HBO's first broadcast of professional boxing seen Joe Frazier defend his WBA, WBC and The Ring heavyweight championship against George Foreman in a bout billed as "The Sunshine Showdown".
The Rumble in the Jungle was a historic boxing event in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) on October 30, 1974 (at 4:00 am). Held at the 20th of May Stadium (now the Stade Tata Raphaël), it pitted the undefeated world heavyweight champion George Foreman against challenger Muhammad Ali, a former heavyweight champion; the attendance was 60,000. Ali won by knockout, putting Foreman down just before the end of the eighth round. It has been called "arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century".The event was one of Don King's first ventures as a professional boxing promoter.
The Thrilla in Manila was the third and final boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. It was contested in 1975 for the heavyweight championship of the world at the Philippine Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines, on Wednesday, October 1. The venue was renamed from Araneta Coliseum, specifically for the match. Ali won by technical knockout (TKO) after Frazier's chief second, Eddie Futch, conceded the fight prior to the 15th round
Olympic gold medal winning brothers Leon and Michael Spinks fight on the same card in this 1977 HBO broadcast. Leon Spinks vs. Bruce Scott Michael Spinks vs. Joe Bordon
Ray Leonard 146 lbs beat Thomas Hearns 145 lbs by TKO at 1:45 in round 14 of 15 Leonard and Hearns fought for the Undisputed World Welterweight Championship. Leonard was the WBC champion, and Hearns was the WBA champion. The fight was promoted by Main Events. This was their first major promotion.
Roberto Duran 156½ lbs lost to Marvin Hagler 157½ lbs by UD in round 15 of 15 Hagler was a 4 to 1 favorite. Hagler was guaranteed $5 million, and Duran was guaranteed $1.5 million. Each also received a percentage of the revenue.
The War! 1985-04-15 : Marvin Hagler 159¼ lbs beat Thomas Hearns 159¾ lbs by TKO at 1:52 in round 3 of 12 Marvin Hagler was widely regarded as the top challenger for the middleweight title for much of the late 1970s. He got his long-awaited title shot against Vito Antuofermo on November 30, 1979. After fifteen rounds, most thought Hagler had won the fight, but Antuofermo retained the title with a controversial draw.
THE richest fight in boxing history produced one of the sport’s most controversial decisions as Sugar Ray Leonard defied the odds and the still formidable skills of middleweight legend Marvelous Marvin Hagler to become the 10th man to win world titles at three different weights. Leonard, the former welterweight and light-middleweight (WBA) champion, ended Hagler’s seven-year spell at the top of the middleweight division with a superbly executed but bitterly disputed split decision win in front of a capacity 15,000 crowd in Las Vegas’ Caesars Stadium and an estimated worldwide TV audience of around 300 million on April 6, 1987.
Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns (2nd meeting) Ray Leonard 160 lbs drew with Thomas Hearns 162½ lbs by PTS in round 12 of 12 The fight was billed as "The War." Leonard was guaranteed $13 million, and Hearns was guaranteed $11 million. Leonard also received 40 percent of the promotional gross over $30 million, and Hearns received 35 percent.
Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Duran (3rd meeting) 1989-12-07 : Roberto Duran 158 lbs lost to Ray Leonard 160 lbs by UD in round 12 of 12
Gatti-Ward I earned "Fight of the Year" honors by Ring Magazine and the 9th round was called the Round of the Century by Emanuel Steward.
On June 7, 2003, Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward had a rubber match. Gatti broke his twice-repaired right hand on an uppercut to the hip in the fourth, and he dropped his arm. In the sixth, Gatti dominated the round but got caught with an overhand right to the top of the head a second before the bell rang and went down. The final scorecards read, 96–93, 96–93 and 97–92, in favor of Gatti. The third fight between the two was again named "Fight of the Year" by Ring Magazine.
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao, billed as Battle for Greatness or The Fight of the Century, was a professional boxing match between the eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and undefeated, five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. The fight took place on May 2, 2015 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Despite predictions that Mayweather–Pacquiao would be the highest grossing fight in history as early as 2009, disagreements between the two boxers' camps on terms for the fight prevented the bout from coming to fruition until 2015. The failure to make the Mayweather–Pacquiao fight was named The Ring magazine Event of the Year for 2010. By 2015 negotiations for fight had been finalized, with all of the major issues that have prevented the fight from happening in the past resolved, including purse split, drug testing, and location. On February 20, 2015, Mayweather confirmed on social media that the fight had indeed been signed by him as Pacquiao already had signed the contract of the fight previously and the contract itself was with Mayweather on that day. The contest was agreed to be held on May 2, 2015.
http://www.hbo.com/boxing/fights/past-fights.html
Tyson Fury insisted confidently beforehand that he would take the heavyweight championship of the world from Wladimir Klitschko, and few outside of the United Kingdom (and not too many there, either) believed him. He promised that when he won, he would sing a song in the ring, and it's doubtful many paid attention to him when he said that because, well, Fury said and did a lot of things-including, but not limited to, showing up to a press conference dressed as Batman-and why would anyone focus on what he said he would do after something no one thought he could achieve?
Main card: Canelo Alvarez vs. Amir Khan Undercard: Lemieux vs. Tapia Herrera vs. Gomez Teixeira vs. Stevens
Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko was a professional boxing match contested between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko. The event took place on 29 April 2017 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, with Joshua's IBF and the vacant WBA (Super) and IBO heavyweight titles on the line.
Mexico's Canelo Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) meets Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) of Kazakhstan in a unified middleweight title fight in Las Vegas. Also: Joseph Diaz-Jorge Lara (featherweights); Diego De La Hoya-Randy Caballero (super bantamweights).
