Frankie Billy Randall (September 25, 1961 – December 23, 2020) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1983 to 2005. He was a three-time light welterweight world champion, having held the WBA and WBC titles between 1994 and 1997. Randall is best known for being the first boxer to defeat Julio César Chávez, whose record at the time of their 1994 fight stood at 89 wins and a draw.
Professional career Randall was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and grew up in Morristown, Tennessee. He turned pro in 1981 after a career as an amateur boxer. He won his pro debut in June of that year, but was inactive in 1982 and did not fight again until February 1983.
Randall fought and won 23 times between 1983 and June 1985, when he fought former and future champ Edwin Rosario and lost a unanimous decision over 10 rounds.
On July 4, 1986, Randall drew with Freddie Pendleton for the USBA regional lightweight title, then watched Pendleton get a title shot instead of him. In October 1987, Randall was knocked out by Mexican lightweight champion Primo Ramos for the NABF regional belt.
Randall then signed with promoter Don King and spent the next six and a half years fighting on the undercards of various championship fights promoted by King. He won all 17 of those fights, and on January 30, 1993, earned another title shot when he knocked out Rosario in the seventh round of a rematch.
Randall vs. Chávez
On January 29, 1994, Randall fought for the title against champion Julio César Chávez, in the grand opening of the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. Chávez came into the fight with an 89-0-1 record and was an 18-to-1 favorite. Randall won the early rounds, and in the middle of the fight began to build a large lead on the scorecards. Chávez then rallied, and by the 10th round, Randall held a narrow lead. Chávez made an illegal low blow that cost Chávez a point. In the 11th round, Randall knocked Chávez down for the first time in his career. Randall was named WBC light welterweight champion on a split decision. Chavez disputed the decision and demanded a rematch. Though clearly beaten, Chávez blamed his loss on the referee who deducted two points from Chávez for low blows. This included one in the eleventh round that made the difference on judge Angel Guzman's card, making the ultimate difference on the scorecards. (Guzman scored the bout 114–113 for Randall, meaning that the fight would have ended in a draw as Chuck Giampa had Randall winning by a 116–111 margin and Abraham Chavarria scored it 114–113 for Chavez.)
Rematch against Chávez
Chávez got a rematch on May 7 of the same year and regained the title from Randall on an eight-round technical split decision. As before, a deducted point played a part in the outcome of the fight. Chavez was injured in an accidental clash of heads and unable to continue. According to the WBC rules, Randall was docked a point for the incident, although it wasn't a foul. Judge Dalby Shirley's scorecard read 76–75 for Chavez; with judge Ray Solis having Chavez winning by a 77–74 margin on his card and judge Tamotsu Tomihara had the fight 76–75 in Randall's favor.
On September 17, Randall was given a shot at the WBA version of the light welterweight title held by Juan Martin Coggi. He beat Coggi, defended his title twice, then lost a rematch to Coggi in January 1996 in a four-round decision in a fight ended early by a clash of heads.
Seven months later, Randall regained the WBA title, beating Coggi by unanimous decision in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He lost it in his first defense, against Khalid Rahilou on January 11, 1997.
After taking 18 months off, Randall came back in an attempt to become a four-time world champ. He won a pair of tune-up fights, then faced contender Oba Carr in February 1999 where Carr beat him on a 10-round unanimous decision.
Third fight against Chávez On May 22, 2004, Chávez chose Randall for his last fight before going into retirement. Randall lost a 10-round decision to Chávez in Mexico City.
PED allegations Frankie Randall tested positive for drugs after his fight against Argentine boxer Juan Martin Coggi. The Argentine Boxing Federation claimed that Randall tested positive for multiple drugs, some of the drugs included cocaine and theophylline.
Retirement Randall announced his retirement on January 1, 2005, after losing a fight to light-middleweight Marco Antonio Rubio. He lost a bout the following month to Mauro Lucero, and another bout later in the year. Randall's final career record is 58 wins, 18 losses and one draw, with 42 wins by way of knockout.Randall retires from boxing from eastsideboxing.com
Death Randall died on December 23, 2020, in his hometown of Morristown, Tennessee. The cause of death was reportedly of dementia pugilistica
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes77LossCraig WeberTKO6 (10), Jul 15, 200576Loss58–17–1Mauro LuceroTKO5 (10), Feb 25, 200575Loss58–16–1Marco Antonio RubioKO2 (10), Jan 1, 200574Loss58–15–1Julio César ChávezUD10May 22, 200473Loss58–14–1Fernando HernandezTKO3 (10), Nov 26, 200372Win58–13–1Patrick ThornsSD6Jun 12, 200371Loss57–13–1Peter Manfredo Jr.TKO7 (12)Oct 4, 200270Win57–12–1Fernando HernandezDQ5 (8)Aug 16, 200269Win56–12–1Alberto MercedesUD6Jun 7, 200268Loss55–12–1Chantel StancielRTD8 (10), Oct 19, 200167Loss55–11–1José Antonio RiveraKO10 (12), Aug 24, 200166Loss55–10–1Ángel HernándezTKO4 (10), Jun 14, 200165Loss55–9–1Quirino GarciaTKO7 (10)Mar 2, 200164Loss55–8–1Antonio Margarito4 (10), Dec 10, 200063Loss55–7–1Michele PiccirilloUD12Dec 18, 199962Loss55–6–1Oba CarrUD10Feb 13, 199961Win55–5–1Juan SoberanesTKO6 (10)Oct 17, 199860Win54–5–1Danny SanchezTKO5 (10), Jul 10, 199859Loss53–5–1Khalid RahilouTKO11 (12), Jan 11, 199758Win53–4–1Juan Martin CoggiUD12Aug 16, 199657Loss52–4–1Juan Martin CoggiTD5 (12), Jan 13, 199656Win52–3–1Jose Rafael BarbozaSD12Jun 16, 199555Win51–3–1Rodney MooreTKO7 (12), Dec 10, 199454Win50–3–1Juan Martin CoggiUD12Sep 17, 199453Loss49–3–1Julio César Chávez8 (12), May 7, 199452Win49–2–1Julio César Chávez12Jan 29, 199451Win48–2–1Francisco LopezTKO3Oct 23, 199350Win47–2–1Sergio ZambranoKO4 (10), May 7, 199349Win46–2–1Edwin RosarioTKO7 (10), Jan 30, 199348Win45–2–1Juan Carlos NunezTKO2 (10), Sep 12, 199247Win44–2–1Refugio GuerreroKO3 (10), Aug 1, 199246Win43–2–1Juan ZunigaTKO4 (10), Nov 29, 199145Win42–2–1Martin CruzKO1Jun 8, 199144Win41–2–1Rodolfo AguilarPTS8Mar 29, 199143Win40–2–1Jerry PageUD10Aug 17, 198942Win39–2–1Roger BrownUD10Jun 15, 198941Win38–2–1Martin RojasTKO7May 12, 198940Win37–2–1Derrick McGuireUD10Apr 22, 198939Win36–2–1Eduardo LucianoTKO1 (10), Dec 1, 198838Win35–2–1Dwayne BrooksTKO2Oct 22, 198837Win34–2–1Anthony RorieKO2Jul 28, 198836Win33–2–1Sebastian WilburnKO1 (10), May 10, 198835Win32–2–1Ricardo CardenasTKO1 (10)Mar 18, 198834Loss31–2–1Primo RamosKO2 (12), Oct 28, 198733Win31–1–1Tim BurgessUD10Jun 9, 198732Win30–1–1Joe EdensTKO3 (10)May 9, 198731Win29–1–1Shelton LeBlancTKO5 (10), Mar 25, 198730Win28–1–1Al MartinoTKO2 (10), Jan 16, 198729Win27–1–1Aldemar MosqueraKO3 (10), Oct 2, 198628Draw26–1–1Freddie Pendleton12Jul 4, 198627Win26–1Sammy FuentesTKO2 (10), May 30, 198626Win25–1Efrain NievesTKO2Dec 12, 198525Win24–1Keith JacksonTKO4Oct 5, 198524Loss23–1Edwin RosarioPTS10Jun 16, 198523Win23–0David Brown10May 1, 198522Win22–0Freddie PendletonTKO5 (10), Mar 23, 198521Win21–0Rashad AzizTKO2Jan 17, 198520Win20–0Shelton NixonTKO2Nov 24, 198419Win19–0Ezzard Charles AdamsPTS10Oct 17, 198418Win18–0Eduardo LugoTKO4Sep 11, 198417Win17–0Jose GonzalesTKO6Aug 30, 198416Win16–0Steve MitchellTKO3 (10), Jul 12, 198415Win15–0Jose RentasTKO2Jun 21, 198414Win14–0Jerome ArtisKO2May 3, 198413Win13–0Ezequiel Mosquera8Mar 15, 198412Win12–0Luis De JesusTKO3Feb 1, 198411Win11–0Reese SmithTKO4Dec 2, 198310Win10–0Richard LassiterTKO5Nov 12, 19839Win9–0Adolfo MarquezTKO4Oct 21, 19838Win8–0Freddie GuzmanKO6Sep 16, 19837Win7–0Willie Taylor4Jun 25, 19836Win6–0Charles SweetenburgTKO2May 26, 19835Win5–0Charles SweetenburgTKO1May 12, 19834Win4–0Frank MackeyTKO2Apr 2, 19833Win3–0Don ThorpeKO1Mar 12, 19832Win2–0Marcel Wade2Feb 19, 19831Win1–0Curtis Gholston2Feb 4, 1983
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