Harry Greb was as wild in the ring as he lived out of it and in the year he won the world middleweight title, he met his match for fighting dirty. This was the second of three fights in four months with Bob Roper, who was knocked out of the ring in the fifth round. When Greb leant between the ropes offering a hand to his stricken opponent, Roper could not resist the opportunity to land two punches on his unsuspecting opponent. Roper – 20 pounds heavier – smacked Greb after the bell in the ninth and tenth rounds during a foul-filled scrap in which even the referee was hit twice before Greb was given the ten-round decision. “Prize fighting ain’t the noblest of arts and I ain’t its noblest artist,” said Greb, AKA The Human Windmill.
Sugar Ray Robinson is widely regarded as the best ever boxer but at 35 he was past his prime when he met Gene Fullmer in a second defence of his world middleweight title at Madison Square Garden. Robinson had speed, silky skills, timing, bravery and power but by now he was slower and the reflexes were waning. He had even retired in 1952, only to make a comeback in 1955 and had soon regained the title. Fullmer, a 25-year-old Mormon from Utah, was fresher and the 15-round points decision was unanimous in his favour after he had floored Robinson in the seventh round. But Robinson was not finished. In a rematch the following May, Robinson won back the title for a fourth time after knocking out Fullmer with a single left hook.
Edwin Valero did not hang about in the ring. The Venezuelan blasted away his first 18 opponents inside the first round before being extended to two and then ten rounds. In the first defence of his WBA world super-featherweight title against Mexican Michael Lozada, he took just 72 seconds to register a 19th first round stoppage win. Valero seemed destined to become one of the biggest stars of his era after this fight but he never fulfilled his full potential as three years later, aged 28, he committed suicide in a police cell after stabbing his wife to death.
World welterweight champion Henry Armstrong looked like he might finish Joe Ghnouly early after knocking him down three times in the opening round, but his fellow St Louis boxer got on his bike to avoid further punishment in the next few rounds. Armstrong caught up with Ghnouly early in the fifth round and finished him with three successive left hooks. Astonishingly, Armstrong defended his world title with a ninth round win over Pedro Montanez just 20 days later. Known as Homicide Hank, Armstrong held the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight world titles at the same time briefly in 1938.
Sonny Liston’s bloated dead body was the horrifying sight that greeted his wife Geraldine when she returned from holiday to their Las Vegas home. Her husband had been dead six days. Police attributed cause of death to a heroin overdose and a post mortem’s verdict was lung congestion. Another theory is that Liston, who had a life-long fear of needles, was killed by an enforced heroin overdose administered by a Mob hitman. Liston won the world heavyweight title in 1962 but two years later was shown up by Cassius Clay’s speed of mouth, hands and feet. Liston lasted 60 seconds in a rematch with Clay/Muhammad Ali after being stopped by a “phantom punch”. There were suspicions both Clay/Ali fights were fixed by the Mob via Liston and the FBI investigated the first fight.
Tommy Loughran looked doomed after he was given the second nine count in the first round of his world light-heavyweight title defence against Leo Lomski at Madison Square Garden. But Loughran, from Philadelphia, recovered to box his way to a 15 round decision for a second defence. Boxing on the undercard was Jim Braddock, who would lose to both Loughran and Lomski over the next two years before later re-emerging as a heavyweight known as Cinderella Man. Loughran stepped up to heavyweight after beating Braddock in 1929.
Kevin Kelley suffered his first defeat and lost the WBC featherweight title after both eyes swelled over and his corner pulled him out of his third defence against Alejandro Gonzalez at the end of the tenth round. Kelley was put down in the sixth round but then floored Gonzalez in the eighth before both eyes closed over. Gonzalez, a 21-year-old from Guadalajara in Mexico, had pulled off a shock in Texas in only his second appearance on American soil. Gonzalez then made two successful defences.
Carlos Monzon, a former world middleweight champion of seven years who was never knocked out, was killed when the car a friend was driving crashed. Monzon was 52 and was on his way back to prison after parole in his native Argentina. He spent the last five years of his life incarcerated after being sentenced to 11 years for the murder of his lover, Alicia Muniz, in 1988. Monzon, who retired in 1977, was convicted of killing Muniz, who fell from a second floor balcony at a party early on Valentine’s Day 1988. Monzon’s first wife had shot him and he had a record of assault and drunkenness, as well as possessing a gun, in what was never a quiet retirement.
The first big fight of the 20th century saw American ‘Terrible’ Terry McGovern knock out Canadian George Dixon in eight rounds at New York’s Broadway Club. McGovern, at 19, was ten years younger than the defending world featherweight champion and caught Dixon at the right time. But Dixon – known at the time as ‘Little Chocolate’ – dominated the early rounds and floored the challenger for the first occasion in his career in the fifth round. The older champ, who had been at the top a decade, then slowed and McGovern’s energy and power saw him take control. Dixon went down eight times in the eighth and had to be rescued by his corner throwing in the sponge. McGovern’s reign was shorter than Dixon’s, lasting just two years, and both met premature deaths before they were 40. Dixon died of tuberculosis; McGovern, who was in and out of mental institutions after boxing and the death of his two daughters, died from pneumonia in 1918.
Heavyweight contender Ken Norton claimed he took it easy on Pedro Lovell after stopping the Argentine in five rounds and staying on track for a third fight with Muhammad Ali later in the year. American Norton, aged 30, who was one of only two men at the time to have beaten Ali, forced a fifth round stoppage and then said: “I needed the work and didn’t want to apply the pressure too soon because I hadn’t boxed since August.” Lovell is best remembered for playing the character Spider Rico in the first scene of Rocky, released later in 1976.
Wayne McCullough not only lost a split decision in his WBC super-bantamweight title fight with Daniel Zaragoza, but also two wisdom teeth as well as suffering a broken jaw in the second round in Boston. The Belfast boxer, who had reigned as WBC bantamweight champion for two years before giving up the belt to face Mexican Zaragoza, finished strongly but it was not enough against Zaragoza, who at 39 was 13 years older than him. On the same night elsewhere in America, another Briton lost a world title fight but Londoner Kevin Lueshing gave IBF welterweight champion Felix Trinidad an early scare. Lueshing floored Puerto Rican Trinidad – unbeaten in 30 fights and rated one of the world’s best pound-for-pound boxers – with a left hook in the second round. Trinidad only spent two seconds on the canvas and got up to halt Lueshing in the third round.
Henry Cooper prevailed in a bloodbath with Brian London for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles at Earls Court, but defeat did the loser no harm. Cooper, who like London was cut around the eyes and bleeding from the nose, nullified the brawler in the second half of the fight as he jabbed his way to a points win. Our ’Enry might have got the decision to regain the titles and begin a 12-year reign as British champion, but it was London who got the opportunity to face world champion Floyd Patterson four months later. Cooper demanded $140,000 to face Patterson after beating London and Patterson opted to take on London instead. Cooper had to wait another seven years for his crack at the world title.
It was the ringside presence of the Prince of Wales, later to become Edward VIII, which convinced Welshman Jimmy Wilde to commit fistic suicide against American Pete Herman. Wilde, the reigning world flyweight champion, was set to face the recently dethroned world bantamweight champion at the Royal Albert Hall. But Wilde then refused to fight after a row over the weigh-in time, which left his opponent with a big weight advantage. “The Prince of Wales came in to my dressing room and said if you don’t fight there will be a riot here,” said Wilde. Despite being at least two stones lighter, Wilde dominated early on but tired and was knocked out of the ring in the 17th round. Refusing to retire, referee Jack Smith lifted him up like a child and carried him back to his corner, saying: “I’m sorry Jimmy, but I have to pick you up because you don’t know how to lie down.” It was only Wilde’s second loss in 150 recorded bouts.
A day after Jimmy Wilde’s stoppage across the Atlantic, those lucky enough to be at Madison Square Garden witnessed a thrilling first round as world lightweight champion Benny Leonard was floored once and his challenger Richie Mitchell three times in the opening session. Leonard was hurt badly and only just survived until the end of the first round, before forcing a sixth round stoppage. Leonard reigned as world champion for seven years.
Brazilian Acelino Freitas dusted himself down from being sent sprawling by a left hook in the opening moments against Barry Jones – who had never knocked anyone out in an 18-fight career – to clinch an eighth round victory in defence of his WBO world super-featherweight title. Welshman Jones was dropped six times, twice later in an explosive first round, before his corner threw in the towel. “It’s ironic really, the first time I put somebody down is the first time I get stopped,” said Jones, who had been stripped of the same title after winning it in 1997 because he failed a brain scan. Jones never fought again.
Mike Tyson was on one of his many comebacks and losing against Francois Botha when he planted a short right on the South African’s jaw to bring an abrupt end in the fifth round of the heavyweight non-title bout. Botha crumpled to the canvas and stumbled as he tried to get up while Tyson wrapped his arms around his dizzy opponent to stop him falling through the ropes. That generous act of sportsmanship was in contrast to Tyson getting Botha into a lock and trying to break his arm at the end of the first round. This was former undisputed world champion Tyson’s first fight since biting a chunk out of Evander Holyfield’s ear in 1997.
Jack ‘Kid’ Berg pulled off the best win of his career so far in the first of three encounters with American Tony Canzoneri at Madison Square Garden. The East Ender, who fought 74 times in America, outboxed ex-shoeshine boy Canzoneri for a split points decision over ten rounds that set up a shot at the world light-welterweight title the following month, which he won from Mushy Callahan back home in London.
Deontay Wilder revived America’s interest in the heavyweight division when he outboxed Bermane Stiverne for a unanimous decision in Las Vegas. The 6ft 7in Alabama resident, 29, earned the WBC title for extending his record to 33-0. It was the first time Wilder had been inconvenienced beyond four rounds as he became the first American to hold a portion of the world heavyweight title since 2006. “I just want to bring excitement back to the heavyweight division,” said Wilder.
Brazilian Eder Jofre unified the world bantamweight title with an impressive stoppage of Ulsterman Johnny Caldwell in front of 26,000 fans in Sao Paulo. After being knocked down in the fifth, the Belfast boxer – who was making a second defence of the European version of the world title – was behind on the scorecards when his manager jumped in to stop the fight in the tenth round. Jofre, one of the first vegetarian world champions, ruled as bantamweight champion from 1960 to 1964 and made a successful comeback in the early seventies. Caldwell lost a memorable British title fight with Freddie Gilroy later in the year, but was never the same.
Colin Jones was outclassed when Don Curry visited to defend his WBA and IBF welterweight titles against the Welshman in Birmingham. American Curry won all three completed rounds before finishing the job 36 seconds into the fourth with Jones suffering a cut on the bridge of his nose from a razor-sharp jab which prompted the stoppage. Over 11,000 watched Jones’s last fight and it was the first million pound gate in British boxing history.
After winning gold medals at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux defected from his communist homeland to live in Miami in 2009. Just nine fights into his professional career and he was recognised as WBA super-bantamweight champion and the best in his division after knocking out American Rico Ramos in the sixth round. Rigondeaux took control when he floored the champion with a straight right in the first round. Ramos was finished by a left to the body in the sixth. “Every time I let my hands go, I hurt him,” Rigondeaux said. “I knew he wasn’t getting up from that shot.” It was performances like these that marked out Rigondeaux as someone to avoid in the super-bantamweight division.
Manny Pacquiao got sweet revenge over Erik Morales with a tenth round stoppage as he further established himself as one of boxing’s biggest global stars. The Filipino, who sold doughnuts on the streets during a childhood spent in abject poverty, was beaten on points by Morales in March 2005 but in the rematch Pacquiao was stronger. Morales was wobbled in the second and sixth rounds before being decked in the tenth and then stopped by the referee as Pac Man unloaded a furious assault. Morales was left on his hands and knees shaking his head. It was the first time Morales – a world champion at three weight divisions at the time – had been stopped and his third loss in four fights. They met again later in the year when Pacquiao would get the job done in three rounds.
Mike Tyson sunk his teeth into Lennox Lewis’s thigh as a press conference to announce their world heavyweight title fight at New York’s Millennium Hotel turned into a mass brawl. The fighters’ teams clashed and as fists flew the WBC president Jose Sulaiman was knocked unconscious. “Somebody was biting my leg, so I pushed the head away, and it’s Tyson biting my leg,” said Lewis. Seven days later, the Nevada State Athletic Commission denied Tyson a boxing licence and so the fight took place in Memphis instead of Las Vegas. “I’m going to insist that he has a big lunch and a big dinner before he steps in there,” said Lewis before their fight for his WBC and IBF world heavyweight titles.
Howard Winstone won a world title at the fourth attempt when he stopped Japan’s Mitsunori Seki on a cut in the ninth round for the vacant WBC featherweight title in London. The artistic Welshman, who was also cut above an eye, had previously been beaten in three world title fights against Mexican Vicente Saldivar.
A 17,692 crowd gathered at Madison Square Garden, eagerly anticipating the American debut of Italian giant Primo Carnera. Clayton ‘Big Boy’ Peterson was served up as an obliging victim and lasted 70 seconds, 25 of which were spent reclining in various positions on the canvas. Carnera received $17,904, although the rising star certainly did not see most of it as his sinister handlers got richer. The Ambling Alp, as he came to be known, was a mere tool of the boxing world that exploited his simple nature. Many of Carnera’s fights were fixed by the Mob, including this one. Despite modest ability, he was built up with fixed fights and clever matching until he held the world title for a year from 1933. Once he was beyond protection as champion, his handlers let him fall and soon jettisoned him once he ceased being a money-maker. Carnera, who returned to Italy in 1936 without much to show for his boxing career, was 6ft 6in and 270 pounds and was the biggest world heavyweight champion until 2006.
James J Corbett had enjoyed his status as champion so much that newspaper previews believed his excessive drinking would land him in trouble against Charlie Mitchell. Corbett had not fought since he won the belt off John L Sullivan in 1892 to become the first world heavyweight champion under the Marquess of Queensberry Rules (three-minute rounds, a ten-second count for a knockout and the use of boxing gloves). But Corbett took control by flooring Mitchell late in the second round and in the third round Corbett knocked out the British challenger with a right flush on the chin.
Vernon Forrest produced his finest performance to pull off the biggest upset of the year when he outpointed Sugar Shane Mosley for the WBC welterweight title. Mosley was boxing’s No 1 star after taking the title from Oscar De La Hoya and did not have a blemish on his 38-fight record. Forrest, who was also unbeaten in 33 fights, stunned Mosley with a sharp combination that put him down twice in the second round and then used his jab to overcome Mosley’s breathtaking hand speed. Forrest deservedly won a points decision over his fellow American – and it was the same story in a rematch six months later that earned Forrest $3.42million.
‘Peerless’ Jim Driscoll was held to a draw with Birmingham’s Owen Moran to retain his European version of the world featherweight title. The tired Welshman was put under siege late in the 20-round fight at the National Sporting Club in London that was the last big fight of Driscoll’s impressive career. A clash between the pair had been six years in the making and there was added interest after Driscoll claimed it would be his last fight (but he fought three more times in 1919). Driscoll beat Abe Attell in New York four years previously and had been recognised as the world No 1 featherweight while Moran was a former world bantamweight champion. Driscoll went on to serve in the Army during the First World War and 12 years after facing Moran he died of pneumonia.
Australia-based Russian Kostya Tszyu captured his first world title when he halted Puerto Rican Jake Rodriguez in the sixth round in Las Vegas. It was only Tszyu’s 14th paid fight after turning professional and he grabbed the boxing world’s attention with this crushing victory for the IBF light-welterweight belt. He knocked down Rodriguez in the first round and then four more times in the sixth before the fight was stopped. Tszyu remained at the top for the next ten years after staying in Australia following the 1991 world amateur championships in Sydney. On the same bill at the MGM Grand, the Ruelas brothers – WBC super-featherweight champion Gabriel and IBF lightweight king Rafael – defended their world titles.
Julius Francis was so certain of not winning his fight with former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, that he sold the soles of his boots to a tabloid newspaper. The Mirror had their logo printed across the soles of Francis’ boots which the world got to his see plenty of when the Londoner was deposited on the canvas in the second round on Tyson’s European debut. The newspaper got good value for buying advertising space on Francis’s shoes – Tyson knocked him down twice in the first round and three times in the second.
Ken Buchanan had lost the world lightweight title to Roberto Duran the previous year but he was still too good for fellow Scot Jim Watt in their British lightweight title fight at St Andrew’s Sporting Club in Glasgow. They are two legends of Scottish boxing and yet they met in front of just 600 people at a dinner show. In one of Buchanan’s three outings in his homeland, he beat Watt 74¼-72½ on points. Watt would win the world title six years later, but a rematch with Buchanan never materialised. “I could not find one hard word to say against Jim Watt,” said Buchanan. “It takes a man to do what he did tonight after 17 fights.”
Wilfred Benitez made his last world title defence aged 24 against Roberto Duran, who he beat by unanimous decision in Las Vegas. Benitez, the son of Puerto Rican immigrants who settled in New York, had become the youngest world champion in history in 1976 when he was 17 years, 5 months, and 23 days old. By the time he fought Duran for the WBC light-middleweight title, his best days were behind him and yet he still possessed enough ring-craft to tame the aggressive Panama idol. Benitez’s purse of $1.4million was nearly three times as much as what Duran got but there was just one more (unsuccessful) defence and big fight in his career, against Thomas Hearns later that year. A decade later, Benitez was living off state support and suffering from pugilistic dementia.
Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, hosted the first world title fight scheduled for 12 instead of 15 rounds when local hero Rafael Orono retained his WBC super-flyweight belt with a four round knockout of Panamanian challenger Pedro Romero. The governing body shaved three rounds off championship fights after recent deaths and injuries sustained in the ring.