The following is a fight fan’s take…
When I first signed on to the old drop your gloves website one of the first fan reviews I took note of was bzane’s brilliant piece on the Jonathan-Bouchard fight. I always felt that this break down was one of the best I ever came across and set the tone for me when it came to breaking down a fight. The way he describes the action is detailed and insightful and gives you the feel of being on the ice watching this epic like it was happening right before your eyes. This piece was a big influence on me when I first began lurking around the fight boards many moons ago and I had to give it the respect it deserves. I also wanted to use this fantastic piece as a way of showing to you all what you could find on dyg. The layout was old and outdated, the bright yellow cards threatened to give you jaundice if you stayed on too long, but the fight card information was so valuable-and reviews like this:
By bzane:
The Jonathan-Bouchard fight has been reviewed and analysed slightly more often than The War Between the States, but I would like to add a couple of observations, both stylistic and historical, that elevate this battle to the epic status it enjoys.
I would first commend, or thank the gods for the pure luck of it, that video footage of Jonathan-Bouchard is readily available and of rare quality, lending it well to technical examination- or just watching for pure excitement. The Boston announcer, Fred Cusick, cries out “Look at THIS heavyweight match-up!” at the start. Furthermore, the camera angle is so advantageous that slow-motion re-viewing shows some unique aspects that I will come to in a minute.
The match-up, as Cusick puts it, is noteworthy in itself, as Jonathan, at 5’8″ and 175 lbs. gives away six inches and thirty pounds to the 6’2″, 205-lb. Bouchard; and, in those pre-steroidal times, Bouchard was one of the biggest and strongest men in the league in 1978. The size disparity is immediately evident when the two men seize hold of each other’s jerseys prior to throwing punches; Don Cherry in his book mentions that he was worried that Jonathan had taken on more than he could handle, here. But it’s a case of a wolverine attacking a buffalo (and the buffalo impression is heightened by Bouchard’s massive head of curls), where speed and ferocity win out over size and strength.
Jonathan, by the way, apart from his sheer courage to challenge such a dangerous opponent, deserves, and I have yet to see this remarked upon, major kudos for holding to the honor of a fair fight with an even start. Rather than jumping the bigger man to gain an advantage, he gives Bouchard fair warning of his intentions, and escalates only when he is answered in kind. The two come together, shoulder-to-shoulder, after a whistle, Jonathan leaning in closer than necessary to provoke things (and I completely believe that this was a tactically-initiated fight designed to give the Bruins a lift, more of which later); Bouchard in annoyance elbows him away, and says something which one assumes was the French version of “Eff off!” It is only then that Jonathan gives him a gloved swat to the face- again, not a full bare-fist punch to get a head start, but instead a challenge to combat.
Both men shed the gloves simultaneously, Bouchard perhaps even having a slight advantage as he gathers folds of Jonathan’s jersey in his big, powerful hands; the strength of the big defenseman is evident as he yanks the bucking Jonathan up and down in these preliminary, grip-securing seconds. It is Bouchard who gets off first, and here is an important technical point: Bouchard’s first punch strikes Jonathan’s helmet; his second punch slides over the top of that helmet- and then he misses every other punch he manages to throw in this brief, furious bout. Those misses are caused by Jonathan’s boxer-like skill in twisting to his left as he returns fire with his own right; Bouchard’s battering-ram rights all slide by the right side of Jonathan’s face. Wilfred Benitez never slipped punches better than Jonathan did, at least in the Bouchard fight. Jonathan misses most of his at the get-go, too, although he clearly lands one smack on the moustache of the Canadien, to no apparent effect.
Both fighters, by the way, should be lauded for standing up like men and trading fire in a mano-a-mano, let’s-settle-this-thing manner; no post-‘eighties hug-and-duck tactics here! Bouchard in particular disdains any attempts at defense, risking (to his eventual defeat) his large head to any punishment as a price to pay for firing the hardest straight rights he can throw at Jonathan. And it costs him.
It has been well-documented that Jonathan’s win came largely because of his unsurpassed ability to switch hands; undeniably, the first left he throws does indeed end the fight, but I suggest that setting up this devastating shot is an almost-as-effective right- his last right- that catches Bouchard high up around the eyes, seeming to hurt the bigger man, for he stops punching and merely grabs on for a moment. The two men revolve in a half-circle, and Jonathan, rising on the toes of his skate blades to punch up at the bigger man, suddenly fires the famous overhand left that cracks into the side of Bouchard’s nose, sending Pierre sagging to the ice and spattering blood in a spreading pool. What a shot that was- on the video you can see Bouchard’s head shudder with the impact.
I am unable to tell from the angle whether a second left that Jonathan threw as he dropped on his fallen opponent- the wolverine finishing his prey- actually landed or caused any damage. I consider the point academic because of the utter destruction of the first, tree-felling left. Bouchard, downed on his back, flips over onto his stomach as the linesmen move to separate the two, perhaps to avoid further punishment, perhaps to allow his gushing blood to drip away from his face, for you see him sweep it away from his nose with an open hand.
So, technically- to what do we attribute Jonathan’s victory? Well, bigger and stronger isn’t necessarily better- there is speed and skill and punching ability to consider, just as in a boxing match. One thinks of Sugar Ray Leonard overcoming a similar height disadvantage in his fight with Thomas Hearns with timing and accuracy. Further, being the shorter man can, it would seem, work to one’s advantage- Bouchard doesn’t land a single blow, punching down at Jonathan; the Bulldog has better luck punching up at the taller man.
Jonathan’s deft slipping of Bouchard’s booming shots contributed heavily, I believe, to the outcome; as mentioned above he never gets truly punched once, allowing Stan freedom to unload his own offense unchecked.
The ambidexterity, almost unmatched, of Jonathan cannot be overemphasized; was there ever a more unexpected and undefended left in NHL history, following a mutual exchange of rights?
I have been disappointed by, and emphatically disagree with, occasional accounts of this fight that disparage Bouchard. It must be remembered that he carried into the Jonathan bout a justly-earned rep as a fearsome fighter and powerful puncher; wins over Dave Schultz (the “Hammer” himself admitting he was kayoed on his feet by a bomb from Bouchard in their playoff fight), Wayne Cashman, and Ted Irvine marked Bouchard as a major-league heavyweight and an awesome foe to challenge. Degrading Bouchard is off-base, and cheapens Stan Jonathan’s remarkable accomplishment here.
Historically I would compare this fight to the equally-famous (though video-unavailable) John Ferguson-Ted Green fight of some years before- in both cases the winner took on, and defeated, a scary opponent in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Ferguson is credited with virtually winning the series for Montreal over Boston by beating Green. I submit that Jonathan’s big victory provided a similar emotional lift for the Bruins (and had a corresponding effect of deflation on the Canadiens)- and very nearly brought about what would have been a monstrous upset at the time, so dominant were the Canadiens of the last half of the ‘seventies. As I recall the Bruins won not only the game featuring Jonathan-Bouchard, but the following game, in Montreal, as well; for a time the outcome of the series hung in the balance, and it seemed that the unthinkable- the Bruins beat THE CANADIENS?!- just might happen.
You can give Jonathan the credit for that. Had the Bruins pressed on to win the series, I believe the Jonathan fight would have risen to mythical status, at least in the world of hockey-fight Internet forums.
I will close with one other speculation: would Jonathan have made a world-class professional boxer, had he chosen to go this route, instead of playing ice-hockey? Remember, this guy was 175- right at the lightheavyweight limit- and beating full-sized heavyweights- like Bouchard. Now, I’m under no delusions that the average hockey enforcer would do too well in the prize ring- but Jonathan- all that speed, and heavyweight power, and accuracy- with both hands……. well, I sure would have enjoyed seeing what he could have done, given the training and the desire.
Maybe instead of arguing over whether he could have taken Tie Domi we ought to wonder if Stan Jonathan couldn’t have been the light-heavyweight champion of Canada.