A Blast From the Past: Derrell Coley vs. Kip Diggs in a Fight for the Ages

Derrell “Too Sweet” Coley was a ranked contender and 29-1-2 when he faced off with Kip “Top Kat” Diggs (27-2) for the vacant NABF welterweight title in Oxnard, CA in March 1997. Coley had lost a squeaker to super-skilled Oba Carr (35-1 coming in) in 1995 and would lose to Oscar De La Hoya in 2000. His level of opposition was very high. If Coley had a weakness, it was that he had been decked in a number of fights, but he was also very resilient and was a deadly closer with speed, power, footwork, and great technical skills. He was the quintessential boxer/ puncher.

Looking back, Dan Sisneros of the The Boxing Guru wrote, “Coley was a respected world class contender who ruled the North American Boxing Federation’s welterweight division for nearly 3 1/2 years!  He battled and defeated some world class opposition and delighted boxing fans around the world…”

Diggs, a boxer/puncher, was the pride of Cape Cod (Hyannis to be exact) and a former IBO world welterweight title-holder, having won the fringe title against (admittedly limited) Miguel Angel Hernandez in 1995. He was 25-0 before he lost to Tony Martin in 1996 and again in 1997 setting up the important nationally televised match with Coley.

The Fight

Both were extremely focused and had something approaching “The Eye of the Tiger” as the bell rang and they immediately exchanged heavy shots. This continued into the third when the underdog Cape Cod boxer floored Coley with a right to the body, left upstairs, and right to the jaw. Coley was hurt as Diggs then assumed control in the fourth stanza. But Coley exploded at the midpoint and landed a number of menacing punches. It was a remarkable back-and-forth round.

Coley was now back in the fight and finding his groove until he was knocked down by a right uppercut at the bell ending the fifth. It was another 10-8 round for Top Kat, who now smelled the end.

Referee Marty Denkin missed a call in the sixth when Diggs again decked Coley but Denkin (without the assistance of modern technology) called it a slip. In the seventh, however, Diggs rendered another clean knockdown—this time with a savage left hook near the bell and Derrell barely made it up. He was badly hurt, but amazingly came out firing in the eighth, signaling that he was still alive—though far down on the scorecards and tiring.

After a somewhat even ninth round, Coley suddenly shocked the fans, cornermen, and most of all Kip Diggs by landing a head snapping right cross that put Diggs down and on Queer Street near the bell ending the 10th. Derrell then quickly closed the show in the 11th with a straight right followed by a jarring uppercut that ended an incredible war—one that included five official knockdowns and astounding back-and-forth action.

Coley finished with a professional record of 38-2-2, winning 27 by knockout, while Diggs would end his career in 1999 with a 30-5 record.

Aficionados still talk about this one as a fight that defines the old saw, “Snatching victory from defeat.”

Ted Sares is one of the world’s oldest active full power lifters and Strongman competitors. He is a member of Ring 10, and Ring 4’s Boxing Hall of Fame. He also is an Auxiliary Member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA).

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