Duel in the Desert

Date	November 21, 1987
Venue	Las Vegas Hilton, Winchester, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the line	WBA lightweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Edwin Rosario Julio César Chávez Nickname Chapo ("Shorty") El Gran Campeón Mexicano ("The Great Mexican Champion") Hometown Toa Baja, Puerto Rico Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico Purse $500,000 $200,000 Pre-fight record 26–2 (22 KO) 56–0 (45 KO) Age 24 years, 8 months 25 years, 4 months Height 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) Weight 135 lb (61 kg) 134+3⁄4 lb (61 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBA Lightweight Champion The Ring No. 1 Ranked Lightweight[1] WBC Super Featherweight Champion The Ring No. 2 Ranked Lightweight
Result
Chávez wins by 11th-round technical knockout

Edwin Rosario vs. Julio César Chávez, billed as Duel in the Desert, was a professional boxing match contested on November 21, 1987, for the WBA lightweight title.^[2]

Just before his scheduled title defense against Danilo Cabrera on August 21, 1987, reigning WBC super featherweight champion Julio César Chávez announced that his fight against Cabrera would likely be his last in the super featherweight division and that would be moving up in weight to challenge WBA lightweight champion Edwin Rosario in the fall of that year.^[3] Rosario, in his second reign as lightweight champion, was made a 7–5 underdog against the now 54–0 Chávez. Rosario, however, strongly criticized Chávez's choice of opponents prior to facing him stating that Chávez had mostly fought "guys right out of the bar", that he would be the "first real fighter he's going to fight" and that Chávez's management had "took him by the hand and built his record."^[4] Furthermore, Rosario claimed that Chávez was afraid to fight him and had only taken the fight after being pressured into fight by his promoter Don King, though Chávez denied Rosario's claims stating that "I wouldn't have signed for the fight if I was afraid of him."^[5]

Chávez dominated Rosario throughout the fight, fighting well on the inside and battering Rosario with combinations to both the body and head all fight long. Chávez would connect with a staggering 61% of his 743 thrown punches while Rosario threw a similar amount (731) but connected with only 36%. By the 11th round, Rosario, who was bleeding from both his nose and mouth, suffering from a cut above his right eye and his left eye was swollen shut, had gotten backed into a corner by Chávez, who relentlessly attacked the exhausted Rosario. Finally, with Rosario taking a tremendous amount of abuse, his corner threw a white towel in the ring to signify surrender and in turn, Richard Steele stopped the fight with 22 seconds remaining, giving Chávez the victory by technical knockout.^[6]

Confirmed bouts:^[7]

^Note 1 For WBA Lightweight title
^Note 2 For WBA Super Welterweight title

Country	Broadcaster
United States	HBO