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Gerhard Zech's 27th fight.... 1963-09-26, Hamburg, Germany
For the German Heavyweight Title......
Gerhard Zech (25-1-0) vs Albert Westphal (29-10-5)
Albert Westphal - 3 Overall Rating
Nationality- Germany
b. 1931-08-05
d.
Career, 1956-66
BoxRec. 011972
Record 42 wins / 14 losses / 6 draws / 25 KO
Westphal held the German Heavyweight Title for two different short periods in the late 50's and early 60's. He was another German HW who actually had a decent chin it would appear as he was stopped only 10 times in his 62 bouts. His career started out 4-1 against the usual array of nobodys when he went up against Willie Besmanoff in Sept. 1956. Besmanoff was 32-5-7 at the time. Albert didn't last long as he suffered the first of his 10 times stopped in a fight. Willie KO'd Albert in the 5th round.
Over his next 10 fights his record was a less then sparkling 6-3-1, including wins over Hans Peter Drabes and Jose Gonzales Sales and a loss to Franco Cavicchi, a 9th round KO. Though his was only 10-5-1 overall by early 1958, he was given a shot at the German Heavyweight crown in May 1958 against current champion Hans Kalbfell(19-4-0) who had defeated Heinz Neuhaus the previous September for the German title. Westphal wan a 5th round TKO over Kalbfell to put Albert on top of the German Heavyweight scene. Westphal successfuly defended his title twice in 1958; the first time a 6th round TKO of Heinz Neuhaus, the second time another 6th round TKO, this time against Gerhard Hetch. Both of those title defenses marked the last career fights of Neuhaus and Hetch.
In early 1959 he lost to Archie McBride, then in April of 1959 he lost the German Title back to Hans Kalbfell. Over the next couple of years Westphal's fights included wins over Al Kramp, Alain Cherville, Ulli Nitzschke, Robert Duquesne and Ulli Ritter all whom I've rated during the Zech replay. Albert also fought an 8 round draw with LHW Jimmy Slade. This happened to be Slades last career fight.
In June 1961 Albert won a 12 round decision rematch with Kalbfell to win back the German HW Title. It was a short reign though for Westphal as he lost the crown in his very next fight 3 months later, loosing a 12 round decision to Erich Schoppner(31-0-3). From then on through 1966, Westphal had up and down success including a number of bouts with fighters in the game. Wins against Ulli Ritter, Archie McBride, Rene Goubelle, Wim Snoek. He suffered losses to Sonny Liston, a 1st round KO which was Liston's last "warmup fight" before knocking out Floyd Patterson for the World HW Title in 1962. Westphal also lost fights to Archie McBride, Gerhard Zech(for the German HW Title that we'll be replaying), Joe Bygraves and Jefferson Davis. He drew 10 round fights with Federico Friso and Eduardo Corletti. Finally in April 1966, Westphal fought one more time for the German HW Title, this a rematch with Gerhard Zech. Zech KO'd Albert in the 5th round. Westphal then hung up the gloves for almost 5 years.
In February 1971 Albert came out of retirement and over the next 8 months from February thru October 1971 he fought 4 fights winning all of them, 4 by TKO. They were fights against some of the bottom of the barrel of the German heavyweights. The 4 fighters he beat had a combined career record of 22-111-10(7KO)!
These last 4 fights in 1971 I did not consider in my rating and play testing of Westphal.
Control vs Boxer--6
Control vs Slugger--6
Hitting power--7
Chin vs knockdown--4
Chin vs knockout--3
Recovery--3
Cuts--2
Absorb punishment--3
Killer instinct--5
Aggressiveness--6
Endurance--7
Defense--2
Fast starter--3
Fight on ropes--3
Draw power--3
Conditioning--5
Intellect--5
Proficiency--10
Fight inside--2
Outside--2
Cover up--1
Go for KO--1
Clinching--68
Style-- Slugger
Fouls--Seldom
Punches 2-pt. 3-pt.
Jabs 17.25 5.75
Hooks 6.50 1.75
Crosses 11.00 5.50
Combinations 16.75 8.75
Uppercuts 23.75 3.00
Punching--34
Counterpunching--32
Missed--65
Our real fight in Hamburg, Germany back in 1963 lasted until the 11th round when Gerhard dispatched Albert KO ing him and winning the German HW Title. In my replay, there was almost a sudden dramatic finish to this fight before it even hardly began.
Only a 1/2 minute into the fight Zech staggers Westphal into the ropes with a straight right and thne about 20 seconds later lands a shot to the ribcage that sends Westphal to the deck! The referee starts counting it off 1...2...3...4...5 man is this done already!....6...7..... Westphal gets up! Albert regroups himself and manages to finish the first round. Then in the 5th round it's Westphal's turn to almost end it with a punch. At teh 2:37 mark, Albert lands a jab that sends Zech down! Gerhard though manages to get himself up in 8 to get out of the round.
Those are the only times either fighter seriously looks to end the fight in a KO. They fight around each other the rest of the way in this scheduled 12 round fight with neither fighter taking any real big advantage over the other. But, Gerhard scores enough in each round to end up winning the German Title fight with a UD 12 win! 117-110, 117-110, 117-110 the scorers final count.
GERHARD ZECH (26-1-0) GERMAN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION!!!
Our man Gerhard will not sit on his laurels for very long to savor his title. Less then 2 months later he'll climb back into the ring. This time for a rematch fight with Joe Bygraves.
Things will start to move along quicker with the replay as the bulk of Gerhard's remaining opponents we now have or already were rated in the game. There are though a handful more though of new Heavyweights to introduce along the way, so stay tuned!!
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