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Retired boxing champ Frankie Randall is dead. Randall, 59, was battling Parkinson’s disease as well as pugilistic dementia. Randall was best known for his three boxing matches against Mexican boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez during the mid-1990s.
In 1994, the American became the first fighter to defeat Chavez, whose record at the time of their encounter was 89-0-1.
The victory earned Randall his first world title in boxing, and “The Surgeon” went on to become a three-time world champion. All three of Randall’s world championships were captured in boxing’s 140-pound junior welterweight division.
Randall’s record from 1983 to 1998 was 55-5-1. He was one of the top fighters in the sport in his weight class during his prime years.
Earlier this year, Chavez hailed Randall’s style as complicated.
“There are opponents that are complicated for us. The truth is that for me, Frankie Randall’s style was always complicated for me,” Chavez said on “Peleamundo” per Bad Left Hook. “Even in the third fight, because in the second fight, even though I beat him the truth is that if it weren’t for the headbutt no one knows how it would have gone for me because I was already really tired.”
Indeed, Randall controversially lost his first world title via split decision in the rematch with Chavez just four months after their first fight after the boxers accidentally bumped heads. The fight went to the scorecards after just eight rounds due to a cut on Chavez’s eye.
According to BoxRec, an absurd WBC rule penalized Randall one point in the final round for a headbutt that was ruled accidental. That single point deduction wound up being the difference in the fight on the scorecards as otherwise it would have been ruled a draw and Randall would have retained his championship.
The two fought a third time 10 years later when both men were far past their primes. Chavez won that fight via unanimous decision.
Overall, Randall finished his impressive boxing career 58-18-1. He is due to be inducted into the Alabama Boxing Hall of Fame in 2021.
But Randall and Chavez also share another commonality. Both fighters battled addiction during their lives.
For Chavez, the battle came during his impressive boxing career.
In fact, the Mexican says he knew right before Randall beat him in 1994 that someone would be hanging a loss on him soon.
Chavez told Christian Martinoli and Luis Garcíaper per Boxing Scene that he had only trained two weeks for the fight.
“I had a very advanced addiction [at that point], I no longer prepared the same, I no longer trained the same; I knew that defeat would come sooner than later,” Chavez Sr. said.
According to Citizen Tribune, Randall struggled with alcohol and drug addiction after his retirement from boxing. The same Alabama newspaper says the ex-fighter also had several brushes with the law.
Randall was living in a nursing home somewhere in Tennessee at the time of his death. The cause of death has not yet been reported.
“My dad has pugilistic dementia and Parkinson’s,” Randall’s son told Ring TV earlier this year. “…Due to his condition, my family and I made the decision to place my dad in a nursing home in Tennessee. We wish to keep the location private at this time. I’m sure his condition progressed over time. He was a boxer; he gave his whole life to boxing, he loved his job.”
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