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Boxing in the 1980s

Boxing in the 1980s was filled with important fights, events and personalities that shaped the sport. Boxing in the 1980s was shaped by many different situations, such as the continuous corporate battles between the different world sanctioning organizations, the void left by Muhammad Ali as the sport's ambassador and consequent search for a new boxing hero, the continuous presence of Don King as the sport's most famous promoter, the surge of rival promoters as Bob Arum, Butch Lewis and Murad Muhammad, and major rule changes. In 1986, Mike Tyson emerged as a fresh new face in the heavyweight division, which had seen a decline in champion quality level (particularly in the WBA side) after Ali's retirement and, later on, after longtime WBC ruler Larry Holmes' prime. In addition, the IBF and WBO began operating.

Another important aspect of boxing in the 1980s was the rivalry between five world champions: Wilfred Benítez, Roberto Durán, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard. Of all the possible match-ups between these five, Benitez-Hagler was the only one that never happened. The circle of fights between these five gladiators actually began on November 30, 1979, when Leonard beat Benitez by knockout in round fifteen to win the WBC world Welterweight title, on the same night Hagler drew (tied) with Vito Antuofermo in his first bid to become the world's middleweight champion.

1980

1981

1982

  • January 24 – Eusebio Pedroza retains his WBA world Featherweight title with a fifteen-round unanimous decision over Juan Laporte in Atlantic City. The fight proves controversial: many observers thought they had seen Pedroza commit a large amount of infractions which, in their opinion, could have led to points deductions or disqualification.
  • January 30 – Wilfred Benítez vs. Roberto Durán – Wilfred Benítez retains his WBC world light middleweight title with a 15-round unanimous decision over Roberto Durán.
  • February 15 – Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Bruce Finch – Sugar Ray Leonard defeats Bruce Finch by 3rd-round TKO to retain the undisputed welterweight championship.
  • June 11 – Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney – Larry Holmes retains his WBC world Heavyweight title with a thirteen-round knockout over Gerry Cooney.
  • July 21 – Salvador Sánchez retains his WBC world Featherweight title with a fifteenth-round knockout over Azumah Nelson in New York City. It would be Sánchez's last fight.
  • August 12 – Salvador Sánchez killed in a car accident in Mexico City, Mexico.
  • September 18 – Michael Spinks knocks out Johnny Davis at 2 minutes and 27 seconds of the 9th round to retain his WBA Light Heavyweight Championship in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
  • September 21 – The National Football League Players Association launches a strike against the NFL, wiping out seven games. CBS adds additional boxing telecasts during the strike.
  • November 9 – Sugar Ray Leonard announces the second of multiple retirements in Baltimore. (Leonard's first retirement came after the 1976 Olympic Games).
  • November 12 – The Battle of The Champions, Aaron Pryor retains his WBA world Jr. Welterweight title with a fourteen-round knockout of Alexis Argüello, who was attempting to become boxing's first four division world champion, in Miami.
  • November 13 – Tragedy in the ring: Ray Mancini retains his WBA world Lightweight title by knockout in round fourteen in Las Vegas over Duk Koo Kim, who passes away five days later, leading to the instituting of twelve rounds at the most as the mandatory fight distance and mandatory eight counts quickly. It was also the last fight to air as part of strike replacement programming on CBS because of the NFL strike, which ended three days later.
  • November 26 – Larry Holmes retains his WBC world Heavyweight title with a fifteen-round unanimous decision over Randall "Tex" Cobb, fight after which Howard Cosell quits as a boxing commentator, disgusted by what he described as mismatches.
  • December 3 – The Carnival of Champions: Wilfredo Gómez retains his WBC world Super Bantamweight championship with a fourteen-round knockout over Lupe Pintor and Thomas Hearns becomes the WBC's world Jr. Middleweight champion with a fifteen-round majority decision over Wilfred Benítez.
  • December 10 – Michael Dokes defeats Mike Weaver by a controversial 1st-round TKO to win the WBA heavyweight title
  • December 12 – Bobby Chacon defeats Rafael Limón by unanimous decision to win the WBC super featherweight title in their fourth and final bout.

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

  • February 4 – Marlon Starling defeats Lloyd Honeyghan by 9th-round TKO to win the WBC, The Ring and lineal welterweight titles
  • February 11 – Rene Jacquot beat Donald Curry in a twelve-round unanimous decision to win the WBC Light Middleweight Championship in Grenoble, Isere France
  • February 24 – Roberto Durán makes history by becoming the third fighter to win world titles in four different divisions, the first Hispanic to do so and also the fighter with the longest period between his first and latest world championships (17 years) when he defeats Iran Barkley by a split decision to become the WBC's world Middleweight champion, in Atlantic City.
  • February 25 – Mike Tyson retains his undisputed world Heavyweight championship, with a fifth-round knockout over future world champion Frank Bruno in Las Vegas.
  • March 6 – The WBO's first world junior welterweight championship bout, as Héctor Camacho defeats Ray Mancini by unanimous twelve-round decision, to win the WBO's vacant world Jr. Welterweight title and become boxing's twelfth world champion in three different divisions, at Las Vegas.
  • March 11 – Evander Holyfield defeats Michael Dokes by 10th-round TKO
  • March 25 – Michael Nunn defeats Sumbu Kalambay by 1st-round KO to unify the IBF and The Ring middleweight titles
  • May 13 – Julio César Chávez becomes the thirteenth boxer to win world titles in three or more different categories, knocking out Roger Mayweather in ten rounds in their rematch, to win the WBC's world Jr. Welterweight title in Los Angeles.
  • May 17 – Carlos De León becomes the first boxer to win the world Cruiserweight title four times (and also joins a handful of champions who have won world titles in one division that many times) when he knocks out Sammy Reeson in nine rounds in London, picking up the WBC belt that had been vacated by his former conqueror, Evander Holyfield, when Holyfield moved to the Heavyweight division.
  • June 12 – Sugar Ray Leonard retains his WBC world Super Middleweight title with a twelve-round draw in a rematch with Thomas Hearns in Las Vegas.
  • June 21- Mike Tyson retains undisputed heavyweight championship by first-round knockout against Carl Williams in Atlantic City.
  • July 8 – John Mugabi who 3 years earlier fought Marvin Hagler for the Undisputed Middleweight Championship, knocks out René Jacquot in the first round to win the WBC Light Middleweight Championship in Cergy-Pontoise, Val-d'Oise, France.
  • July 15 – Evander Holyfield defeats Adílson Rodrigues by 2nd-round KO
  • August 14 – Michael Nunn defeats Iran Barkley by majority decision to retain the IBF and The Ring middleweight titles
  • November 4 – Evander Holyfield defeats Alex Stewart by 8th-round TKO
  • December 7 – The decade in boxing finishes almost where it started, as Sugar Ray Leonard defends his WBC world Super Middleweight title with a twelve-round unanimous decision victory over Roberto Durán in their third encounter.

References