THIS MONTH IN BOXING HISTORY: MARCH
Muhammad Ali stands triumphantly over Zora Folley on March 22, 1967
March 1, 1949: The greatest fighter of all time, Joe Louis announces his retirement after the longest champion reign of any boxer in any weight division.
March 2, 1985: Brit Tony Jeffries is born. He would win a Bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
March 3, 2006: Joe Calzaghe destroys Jeff Lacy for the IBF-WBO super middleweight title.
March 4, 1961: Gene Fullmer retains his National Boxing Association world middleweight crown at the Convention center in Las Vegas when he beat the immortal Sugar Ray Robinson by a 15 round unanimous decision. This was Robinson’s last title fight.
March 5,1934: Word junior welterweight king Barney Ross retains his title against the always dangerous Frankie Klick at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco by way of a 10 round draw.
March 6, 1976: The phenomenal Wilfredo “El Radar” Benitez became the youngest champion in boxing history by defeating Antonio “Kid Pambele” Cervantes via split decision at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the world light-welterweight title at the young age of 17. According to his official birth certificate, Benitez was actually 15.
March 7, 1987: Mike Tyson unifies the WBA/WBC world heavyweight titles at the Las Vegas Hilton Outdoor Arena by beating James “Bonecrusher” Smith in a 12 round unanimous decision.
March 8, 1971: Perhaps the most famous date in all of boxing history. In a meeting between two undefeated world heavyweight champions, Joe Frazier scores a unanimous decision victory over Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden in New York.
March 9, 1987: Thomas “Hitman” Hearns becomes only the ninth man in boxing history to win titles in three different weight divisions, and the first American born fighter to do so since the immortal Henry Armstrong, when he stops Dennis Andries in ten rounds to capture the WBC light-heavyweight world title
March 10, 2007: Wladimir Klitschko knocks out American Ray Austin in the second round at the SAP-Arena in Mannheim, Germany to retain the IBF/IBO world heavyweight titles.
March 11, 1947: Future Hall of Fame member Manuel Ortiz regains the world bantamweight title at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco with a 15 round unanimous decision over Chicago’s Harold Dade.
March 12, 2011: Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto stops Ricardo Mayorga in the twelfth round at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, to retain his WBA world light middleweight title.
March 13, 1999: In a fight where the outcome (which will live in infamy) was widely believed to be predetermined by promoter/convicted felon Don King in favor of his fighter Evander Holyfield, Holyfield met Lennox Lewis for a heavyweight title unification bout at Madison Square Garden that ended in a very controversial draw. This was a fight that Lewis dominated from beginning to end.
March 14, 2009: Amir Khan defeats Marco Antonio Barrera by technical decision in five rounds at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, England. According to BoxRec, “Khan came out on the attack in the opening round and landed strong and quick power shots. A clash of head opened a bad cut on the top left corner of Barrera's forehead. It too opened a small cut on the left eyelid of Khan. It was evident in Round 2, that the cut on Barrera's forehead would factor into the bout as it bled heavily into his left eye and covered the entire left side of Barrera's face each round. In Round 4, action was paused to allow the doctor to view the cut. The fight was allowed to continue and Khan continued to control the fight. Action was again paused in Round 5 to allow the doctor to view the cut. At the doctor's advice, the referee waved an end to the bout. By rule, the fight was decided by the scorecards.”
March 15, 2008: Manny Pacquiao became the Ring Magazine and WBC super featherweight champion by beating Juan Manuel Márquez by split decision by the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Pacquiao had floored Márquez in the third round.
March 16, 1876: Nelly Saunders and Rose Harland, two stage dancers, participated in the first ever female boxing match on American soil at Harry Hill’s gambling resort in New York City for a prize of $200 and a silver butter dish. Saunders either got the decision by one point or knocked out Harland.
March 17, 2007: Juan Manuel Márquez beat Marco Antonio Barrera by unanimous decision at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas to capture the WBC super featherweight title.
March 18, 2006: James “Lights Out” Toney fought Hasim Rahman at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City for the WBC world heavyweight title. The fight resulted in a rare majority draw.
March 19, 2005: In the first of their three fights, Erik “El Terrible” Morales defeats the surging Manny Pacquiao by a unanimous decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
March 20, 2010: Wladimir Klitschko knocked out overmatched American Eddie Chambers with five seconds left in the fight at the ESPRIT Arena in Duesseldorf, Germany to retain his IBF/IBO/WBO world heavyweight titles.
March 21, 1988: “Iron” Mike Tyson traveled to Japan to knock out Tony Tubbs at the Tokyo Dome in two rounds to retain his IBF/WBC/WBA world heavyweight titles.
March 22, 1967: Undisputed world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali stopped challenger Zora Folley in seven rounds at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This was Ali’s last fight before his titles were illegally taken from him. He would not fight again for over 3 ½ years.
March 23, 1948: Irrepressible Brit Rinty Monaghan unified the undisputed world flyweight title by knocking out fellow Brit Jackie Paterson in seven rounds at Kings Hall in Belfast, Ireland.
March 24, 1975: World heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali retained his crown by knocking out the vastly overwhelmed challenger Chuck Wepner in 15 rounds at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio.
March 25, 1962:The very popular former world featherweight champion, Davey Moore, “The Springfield Rifle”, died in Los Angeles. Moore had been stopped by challenger Ultiminio “Sugar” Ramos in ten rounds on March 21, 1963, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Moore died from a broken brain stem which occurred in the tenth round after Ramos dropped him and his neck struck the heavy metal bottom rope of a three-rope ring.
March 26, 1974: World heavyweight champion George Foreman retains his title in Caracas, Venezuela at El Poliedro Stadium by knocking out challenger Ken Norton in two one-sided rounds. Norton hit the canvas three times.
March 27, 2010: Erik Morales came back from a 32 month hiatus to defeat José Alberto Gazo by unanimous decision at the Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico.
March 28, 1998: World heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis knocks out challenger Shannon Briggs in five rounds after flooring him three times at the Boardwalk Convention Center in Atlantic City.
March 29, 1966: Canadian heavyweight champion, George Chuvalo becomes the first fighter ever to go the fifteen round distance with world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, while Ali is champion, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
March 30, 1965: Puerto Rican José Torres makes boxing history at Madison Square Garden in New York City by becoming the very first Hispanic light-heavyweight champion of the world by knocking out Willie Pastrano in nine rounds. Torres floored Pastrano in round six. The fight was stopped by referee Johnny LoBianco bout between the 9th and 10th rounds as Pastrano was taking too much punishment.
March 31, 1973: Unheralded heavyweight Ken Norton shocks the boxing world by breaking Muhammad Ali’s jaw in the second round while going on to capture a stunning split decision victory over the former world heavyweight champion at the Sports Arena in San Diego.
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