By David Martinez / Boxing Historian / dmboxing.com
Back in the mid-seventies, I met a wonderful older man, Emil DeLoreto, who at the time had been following my boxing articles when I was a boxing beat writer for my local newspaper, the Santa Barbara News-Press. Emil was much older than I, born in 1910, and he witnessed some of the great boxers in his days and would tell me about many of the fights that he attended.
One fight, in particular, was on June 20, 1970, in Barcelona, Spain, between Jose Manuel Urtain and Jurgen Blin.
The bout was a scheduled 15-round European Boxing Union (EBU) heavyweight championship fight, with Urtain defending his title in April 1970 by knocking out West Germany’s Peter Weiland. Coming into the fight, Urtain was undefeated with 28 straight wins and all 28 by knockout. Blin, however, would certainly be Urtain’s toughest opponent.
As Emil described the fight, Urtain started fast and took the early lead with a constant barrage of hard punches. Blin came into his own having a huge round 8, hurting Urtain and nearly knocking him out, as the German was looking strong.
Round 10 was exciting, as both fighters went down for counts of eight. Urtain went down first by a smashing right-hand punch to the jaw. Then it was Blin that dropped to the canvas as Urtain delivered a left and then a right cross to the head.
They both fought hard, with blood streaming down their faces as the bout ended, going the full 15-round distance.
There was only one judge in the fight, Scottish referee George Smith, and he favored the Spaniard Urtain on the scorecard 71-69. A sellout crowd of 20,000 truly witnessed a great fight staged in the Plaza de Toros Monumental de Barcelona Bull Ring.
As I wasn’t there myself, Emil kindly presented me with his official ticket stub, a great item added to my boxing collection – priceless!
After the Blin fight, Urtain lost the EBU title on November 10, 1970, to Henry Cooper. That next year, in December 1971, he regained the title defeating Jack Bodell. Then he lost the title on June 9, 1972, by decision to Blin. Urtain fought until March 1977, losing an EBU title bid to Jean Pierre Coopman by a 4th-round stoppage; this would be his last professional fight. He completed his career with a ring record of 53 wins, 11 losses, and 4 draws, with 38 wins by knockout.
Blin, after the Urtain loss, had a terrific effort in losing a split decision to Joe Bugner on May 11, 1971. Later that year, on December 26, he lost by 7th round knockout to Muhammad Ali in Hallenstadion, Zurich. He would retain the European title by defeating Urtain in their second fight, a unanimous decision in Madrid, Spain, on June 9, 1972, but then lose his EBU title bout to Bugner in their rematch four months later on October 10, 1972.
Blin fought until October 1973, losing by 2nd round knockout to Ron Lyle. This would be his last professional fight. He completed his career with a ring record of 30 wins, 12 losses, and 6 draws, with 8 wins by knockout.
I would like to thank my friend Emil DeLoreto (R.I.P / 8-15-2001) for making this memory a reality for me; and now I am able to share it with you, my present-day fan base.