Boxing in the 1960s


During the 1960s, boxing, like mostly everything else around the world, went through changing times. Notable was the emergence of a young boxer named Cassius Clay, who would, in his own words shock the world, declare himself against war, and change his name to Muhammad Ali.

Among significant boxers in lower weights, were middleweights Emile Griffith, Nino Benvenuti and Dick Tiger, and lightweights Joe Brown, Carlos Ortiz and Ismael Laguna as also bantamweight Eder Jofre. The first world champions from Venezuela, Brazil and Thailand were crowned during the 1960s, and the WBA and WBC started competing against each other, after the WBA changed its name from the National Boxing Association in 1962 and a group split from the WBA in 1963 to form the WBC.
A new division was created in the Jr. Middleweights, where a high school teacher, Freddie Little, was crowned world champion. Fights were seen on color television for the first time, and one of the most famous tragedies, Benny Kid Paret's, was also shown live on TV.

1960

1961

1962

1963

  • February 23 – Dick Tiger retains his world Middleweight title with a fifteen-round draw against former world champion Gene Fullmer in their Las Vegas rematch.
  • March 13 – Cassius Clay defeats Doug Jones by a close but unanimous decision, Madison Square Garden, New York City.
  • March 21 – A world title double header in Los Angeles: Luis Rodriguez wins the world Welterweight title by defeating Emile Griffith with a fifteen-round decision. Then, the double header turns tragic when Sugar Ramos takes the world Featherweight title away from Davey Moore, who would later die of the injuries suffered in the bout.
  • March 25 – Davey Moore dies in Los Angeles. His death led to Pope John XXIII's describing of boxing as barbaric, and to Bob Dylan's song Who Killed Davey Moore?.
  • June 1 – Willie Pastrano wins the world Light-Heavyweight title with a fifteen-round decision over Harold Johnson, Las Vegas.
  • June 8 – Emile Griffith recovers the world Welterweight title by defeating Luis Rodriguez with a fifteen-round decision in New York.
  • June 18 – Cassius Clay suffers a knockdown at the end of round four at the hands of Henry Cooper, and then, he rips off his glove in the corner before round five, making trainer Angelo Dundee go to the locker room to get a new glove, and giving him time to recover. Cooper succumbed to his tendency to cut and with blood streaming down his face, the referee was forced to stop the fight in round five, London.
  • July 22 – Sonny Liston again defeats Floyd Patterson by a knockout in the first round, this time retaining the world Heavyweight title, Las Vegas.
  • August 10 – Gene Fullmer's last fight, as he gets knocked out in eight rounds by world Middleweight champion Dick Tiger in Ibadan, Nigeria. To Fullmer's surprise, about 1,000 of Tiger's fans greet him outside the stadium after the fight, to applaud him and express admiration.
  • December 7 – Joey Giardello becomes world Middleweight champion with a fifteen-round decision win over Dick Tiger, Atlantic City.
  • December 20 – Rubin Carter produces one of Emile Griffith's two knockout defeats, scoring a technical knockout over the world Welterweight champion in round one of a non-title bout, Pittsburgh.

1964

1965

1966

  • March 1 – Horacio Accavallo beats Katsuyoshi Takayama by a fifteen-round decision in Tokyo, Japan, to win the vacant WBA and vacant WBC world Flyweight title, making Salvatore Burruni be, as of 2004, boxing's last undisputed linear world champion in the Flyweight division.
  • March 29 – Muhammad Ali retains his WBC world Heavyweight title with a fifteen-round unanimous decision of George Chuvalo, Toronto, Canada.
  • April 25 – Emile Griffith retains his world Middleweight title with a fifteen-round decision against Dick Tiger, New York City.
  • May 21 – Muhammad Ali retains his world Heavyweight title with a sixth-round knockout win over a bloodied Henry Cooper, London.
  • June 1 – Fighting Harada repeats his earlier victory over Eder Jofre, retaining the world's Bantamweight title by a fifteen-round decision in Tokyo. Jofre subsequently announces his retirement; he would return in 1970.
  • June 14 – Salvatore Burruni's championship run at the Flyweights comes to a complete end when he loses his world belt by a decision in fifteen to Walter McGowan, Wembley, UK.
  • July 13 – Emile Griffith defeats Joey Archer, by a fifteen-round decision to retain his world Middleweight title, New York.
  • August 6 – Muhammad Ali defeats Brian London by 3rd round KO to retain the WBC, NYSAC, and The Ring heavyweight titles
  • September 10 – Muhammad Ali defeats Karl Mildenberger by 12th round TKO to retain the WBC, NYSAC, and The Ring heavyweight titles
  • October 22 – Carlos Ortiz beats Sugar Ramos by a knockout in five rounds to retain his world Lightweight title in Mexico City, Mexico, and a riot ensues. Many are hurt, including Ortiz's manager.
  • November 14 – In what many consider to be his best career performance, Muhammad Ali defeats Cleveland Williams by a knockout in three at the Astrodome, Houston, to retain his WBC world Heavyweight title.
  • November 22 – In a much anticipated rematch, Carlos Ortiz defeats world Jr. Lightweight champion Flash Elorde, once again, by knockout in round fourteen, to retain his world lightweight title, Madison Square Garden, New York.
  • December 16 – Dick Tiger conquers the world Light-Heavyweight title, beating José Torres by a fifteen-round unanimous decision at the Madison Square Garden, New York.

1967

  • January 23 – In a rematch of their 1966 title fight, Emile Griffith again retains the world's Middleweight title with a fifteen-round decision over Joey Archer, New York City.
  • February 5 – In another rematch of a 1966 world title fight, Dick Tiger retains his world Light-Heavyweight title with a fifteen-round split-decision over former world champion José Torres. Most of the public at the fight is dissatisfied with the decision and a large scale riot forms after the verdict is announced: chairs, bottles and other objects were thrown into the ring, at New York.
  • February 6 – Muhammad Ali unifies his WBC world Heavyweight title with the WBA one, defeating the WBA's world champion Ernie Terrell by a fifteen-round unanimous decision in Houston's Astrodome, to become a two time undisputed heavyweight champion. Ali kept asking Terrell What's my name? throughout the contest.
  • March 22 – Muhammad Ali retains his world Heavyweight title with a seventh-round knockout of Zora Folley in what would be his last fight in three years, at New York.
  • April 17 – Nino Benvenuti wins the world Middleweight title, defeating Emile Griffith by a fifteen-round unanimous decision, at New York.
  • April 30 – Asian-American former Marine Paul Fujii wins the world Jr. Welterweight title, knocking out Sandro Lopopolo in the second round, Tokyo, Japan.
  • June 15, 1967– Japanese Yoshiaki Numata ended Flash Elorde's seven-year reign as world junior lightweight champion by defeating the Filipino by split decision over 15 rounds in their title fight in Tokyo. Elorde with ten successful title defenses was the longest reigning champion in the history of the division.
  • July 1 – In a rematch of their scandalous Mexico City, Mexico fight, Carlos Ortiz once again knocks out Sugar Ramos, this time in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in round four, to retain the world Lightweight title.
  • August 18 – Carlos Ortiz retains his world Lightweight title in his rubber match with former world champion Ismael Laguna, by a fifteen-round unanimous decision, Shea Stadium, New York.
  • September 29 – Emile Griffith recovers the world Middleweight title, with a fifteen-round majority decision over Nino Benvenuti in their New York rematch.
  • December 14 – In the first world title fight in history between two Japanese fighters, Hiroshi Kobayashi, with only 11 knockout wins in fifty seven previous bouts, drops defending world Jr. Lightweight champion Yoshiaki Numata four times before knocking him out in twelve rounds to win the world title, Tokyo.

1968

1969

  • January 23 – World Light Heavyweight champion Bob Foster recovers from a knockdown to knock out challenger Frank DePaula, all within the first round, at the Madison Square Garden, New York City.
  • February 18 – Mando Ramos wins the world Lightweight title, knocking out Carlos Cruz in eleven rounds, Los Angeles.
  • March 17 – High school teacher Freddie Little becomes the world's Jr. Middleweight champion, defeating Stanley Hayward for the vacant world title, Las Vegas.
  • April 18 – Cuban-Mexican José Nápoles becomes the world Welterweight champion, knocking out defending world champion Curtis Cokes in thirteen rounds, Inglewood.
  • June 23 – Future world Heavyweight champion Joe Frazier defeats Jerry Quarry by knockout in round eight, New York.
  • June 29 – José Nápoles retains his world Welterweight title with a tenth-round knockout of former world champion Curtis Cokes in their Mexico City, Mexico rematch.
  • July 28 – World Featherweight champion Johnny Famechon of Australia retains his world title with a controversial fifteen-round decision over Fighting Harada, Sydney.
  • August 22 – Rubén Olivares becomes world champion for the first time, knocking out world Bantamweight champion Lionel Rose in five rounds, Inglewood.
  • October 4 – In another bout filled with controversy, Nino Benvenuti retains his world Middleweight title with a seventh-round disqualification of American challenger Fraser Scott, Naples, Italy.
  • October 17 – World Welterweight champion José Nápoles retains his title with a fifteen-round unanimous decision win over Emile Griffith, Inglewood.
  • November 22 – Nino Benvenuti retains his world Middleweight title with an eleventh-round knockout of former world Welterweight champion Luis Rodriguez, Rome, Italy.