This fight was about way more than just the WBA welterweight title, it was about pride – New York pride. 35 years ago today, a scintillating slugfest was witnessed, not in New York, but in Reno, Nevada. For as pure a New York fight as Aaron Davis (The Bronx) and Mark Breland (Brooklyn) really and truly was, it never took place in the city.

No matter, neither man was willing to give an inch, both men wanted the bragging rights that would go to the winner of this New York turf war. Breland, one of the finest amateur boxers ever to have come out of America, met in Davis a teak-tough man who would spar heavyweights; hence his “Superman” nickname.

Breland, who was 27 years of age and was the reigning WBA champ at 147 pounds, was 27-1-1 and he was coming off a three-round thrashing of Britain’s Lloyd Honeyghan. Davis was just 23 years old and he was 29-0, his biggest win to date being a decision win over former champ Gene “Mad Dog” Hatcher the previous year.

The fight took place at Harrah’s in Reno and the action was red-hot from the start to the sudden, explosive ending.

Davis, knowing Breland had better boxing skills than he had, made it a street fight from the off. Wanting to make it, as he said later, a “nasty” fight, Davis succeeded. Breland, the taller man, used his jab to good effect, but Davis would not leave him alone. Davis was always looking to get close and bang away, and soon both men were tired, while Davis had a busted up right eye and he bled from his other eye, and Breland bled from the nose and later, from the mouth.

Breland was legally down in round-three, while Davis slung his rival to the mat more than once during the gruelling fight. Then, with Davis looking the more fatigued fighter of the two, “Superman” entered the building, and a smashing right hand to the head took Breland down. Davis had actually stopped throwing his right, as he had hurt his arm during the war.

Now the WBA welterweight champ and the King of New York, Davis was on top of the world. A while back, Davis, content in retirement, kindly recalled the Breland battle.

“Oh yeah, that was a good fight,” Davis told me when looking back on the Breland classic. “That fight should’ve been in New York but it wound up being in Reno. I knew I’d beat him, but I knew it would be a hard fight against Breland.

“At one point I was very concerned [they might stop the fight because of my swollen eye]. In actual fact, they were ready to stop it. But I said, ‘we gotta fight!’ My attitude in the Breland fight was, there’s no tomorrow. I really stepped in with that [KO] shot. I shut a lot of people up with that win. I just wanted to win so bad.”