The crowd inside Convention Hall in Atlantic City rose as Jim Lampley went berserk, “Oh! Oh! That punch was clearly after the bell. And Starling is being counted out!”
On July 29, 1988, the 147 pound WBA Welterweight champion Marlon Starling (43-4-1, 26 KOs) was making the third defense of his title. His opponent would be a young, undefeated battler named Tomas Molinares (22-0, 19 KOs).
The card, televised live on HBO, was billed as “Double Trouble” with a pair of Welterweight championship bouts on tap.
From Colombia, the 23-year-old Molinares entered the ring ranked No. 1 by the WBA. Wearing black trunks trimmed in yellow, Molinares was as cocky as he was sure of himself.
At 5’8”, Starling, 29, was one inch shorter than his challenger. Trained by Eddie Futch, his defensive skills were at an elite level as he often fought out of a peek-a-boo style.
Outfitted in red trunks with white trim, the champion had experience on his side as he had fought the likes of Donald Curry, Mark Breland, Simon Brown and Floyd Mayweather Sr.
With Lampley, Larry Merchant and Sugar Ray Leonard seated ringside to call the action, ring announcer Michael Buffer introduced referee Joe Cortez and then the fighters.
Round 1 was a feeling out process for both men. Starling worked behind a snapping left jab and often fired rights and lefts to the body.
As Round 2 began, the fight appeared to be shaping up as a chess match between the veteran champion and the young Molinares. Leonard touched on what he expected from Starling, “He has to be patient against a young kid like this, Molinares, who is very, very aggressive and very cocky.”
While Molinares tried to bomb away, Starling continued to move forward while looking to outbox the younger challenger.
After the bell sounded to end Round 2, Molinares fired a solid left hook that belted the champion. Unfazed, Starling responded with an overhand right. The crowd roared as Lampley hollered, “Good left hand after the bell by Molinares! Starling went back after him!”
In Rounds 3 and 4, the action continued at a much faster pace. Both men stood in close and fired a variety of power punches. Neither man sold out their defense as each slipped punches and moved from right to left.
Merchant touched on the torrid pace, “What I like about it, it’s boxing at close quarters. Neither man is running. One thing we know, it’s a fight.”
Lampley immediately concurred, “And a pretty good one!”
Entering the fifth round, Starling began to establish himself as the superior boxer. Leonard’s keen boxing eye picked up on the subtle shift, “Watch the way Starling is peppering his man with the jab and lead-off right hand. That jab is really, really frustrating and aggravating Molinares.”
By Round 6, Molinares was showing his first signs of battle damage as his right eye was beginning to swell. A mouse had developed under the eye as Starling continued to pop him with the left jab and drop sizzling right hands.
Although Molinares continued to fire, most of his punches were arm punches that lacked the sizzle he carried in the early rounds.
A boxing lesson was now underway as the champion was controlling his younger foe. Lampley, too, could feel the tide changing, “Brilliant stuff. We’ve seldom seen him better.”
As Round 6 came to a close, the bell sounded to end the round. Immediately after the timekeeper sounded the bell and as Cortez was stepping in between the fighters, Molinares launched a missile in the form of a wild, sweeping overhand right.
The punch impaled on the champion’s jaw and he crashed to the canvas. Lampley correctly charged that the punch was thrown just after the bell sounded as Starling now lay flat on the canvas.
Cortez began to count as the champion tried desperately to get to his feet. He could not make the count and Cortez waived off the action calling a halt to the bout.
As Molinares ran across the ring and dropped to the mat in celebration, Merchant exclaimed, “Un…be…lievable!”
A stunned Lampley continued, “With one of the lucky punches of all time. And in my view Larry, clearly after the bell!”
Mayhem erupted and a near melee ensued inside the ring. Merchant saw the masses pouring in, “There is chaos in the ring. The timekeeper has said that the punch landed at the bell.”
HBO offered multiple replays to those watching at home that clearly showed the bell sounded before Molinares launched the knockout blow.
At the time of the knockout, Starling was up 48-47 on two scorecards. The third scorecard was even at 48-48. Many watching, including the HBO team at ringside, had Starling comfortably ahead.
The bout ended at the 3:00 mark of Round 6 as Buffer announced to the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, referee Joe Cortez rules that the final punch was thrown as the bell rang. The winner and new champion, Tomas Molinares!”
Booing rained down from every corner of Convention Hall. They, too, were seeing similar replays as those who were watching at home.
Merchant, now inside the ring, reported that the Starling camp would protest the decision.
As he reported, the chaos continued.
Doctors were now in the ring wrapping Starling’s right foot and ankle. Lampley would quickly report, “To add to the freakishness of this situation, Marlon Starling is having a broken leg wrapped. His leg is being wrapped and set by doctors at this moment.”
Starling, on one leg, stood to talk with Merchant. During his interview, he expressed that he had no idea he had been hit, knocked down, and then counted out.
As HBO was about to go off the air, New Jersey commissioner Larry Hazzard made his way to ringside and was clear that he believed that the punch was thrown before the bell sounded.
The drama was far from over.
Various news outlets, including The NY Times, reported that Starling was taken by ambulance to Atlantic City Medical Center where an examination unveiled a sprain of the right ankle.
In the days after the fight, The New Jersey Athletic Control Board, after reviewing the final seconds of the bout, would change the official result to a no contest.
The NY Times reported that after watching the ending, Hazzard commented, “A single bizarre incident like this should not be the determining factor of a fight.”
Incredibly, the WBA ignored the commission’s ruling and would not reinstate Starling as its champion.
On August 12, the WBA would officially crown Molinares as their champion, ignoring the NJSACB’s decision. The WBA held firm to their claim that the final punch was thrown prior to the bell sounding even though video evidence clearly proved to the contrary.
Molinares, who had reeled off 22 straight wins to earn the title shot against Starling, was now the WBA champion. His 23rd fight, depending on who you ask, was either a win or a no contest. Most record books score the bout as a no contest.
Molinares would fight just two more times, losing both fights by knockout to a pair of virtual unknowns, one of whom was making his professional debut.
Starling, who had a cast iron chin, suffered the only “knockdown” of his career against Molinares. He would fight just four more times and would win the WBC Welterweight title in the process.
The “shot heard round the world” lives on, leaving many boxing fans with fascinating conversation from that summer night in 1988.
