Poche Pictures
e-mail: rich@pochepictures.com
ALBERT DAVILA  vs. Kiko Bejines
        vs. Frankie Duarte II
        vs. Miguel Lora
        vs. Lupe Pintor II
        vs. Enrique Sanchez
        vs. Carlos Zarate
Albert Davila Fights on DVD
$24.95



HERE'S TO THE winners, men like HERE' TO THE winners, men

Albert Davila, who play a rough game, who play it by the rules, and who finally find their deserved place at the top. Here's
to a master craftsman, who, after three near misses and a frustrating retirement, returned to fight for the WBC bantamweight
title at the advanced age of 29, confirming a small justice in boxing after all.

Here's to him then, a professional, who celebrated that championship in the stark corridor of a Los Angeles hospital Here's
to Albert Davila, who spent what should have been the happiest night of his life staring into space, answering a policeman's
questions with a numbness he never felt inside a ring.

And here's to the losers, too. Men like Kiko Bejines, boys really, who seek their fame and fortune inside an arena of
violence but instead find disappointment and, all too often, death. Here's to him, then, who died three days after he entered
that ring in Los Angeles' Olympic Auditorium, a huge sombrero on his head, a big smile on his face, and a beautiful wife
back home, about to give birth to the couple's first child.

What all this confirms in boxing is now left to the legislators, the physicians, and the editorial writers. But it likely does not
confirm anything good about the sport. Unlike some other tragedies inside the ring— even the death of Johnny Owen in a
fight for the same title in that same ring three years ago—the death of Kiko Bejines does not inspire any call for specific
reform.

That is because nothing at all went wrong on that night of September 1, in a fight between top-ranked Davila and third-
ranked Bejines, two fit and accomplished fighters well-matchedin the* pursuit of Lupe Pintor's recently vacated title.
Nothing except that a 20 year-old boy from Guadaljara died of massive brain injuries.

"It's scary," admitted Don Chargin, the promoter who first introduced Bejines to Los Angeles, making him and his two
younger brothers, David and Oscar, popular fixtures at the Olyrn~ic. "In the past you could say maybe if this were done or
that were done. But you can't say that this time."

All you can say—and please say it lamely—is that "It was just one of those things." Certainly there is nothing that could have
prepared anybody for that 12th round, a four-punch combination from the lightpunching Davila that dropped Bejines to the
canvas.

At relist it looked like sheer exhaustion had dropped Bejines. He had been inactive for a year, who knew what he had done
to make 118 pounds, an unnatural weight for a Be ines, to judge by the fighting weights of his two younger brothers?
Anyway, he had never had a 12-round fight, and few 1~ founders, and perhaps didn't pace himself properly.

His fatigue, though noticeable by the ninth round, became more and more obvious by the 11th. WBC president Jose
Sulaiman, sitting at ringside, said later, "To me he  was completely exhausted by the 11th and had nothing left by the 12th.
He was empty."

Bejines, who was winning the fight on -two of the three judges' scorecards going into that round (the third judge had it even)
was more confident. Sitting in his corner before the start of that round, Bejines told his father/trainer, Francisco Sr.,"l have
the championship. I will get hirnin the 12th."

It was Davila, who embodies everything that is right with boxing, who sensed otherwise. Davila, a sweet scientist if ever
there was one (of his 52 victories, only 20 al by knockout), began to score inside, with punches of sudden authority.
Suddenly, jus 25 seconds into the round, he caught Bejine with a right, backing him into the ropes. Two lefts followed, and
then a final right, that landed flush on Bejines' unprotected jaw.

"A perfect punch," Davila said later. Still, his first concern was that Bejines word be getting right back up. And, indeed, it
seemed that was exactly what he was doing As referee Waldemar Schmidt hovered ove him, Bejines braced himself on
both fists and, looking into his corner, started to rise. And then, as Davila was sinking to his knee in joy, his perseverance
rewarded, 'Bejines was collapsing into a coma.

Davila was able to get up. Bejines was not. After massive confusion and delays, ·     .        

Bejines was taken to a hospital and then, after more delays, was airlifted to a second hospital where the proper emergency
equipment ~aas available.

As his family, representing all three generations of boxers (including a grandmother who boxed professionally) waited,
doctors examined the fallen fighter and found little hope. The next day they performed emergency brain surgery, remodeling
a blood clot and a small portion of Bejines' right frontal lobe. Although public statements there guarded, doctors held out
little hope for serial, much less for recovery. "He is dead already," a doctor told one reporter. "But his heart is so strong."

So strong was that heart that it continued to beat on its own, eaten another 24 hours after doctors assembled the family for
what they severe certain would be the fighter's last hour early Saturday. Finally, Sunday morning, that strong heart stopped.

And the questioning began. What was Bejines doing so high in the rankings when he had not fought in over a year, and
when his last fight had been a defeat at that? Was he in shape? Was there previous brain damage, a weak vessel?

As for his ranking, well, it is not quickly explained. Bejines had been out some time with a dislocated elbow, injured in his
last fight with unranked boxer Edgard Roman. Some of the layoff ~ as due to the injury,

_ I but mole to the negotiations that revere going on to match him with Pintor. But cantor, whose attempt to leap to the
super bantamweight die ision ~ as foiled }ast l!~o~^rember by! HOBO champion Wilfred

Gomez, ~ as himself injured in a motorcycle accident. His healing has taken so long that the ~^rBC finally had to vacate his
title.

J eff Let ine and Don Ki ng, co-promoters of the fight along with Ro~elio Nobles,

Bejines' longtime promoter, actually rushed the bout at that points hailing heard the

7BC eras going to reconsider Pin~or's status.

If B~jin~s' number three ranking wasn't a true one, it still did not mask a mismatch. Bejines bias strong and durable, an
action fighter Who could handle himself. He would not be hurt, and certainly not bar the deft Manila. As for rankings,
Manila once benefited bit the same Air BC generosity.

Karen after he had unofficially retired, his ranking continued to hover in the number four and five range. That's Thor he came
back, in fact. His manager Bennie

Georgino, wondered how well Davila might do in the rankings if he wasn't inactive. As for Bejines' fitness, his manager,

Obdulio ~~ur^loz, said there had been no weight problems. Certainly he looked fit.  Ringside physician Dr. Bernhardt
Schwartz divas amazed at Bejines' muscular definition. "Did you see his stomach?" he asked later. "It looked like a
Dashboard."

About prey toils brain injuries or congenital defects, Who can say. Sulaiman says he requests brain scans of all ranked
fighters and that he had one of Bejines in his office files indicating an absence of damage. Sulaiman couldn't say how recent
it was, but it certainly had been taken since Bejines' last fight.

It was, in other words, one of those things, an event that makes boxing increasingly difficult to defend. On the other hand,
had it not ended in tragedy, this fight might have raised the sport from its level of brutality to a celebration of character,
Davila's in this case.

A perfect technician, Davila had long labored near the top of his profession. However, his height of 5'2" was a decided
disadvantage in his division. When it came time to compete for titles, as he did in 1978 with Carlos Zarate, in 1980 with
Jorge Lujan, and in 1982 with Pintor, he always fell a little short.

After he was outpointed by Pintor, running out of energy in the final five rounds, he decided to quit and return to a civilian's
life. He drove a beer truck in Pomona, making a decent and secure living. But his heart wasn't in it. A year later he got an
inquiring call from Georgino and he was unretired in a hurry.

His return advanced him steadily up the ranks, though he, too, was halted by Pintor's inactive presence. Finally, the usual
politics and business completed, Davila was ready for his fourth title attempt. It was for just $45,000, compared to $60,000
for Bejines, but that was of small concern to Davila, who was only hoping to show he hadn't wasted his time in this game
after all.

Even though Davila won the title, it will be probably some time before he can say it was worth it. He won it fairly, with a
perfect boxer's style. No brutality is attached to his personality; you wonder how he got into such a fierce game, anyway.
Still, he will not be remembered for the way he came back to ,win a title that had eluded him for his 10 years in the ring. He
will be remembered for a fight that was reported along with hospital bulletins, a fight that ended not with his name in
headlines, but his opponent's name in an obituary.