensued before the crowd the two men hugged and raised each other’s hand aloft at the end. Fantastic.