Thunder Meets Lightning |
| Date | March 17, 1990 |
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| Venue | Las Vegas Hilton, Winchester, Nevada, U.S. |
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| Title(s) on the line | WBC and IBF light welterweight titles |
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|
| Boxer |
Julio César Chávez |
Meldrick Taylor |
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| Nickname |
The Great Mexican Champion |
TNT |
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| Hometown |
Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
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| Purse |
$1,400,000 |
$1,000,000 |
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| Pre-fight record |
68–0 (56 KO) |
24–0–1 (14 KO) |
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| Age |
27 years, 8 months |
23 years, 4 months |
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| Height |
5 ft 7 in (170 cm) |
5 ft 6+1⁄2 in (169 cm) |
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| Weight |
139+1⁄2 lb (63 kg) |
139+3⁄4 lb (63 kg) |
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| Style |
Orthodox |
Orthodox |
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| Recognition |
WBC
Light Welterweight Champion
The Ring No. 2 ranked pound-for-pound fighter
3-division world champion |
IBF
Light Welterweight Champion
The Ring No. 6 ranked pound-for-pound fighter |
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|
|
| Chávez won via 12th-round TKO |
Julio César Chávez vs. Meldrick Taylor, billed as Thunder Meets Lightning, was a professional boxing match contested on March 17, 1990, for the WBC and IBF light welterweight championship. Its title was an allusion to the punching power of Chávez and fast hand speed of Taylor. Chavez won the fight by a controversial TKO of Taylor only two seconds before the end of the twelfth and last round, while he was behind on the score cards. The fight would later be named The Ring magazine's Fight of the Year for 1990, and later the "Fight of the Decade" for the 1990s.
