Boxing News and History

Boxing News and History Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
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06/05/2026

Roy Jones became the first undisputed light-heavyweight champion of the world in 14 years in 1999 with a dazzling unanimous decision against Reggie Johnson at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum.

"Any time you bring someone who thinks they can beat me, I'm prepared for him," Jones said. "I did what I had to do."

"He does a lot of things wrong in there," Johnson said, "but his hand speed makes up for it. I tried to time him, but I was unable to do it."

In his first fight under new trainer Emanuel Steward, Miguel Cotto captured a world title in a third weight division whe...
06/05/2026

In his first fight under new trainer Emanuel Steward, Miguel Cotto captured a world title in a third weight division when he dethroned Yuri Foreman at Yankee Stadium in 2010.

The referee stopped the fight 42 seconds into the ninth round. Foreman was not lacking courage, fighting and limping, slipping and punching,
until the end.

“He was working on one leg,” Cotto said of Foreman. “But I still kept fighting.”

“I’m a world champion,” Foreman said. “And now, I’m a former world champion. But when you have a title, you never quit. I didn’t want it to be stopped.”

It was the first boxing match in nearly 34 years at Yankees Stadiums new and old.

With that, Cotto and Foreman joined such boxing luminaries as Jack Dempsey, Max Schmeling, Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Marciano and Joe Louis to headline bouts at one of the Yankees’ stadiums, ending a fight drought that started after Muhammad Ali topped Ken Norton in 1976.

38-year-old world heavyweight champion Jersey Joe Walcott clung to his title in his first defence in 1952 by winning a...
06/05/2026

38-year-old world heavyweight champion Jersey Joe Walcott clung to his title in his first defence in 1952 by winning a tight unanimous decision over ex-champ and big rival Ezzard Charles.

The incredible old father of six kids from Camden, New Jersey, shook off bombing shots by Charles to grab the votes of all three officials at the Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia.

"I know Joe won't fight me again," said Charles after their fourth meeting. "It's impossible. I'm sorry for everybody else."

"This proves I'm really champion," said Walcott, who lost twice to Joe Louis and twice to Charles before he upset Ezzard. "This proves it wasn't any lucky punch in Pittsburgh. I had him all the way. This win meant more to me."

The referee, Zach Clayton, became the first African-American to referee a world heavyweight championship fight.

A pudgy Oscar De La Hoya, who began his career as a 130-pound super-featherweight, fought for the first time as a 160-po...
06/05/2026

A pudgy Oscar De La Hoya, who began his career as a 130-pound super-featherweight, fought for the first time as a 160-pound middleweight in 2004 when beat Felix Sturm by razor-thin unanimous decision for the WBO title, his sixth title in a different weight class, and set up a superfight with Bernard Hopkins.

"Everything went wrong tonight," said a downcast De La Hoya after the bout.

"What can I say? I stepped in the ring, and 'boom' – nothing."

"I know Oscar is a big name here and a great champion," said the 25-year-old Sturm. "But tonight, I think the whole world saw who was
the better fighter."

"It was a very close fight, let's put it that way," said De La Hoya, who went on to face Hopkins that September in the same MGM Grand ring.

"I'm all about challenges," De La Hoya said. "What I'm very disappointed in is my performance. I know I can do better."

06/04/2026

Mexico-based Cuban Jose Napoles scored an eighth-round knockout over the welterweight champion, Billy Backus, at the Inglewood Forum in 1971 to regain the crown he lost six months previously in Syracuse.

"When I'd catch him with a solid blow he would roll with the punch," reflected Backus. "I caught him a couple of times but when your car doesn't run that's it." The Ring reported: "The end came at 1:53 of the 8th round after the second of two knockdowns forced referee Dick Young to halt the contest. The right eye of Backus was puffed like a melon and gore was pouring out of his left eyelid. Napoles, who had his left jab and right hand in Backus' face nearly all the way, stunned his victim with a hard left cross before a short right dropped Billy. After taking the maximum count, Backus gamely tried to rally, but he fell on his knees for a second knockdown after a series of blows in close quarters. His face was so battered, the referee immediately called the ring physician, who refused to permit the action to continue. Napoles had only one anxious moment - the 1st, when a cut opened above Jose's right eye after the fighters had butted each other. Trainer Angelo Dundee closed the wound, however, and it never seriously bothered the Cuban again."

One of the greatest boxers never to win a world title and part of the infamous 'Black Murderer's Row' Lloyd Marshall was...
06/04/2026

One of the greatest boxers never to win a world title and part of the infamous 'Black Murderer's Row' Lloyd Marshall was born in Madison County, Georgia in 1914.

Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Marshall took up boxing as a 17-year-old and won two Cleveland Golden Gloves titles (1934, 1935).

He turned professional in Sacramento in 1937 and quickly made a name for himself after beating a slew of top fighters: Ken Overlin (W 10), Ceferino Garcia (L10, KO by 5), Babe Risko (KO 5), Teddy Yarosz (W10, L10), Lou Brouillard (W 10), Tony Cisco (W 12), Ralph DeJohn (KO 6) and Charley Burley (W 10). Marshall scored seven knockdowns en route to an 8th-round stoppage of the great Ezzard Charles. Charles would, however, register two stoppage victories against Marshall to get the better of their rivalry.

A win over Anton Christoforidis (W 10) preceded a thrilling 1943 bout with Cleveland rival Jimmy Bivins. Marshall knocked down Bivins in the 7th but was halted in the 13th. 1944 brought an impressive string of victories including Jake LaMotta (W 10), Holman Williams (W 10) and Joey Maxim (W 10).

He suffered back-to-back losses to Archie Moore in 1945 (L10, KO by 10) before heading back to the West Coast. Marshall retired in 1951, but not before notching wins over Freddie Mills (KO 5) and Tommy Farr (W 10) among others. A talented boxer with power in both hands, Marshall defeated nine world champions in his career and lodged a 64-25-4 (32 KOs) record.

06/04/2026

Ghanaian hero Ike “Bazooka” Quartey became Africa's first welterweight champion in 1994 when the 24-year-old sprang a major surprise and pummelled previously undefeated Venezuelan Crisanto Espana to defeat in the 11th round of a pulsating battle at the Palais des Sports Marcel Cerdan in Paris.

The finishing flurry – some 14 blows – was merciless.

Ricky Hatton ended the career of the great Kostya Tszyu in 2005 with a gruelling 11th-round stoppage in front of his p...
06/04/2026

Ricky Hatton ended the career of the great Kostya Tszyu in 2005 with a gruelling 11th-round stoppage in front of his passionate hometown fans at the MEN Arena.

The hungry, but largely unproven Hatton came into the fight as a huge underdog against Tszyu, a dominant and feared champion.

In a momentous battle, Tszyu failed to come out after round eleven, as his trainer Johnny Lewis threw in the towel just before going into the final round. In an emotional scene, the Manchester crowd erupted as Hatton broke into tears as he claimed Tszyu’s IBF light-welterweight crown.

"I was looking at the floor at the end of the 11th and I’d spat my gumshield out, just trying to summon that one last bit of energy," Hatton later told Boxing News. "I was nearly saying to Billy [Graham], ‘I’m finished, I’ve got f***-all left’. I’d have sucked it up for the last round, but as the 12th was about to start Tszyu pulled out and it was a massive relief when he did. I just fell in a heap because I didn’t have much left. It was a moment me and Billy will never forget: we just felt we’d proved everyone wrong."

Thomas Hearns, supposedly a washed-up, overblown welterweight, won his sixth championship at Caesars Palace in 1991, w...
06/03/2026

Thomas Hearns, supposedly a washed-up, overblown welterweight, won his sixth championship at Caesars Palace in 1991, with a unanimous decision over Virgil Hill and ending Hill’s four-year reign as undefeated light-heavyweight champion.

Hearns, who had appeared near the end of his long and distinguished career as far back as 1988 – after a knockout loss to Iran Barkley and an unimpressive victory over James Kinchen – neutralized Hill’s vaunted counterpunching style with one of his own.

It was a long night for Hill, 27, who suffered his first defeat since losing the gold-medal bout at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics to South Korea’s Shin Joon Sup.

Hearns, 32, whose professional career began in 1977, won his sixth title: the WBA welterweight championship, the WBC super-welterweight title, the WBC middleweight title, the WBC light-heavyweight title, the WBO super-middleweight title and Hill’s WBA light-heavyweight championship.

One ringside judge scored the fight 116-112 for Hearns; the other two had it 115-114. The Times card favored Hearns by a wider margin, 118-110. There were no knockdowns.

Said Hearns: “I feel I had a lot to prove tonight, and I proved that Thomas Hearns is not through. And I showed Virgil Hill that I am a full-fledged light-heavyweight.

“I’m still the Cobra, and I’m still the Hit Man.”

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."
06/03/2026

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

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