The footage<\/a>\u00a0is nearly 40 years old but you can see him clearly: pasty, red-haired, more Irish-looking than Italian.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of you may have observed the knee brace on the left knee of Johnny Lira,\u201d says the announcer, Howard Cosell. \u201cThat is occasioned by the fact that there are pellets in that knee. Remember I told you Lira had a troubled youth? The pellets the result of being a participant in a gang war.\u201d He pauses. \u201cJust recording the fact.\u201d<\/p>\n Lira, a fierce, determined fighter who has previously served prison time, darts round the ring as he and the Venezuelan Ernesto Espana exchange blows. Espana\u2019s using dark brown Mexican gloves, with stitches sewn in where the leather connects with the skin. In round nine, they will rip into Lira\u2019s cheek and tear a gash above his right eye so bad that his face is doused in blood. But he doesn\u2019t know this yet. It\u2019s only round six.<\/p>\n An evenly fought match up to this point, things start to change in the seventh round. \u201cAnd in a round like this, it seems to me, the more polished style of Espana becomes more visible,\u201d says Cosell.<\/p>\n \u201cOh! That counter-right by Lira! Knocked Espana down!\u201d<\/p>\n Lira\u2019s friend Fred jumps on the table, screaming, as Al Capone\u2019s ex-driver looks on. Ernesto Espana, the world lightweight champ, bested in the ring by an Italian-American street punk. The first knock-down of the fight.<\/p>\n Espana gets back up. \u201cWe will not be going to a station break,\u201d Cosell says.<\/p>\n The seventh round counts down: 15, 14, 13\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cLira\u2019s got a lifetime at stake here. You can understand the hunger in this young man. Boxing, as I said, turned his life around: the troubled youth, involved in gang wars, involved in crimes and then here he is, fighting for a championship!\u201d<\/p>\n The bell rings.<\/p>\n \u201cThere can be no doubt about the scoring in that round. It was Johnny Lira\u2019s round.\u201d<\/p>\n But there are more to go.<\/p>\n In the next round, Espana fights back. He knocks Lira down towards the end. In\u00a0round nine<\/a>, both men continue to battle…..<\/p>\nReference:<\/h4>\n
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