March 31st

Same day events that happened in boxing history
scappoosejohn
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March 31st

Post by scappoosejohn »

From the Daily Mail:

1872: Jack Johnson, the first black man to win the world heavyweight boxing title, was born. Because of discrimination in the United States, he had to go to Australia for his successful title challenge against Tommy Burns.

1889: The world featherweight title fight between Ike Weir and Frank Murphy was stopped by police after 80 rounds. It is the longest world title contest under Queensberry Rules.
"A champion, a true champion is to take on all capable challengers. A true champion defends his title, and looks for matches that pose a threat in order to prove to the world he deserves to be called the best of the best."
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Post by straycat »

1889: The world featherweight title fight between Ike Weir and Frank Murphy was stopped by police.
It is the longest world title contest under Queensberry Rules (80 rounds).
Image
https://uploadir.com/u/o9541y6u



1903- Young Corbett KO 11 (Terrible) Terry McGovern, San Francisco. Retains World Featherweight Title.
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https://uploadir.com/u/qiuk9dte



1911- Ad Wolgast KO 5 Anton LaGrave, San Francisco. Retains World Lightweight Title.
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https://uploadir.com/u/v74lycv2



1939- Henry Armstrong KO 12 Davey Day, NYC. Retains World Welterweight Title. Armstrong’s 3rd defense in 27-days.
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https://uploadir.com/u/eb65ooa0



1942- Rocky Graziano KO 2 Curtis Hightower, Brooklyn. Graziano’s professional debut.



1968- Ruben Olivares TKO 3 Salvatore Burruni in Mexico
https://uploadir.com/u/6go1zjky



1969- Ken Norton TKO 2 Pedro Sanchez in San Diego, California, USA
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https://uploadir.com/u/sp8fjyml



1970- George Foreman TKO 1 Rufus Brassell in Houston, Texas, USA
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https://uploadir.com/u/nbziua5s



1973- Ken Norton becomes the second boxer to defeat Muhammad Ali, via split decision in Nortons home town San Diego Ca.
In this bout, Norton broke Ali's jaw, leading to the second defeat of five for "The Greatest" in his career.
Six months later, Ali avenged the loss when he beat Norton by a split-decision.

https://uploadir.com/u/v3d72m43
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1978- Bennie Briscoe TKO 8 Tony Chiaverini in Kansas City, Missouri, USA
https://uploadir.com/u/aasnn56o



1980- Larry Holmes KO 8 Le Roy Jones, Las Vegas. Retains WBC Heavyweight Title. https://uploadir.com/u/vru7ij4z



1980- Marvin Camel UD 15 Mate Parlov in Las Vegas. Rematch for the vacant WBC Title.


https://uploadir.com/u/ufiacae4



Thomas Hearns TKO 1 Santiago Valdez in Las Vegas
https://uploadir.com/u/lr7c0d85

1980- Mike Weaver KO 15 John Tate, Knoxville. Wins WBA Heavyweight Title.
Weaver finishes matters with a devastating left hook in the final round with 45 seconds remaining.
At the time on the knockout, Tate led on all cards, 137-134, 136-133, 138-133.
https://uploadir.com/u/9g6vajj9


Eddie Mustafa Muhammad TKO 11 Marvin Johnson for the WBA Title in Knoxville https://uploadir.com/u/faxgjp6c



1980- Sugar Ray Leonard KO 4 Davey (Boy) Green, Landover, MD. Retains WBC Welterweight Title.
A textbook left hook leaves Green in an unconscious heap for several minutes.
https://uploadir.com/u/2w6e1o90


1983- Mark McPherson UD 10 Jeff McCracken in Atlantic City

https://uploadir.com/u/vsqxzar2



1984- Wilfredo Gómez wins the WBC world Featherweight title, outpointing Juan Laporte in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

https://uploadir.com/u/q62fgnoo



1984- Jung Koo Chang UD 12 Sot Chitalada for the WBC Title in South Korea

https://uploadir.com/u/481yc16h



1990- "Terrible" Terry Norris KO 1 John Mugabi, Tampa. Wins WBC Super Welterweight Title.
https://uploadir.com/u/it8r0lgy



1990- James McGirt TKO 2 Tommy Ayers in Atlantic City https://uploadir.com/u/uxsawx6l



1991- Rafael Ruelas KO 3 Steve Cruz for the NABF Title in Las Vegas https://uploadir.com/u/ke9d6r4r



1991- Scotty Olson KO 1 Eliseo Gomez in Las Vegas https://uploadir.com/u/51noj5q6



1991- Frankie Liles TKO 2 L J Canty in Las Vegas https://uploadir.com/u/y1kbbodl



1991- James Coker TKO 5 James Nellems in Las Vegas https://uploadir.com/u/q400hpbi









1992- Hiroki Ioka UD 12 Noel Tunacao for the WBA Title in Japan

https://uploadir.com/u/rnrq3cxj



1992- Tony Ekubia TKO 2 Verdell Smith in UK
https://uploadir.com/u/uqwjcbt8



1994- Tony Marshall UD 10 Aaron Davis in Atlantic City

https://uploadir.com/u/afqeoy6v



1994- Frankie Toledo UD 10 Hector Acero Sanchez in Atlantic City

https://uploadir.com/u/byir5gc0



1995- Marco Antonio Barrera UD 12 Daniel Jimenez, Anaheim. Wins WBO Junior Featherweight Title.

https://uploadir.com/u/nakna7k7



1995- Alejandro Gonzalez UD 12 Louie Espinoza in Anaheim. Retains WBC Featherweight Title.

https://uploadir.com/u/zkhq4vet



1995- Humberto "Chiquita" Gonzalez KO 5 Jesus Zuniga. Retains WBC Light Flyweight and IBF Junior Flyweight Titles.
https://uploadir.com/u/qlnnmp2f



Born On This Day
1878- Jack Johnson
Born John Arthur Johnson (March 31, 1878 – June 10, 1946), nicknamed the “Galveston Giant”, was an American boxer, the first black world heavyweight boxing champion (1908-1915)
Johnson was born in Galveston, Texas, the third child and first son of Henry and Tina "Tiny" Johnson, former slaves who worked at blue-collar jobs to raise six children and taught them how to read and write. Jack Johnson had just five years of formal schooling. Johnson's father was born a slave in Tennessee. He dropped out of school after five or six years of education, to get a job.
Johnson's boxing style was very distinctive. He developed a more patient approach than was customary in that day: playing defensively, waiting for a mistake, and then capitalizing on it. Johnson always began a bout cautiously, slowly building up over the rounds into a more aggressive fighter. He often fought to punish his opponents rather than knock them out, endlessly avoiding their blows and striking with swift counters. He always gave the impression of having much more to offer and, if pushed, he could punch powerfully.
Johnson's style was very effective, but it was criticized in the press as being cowardly and devious. By contrast, World Heavyweight Champion "Gentleman" Jim Corbett, who was white, had used many of the same techniques a decade earlier, and was praised by the press as "the cleverest man in boxing".
By 1902, Johnson had won at least 50 fights against both white and black opponents. Johnson won his first title on February 3, 1903, beating "Denver" Ed Martin over 20 rounds for the World Colored Heavyweight Championship. His efforts to win the full title were thwarted, as world heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries refused to face him then. Black and white boxers could meet in other competitions, but the world heavyweight championship was off limits to them. However, Johnson did fight former champion Bob Fitzsimmons in July 1907, and knocked him out in two rounds.
Sydney Stadium during the Johnson-Burns match on December 26, 1908.
Johnson finally won the world heavyweight title on December 26, 1908, when he fought the Canadian world champion Tommy Burns in Sydney, after stalking Burns around the world for two years and taunting him in the press for a match. The fight lasted fourteen rounds before being stopped by the police in front of over 20,000 spectators. The title was awarded to Johnson on a referee's decision as a T.K.O, but he had clearly beaten the champion. Johnson constantly mocked both Burns and his ringside crew, while receiving every kind of racial and other slur from them and members of the crowd. Every time Burns was about to go down, Johnson would hold him up, beating an already helpless man.
After Johnson's victory over Burns, racial animosity among whites ran so deep that Jack London called out for a "Great White Hope" to take the title away from Johnson.[citation needed] As title holder, Johnson thus had to face a series of fighters billed by boxing promoters as "great white hopes", often in exhibition matches. In 1909, he beat Frank Moran, Tony Ross, Al Kaufman, and the middleweight champion Stanley Ketchel. The match with Ketchel was keenly fought by both men until the 12th and last round, when Ketchel threw a right to Johnson's head, knocking him down. Slowly regaining his feet, Johnson threw a straight to Ketchel's jaw, knocking him out, along with some of his teeth, several of which "supposedly" were embedded in Johnson's glove. His fight with Philadelphia Jack O'Brien was a disappointing one for Johnson: though weighing 205 pounds (93 kg) to O'Brien's 161 pounds (73 kg), he could only achieve a six-round draw with the great middleweight.
In 1910, former undefeated heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries came out of retirement and said, "I feel obligated to the sporting public at least to make an effort to reclaim the heavyweight championship for the white race. . . . I should step into the ring again and demonstrate that a white man is king of them all." Jeffries had not fought in six years and had to lose weight to get back to his championship fighting weight.
The fight took place on July 4, 1910 in front of 20,000 people, at a ring built just for the occasion in downtown Reno, Nevada. Johnson proved stronger and more nimble than Jeffries. In the 15th round, after Jeffries had been knocked down twice for the first time in his career, his people called it quits to prevent Johnson from knocking him out.
The "Fight of the Century" earned Johnson $65,000 and silenced the critics, who had belittled Johnson's previous victory over Tommy Burns as "empty," claiming that Burns was a false champion since Jeffries had retired undefeated.
The outcome of the fight triggered race riots that evening — the Fourth of July — all across the United States, from Texas and Colorado to New York and Washington, D.C. Johnson's victory over Jeffries had dashed white dreams of finding a "great white hope" to defeat him. Many whites felt humiliated by the defeat of Jeffries.
Blacks, on the other hand, were jubilant, and celebrated Johnson's great victory as a victory for racial advancement. Black poet William Waring Cuney later highlighted the black reaction to the fight in his poem "My Lord, What a Morning". Around the country, blacks held spontaneous parades and gathered in prayer meetings.
Some "riots" were simply blacks celebrating in the streets. In certain cities, like Chicago, the police did not disturb the celebrations. But in other cities, the police and angry white citizens tried to subdue the revelers. Police interrupted several attempted lynchings. In all, "riots" occurred in more than 25 states and 50 cities. About 23 blacks and two whites died in the riots, and hundreds more were injured.
A number of leading American film companies joined forces to shoot footage of the Jeffries-Johnson fight and turn it into a feature-length documentary film, at the cost of $250,000. The film was distributed widely in the U.S. and was exhibited internationally as well. As a result, Congress banned prizefight films from 1912 until 1940. In 2005, the film of the Jeffries-Johnson "Fight of the Century" was entered into the United States National Film Registry as being worthy of preservation.
In the United States, many states and cities banned the exhibition of the Johnson-Jeffries Film. The movement to censor Johnson's black supremacy took over the country within three days after the fight. It was a spontaneous movement, mobilized by the Christian lobby and police forces, and endorsed by former President Theodore Roosevelt.
On April 5, 1915, Johnson lost his title to Jess Willard, a working cowboy from Kansas who did not start boxing until he was almost thirty years old. With a crowd of 25,000 at the Vedado Racetrack in Havana, Cuba, Johnson was K.O.'d in the 26th round of the scheduled 45-round fight, which was co-promoted by Roderick James "Jess" McMahon and a partner. Johnson found that he could not knock out the giant Willard, who fought as a counterpuncher, making Johnson do all the leading. Johnson, aged 37, although having won almost every round, began to tire after the 20th round, and was visibly hurt by heavy body punches from Willard in rounds preceding the 26th round knockout. Johnson is said by many to have spread rumors that he took a dive, but Willard is widely regarded as having won the fight outright. Willard said, "If he was going to throw the fight, I wish he'd done it sooner. It was hotter than hell out there".
In a famous photo showing Johnson lying on the mat after being knocked down and during the ten count, he can be seen shielding his eyes from the glare of the tropical sun with his glove.[/size]
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ScapposeJohn commenting on Shane Mosely possibly being unaware he was taking PED's wrote: Likewise. It reminds me of President Clinton saying that he smoked weed in college but never inhaled. Yeah..........right.
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Post by straycat »

1908- Abe Attell D 15 Battling Nelson, San Francisco.

1916- Benny Leonard ND 10 Freddie Welsh, NYC.

1950- Rocky Graziano D 10 Tony Janiro, NYC.

1990- Marvin Camel W 15 Mate Parlov, Las Vegas. Wins newly created WBC Cruiserweight Title.

1990- Eddie Gregory KO 11 Marvin Johnson, Knoxville. Wins WBA Light Heavyweight Title. Gregory scored with a crisp left hook, in the 11th, Which he called his “Novacaine Punch.” Seconds later Johnson had to be rescued by referee Carlos Berrocal.

1990- Sugar Ray Leonard KO 4 Davey (Boy) Green, Landover, MD. Retains WBC Welterweight Title. A textbook left hook leaves Green in an unconscious heap for several minutes.

1993- Ricardo Lopez KO 9 Kwang-Soo Oh, Seoul. Retains WBC Strawweight Title.

1995- Alejandro Gonzalez W 12 Louie Espinosa, Anaheim. Retains WBC Featherweight Title.

1995- Humberto (Chiquita) Gonzalez KO 5 Jesus Zuniga, Anaheim. Retains WBC/IBF Junior Flyweight Title.

2007- Henry Maske W 12 Virgil Hill, München, Germany. Referee: Richard James Davies | Judge: Matteo Fratini 117-110 | Judge: Dusan Hecko 117-110 | Judge: Roger Tilleman 116-113. Maske avenges his only defeat after a decade long hiatus.

Born On This Day

1870- Tommy Ryan (born Joseph Youngs in Redwood, New York)
Famed welterweight and middleweight champion boxer who fought from 1887-1907. Ryan was considered an excellent boxer-puncher, and many consider him one of the all time greatest middleweight champions. His won lost record is 86 wins (68 KO's), 3 losses and 6 draws. He also fought a few No Contests, as was usual for the era. Ryan first won the welterweight title in a match with Mysterious Billy Smith on July 26, 1894. He was defeated by Kid McCoy by KO in round 15 on March 2, 1896. This bout forms part of the lore of the McCoy legend. McCoy served as a sparring partner for Ryan, and absorbed many beatings at the hands of his employer. Ryan was notorious for being unmerciful on his sparring partners.
Tommy Ryan and Fireman Jim Flynn, between 1910-1915.
As a result, McCoy hated Ryan, and sought revenge. It is alleged that McCoy, who was thin, pale and frail looking persuaded Ryan that he was seriously ill before their fight. McCoy, who was famed as a trickster, purportedly rubbed flour on his face so as to appear deathly ill. Ryan is said to have fallen for the ruse, failed to train properly and was not in top condition for the bout. Whether true or not, McCoy scored an upset win over Ryan in the non-title match.
Ryan was also instrumental in the career of heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries. In fact, Ryan is credited with changing Jeffries' stance and teaching him to fight out of a crouch. Ryan also seconded James J. Corbett in his second attempt to wrest the heavyweight crown from Jeffries. Corbett however, blamed Ryan's strategy for his defeat. In 2003, Ryan was listed in the Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.
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ScapposeJohn commenting on Shane Mosely possibly being unaware he was taking PED's wrote: Likewise. It reminds me of President Clinton saying that he smoked weed in college but never inhaled. Yeah..........right.
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Re: March 31st

Post by KSTAT124 »

SIXTY YEARS AGO:

March 31, 1956-

Buenos Aires, Distrito Federal, Argentina-

Reigning World flyweight champion and future Hall of Famer (Ring Magazine Hall of Fame, WBHF, IBHOF) Pascual Perez (32-0-1) won a ten-round decision over Marcelo Quiroga. The bout was billed as a non-title bout but both fighters weighed in under the flyweight limit- Perez at 105; Quiroga at 111 3/4. Technically, Quiroga could have claimed the title had he upset Perez.

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