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

*February 2 – Salvador Sánchez becomes WBC world Featherweight champion with a fourteenth-round knockout victory over Danny Lopez in Phoenix
*June 20 – Roberto Durán conquers the WBC world Welterweight title defeating Sugar Ray Leonard by unanimous decision over fifteen rounds in Montreal, Canada.
*July 6 - In Bloomington, Minnesota Larry Holmes knocked down Scott LeDoux in the sixth round and then stopped the partially blinded challenger in the seventh round to retain his WBC world Heavyweight crown.
*July 13 - Matthew Saad Muhammad, surviving an incredible beating in the 8th round, comes back to floor Yaqui Lopez four times, stopping him in 14 rounds in Mcafee New Jersey to retain his WBC Light Heavyweight Title.
*August 2 – Thomas Hearns becomes WBA world Welterweight champion, knocking out Pipino Cuevas in two rounds in Detroit. In that same undercard, Samuel Serrano loses his WBA world Jr. Lightweight crown to Yasutsune Uehara, by knockout in round six.
*September 27 – Marvin Hagler becomes world Middleweight champion, scoring a technical knockout over Alan Minter on cuts in three rounds in London. The boxers then have to be protected by police from rioting Minter fans.
*October 2 – Larry Holmes retains his WBC world Heavyweight crown with an eleventh-round technical knockout over Muhammad Ali after beating Ali merciless in nearly every round. This fight is seen by many as one of the most despicable events in the history of the sport. Ali had been in a hospital for treatment for a good portion of the months before the fight, and it has been alleged that Don King made him fight for Ali to pay King the hospital bills King had gotten from Ali's stay at the hospital.
*November 25 – ''The No Más Fight'', Sugar Ray Leonard regains his WBC world Welterweight title with an eighth-round knockout of Roberto Durán, who quit inexplicably, leading to many rumors.

1981

*March 28 – Santos Laciar becomes world Flyweight champion for the first time, defeating Peter Mathebula by knockout in round seven to win the WBA title, in Soweto, South Africa.
*May 23 – Wilfred Benítez becomes the first Hispanic and Puerto Rican to be a three time world champion, as well as the fifth boxer to do it and the first one to do it since Henry Armstrong four decades before, when he defeats Maurice Hope by knockout in round twelve to win the WBC's world Jr. Middleweight title in Las Vegas
*June 20 – Alexis Argüello becomes the sixth three time world champion in boxing history when he defeats Jim Watt by decision in fifteen rounds to win the WBC world Lightweight title in London.
*June 25 – Sugar Ray Leonard conquers the WBA world Jr. Middleweight title with a ninth-round knockout of Ayub Kalule in Houston.
*August 21 – '' The Battle of the Little Giants'', Salvador Sánchez defeats Wilfredo Gómez in round fourteen at Las Vegas.
*December 3 – Joe Frazier's last fight: He draws after ten rounds with Floyd "Jumbo" Cummings in Chicago.
*December 11 – Muhammad Ali's last fight: He loses a ten-round unanimous decision to future WBC World Heavyweight Champion Trevor Berbick in Nassau, Bahamas.

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 retains his WBC world Jr. Middleweight title with a fifteen-round unanimous decision over Roberto Durán in Las Vegas.
*June 11 – After one of the most racially charged fight promotions in history, Larry Holmes retains his WBC world Heavyweight title with a thirteen-round knockout over the fighter dubbed as ''the White Hope'', Gerry Cooney, in Las Vegas (see: Larry Holmes vs. 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 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 and Thomas Hearns becomes the WBC's world Jr. Middleweight champion with a fifteen-round majority decision over Wilfred Benítez.

1983

*January 31 – In the first world title fight scheduled for twelve rounds instead of fifteen in various decades, Rafael Orono retains his WBC world Jr. Bantamweight championship with a four-round knockout over Pedro Romero in Caracas, Venezuela.
*March – the IBF surges, becoming boxing's third world sanctioning body.
*March 18 – Michael Spinks unifies his WBA world Light Heavyweight title with the WBC one, defeating the WBC's world champion, Dwight Muhammad Qawi, by a unanimous decision in fifteen rounds at Atlantic City.
*May 1 – Edwin Rosario becomes world champion for the first time, winning the WBC world Lightweight title that had been vacated by Alexis Argüello, with a twelve-round unanimous decision over José Luis Ramírez in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
*June 16 – On his 32nd birthday, Roberto Durán becomes the seventh fighter in history to be a three division world champion, knocking out WBA Jr. Middleweight champion Davey Moore in eight rounds at New York City.
*August 7 – Héctor Camacho wins his first of several world titles, knocking out Rafael Limón in five rounds to win the vacant WBC Jr. Lightweight title in San Juan.
*September 1 – Tragedy strikes again: Alberto Davila wins the vacant WBC world Bantamweight championship with a twelve-round knockout over '' Kiko Bejines'', who dies three days later.
*September 9 – Aaron Pryor retains his WBA world Jr. Welterweight title with a tenth-round knockout over Alexis Argüello, who once again was attempting to become the first man to win world titles in four different divisions, in Las Vegas. Both men announce their retirements after their rematch.
*September 23 – Gerrie Coetzee of South Africa becomes the first African world Heavyweight champion in history, and the first White man to win the world Heavyweight title in twenty four years, when he defeats Michael Dokes for the WBA championship with a ten-round knockout in Akron.
*October 25 - In Puerto Rico, Mike McCallum remain undefeated as he go 20-0 after a 10-round unanimous decision win over Manuel Jiminez.
*November 10 – Marvin Hagler retains his world Middleweight title with a fifteen-round unanimous decision over Roberto Durán in Las Vegas. Duran was also attempting to become the first four division world champion in history.
*December 11 – Larry Holmes vacates the WBC World Heavyweight championship and becomes the first Heavyweight champion recognized by the fledgling International Boxing Federation.
*December 13 – The IBF's first world title fight, as Marvin Camel becomes world Cruiserweight champion for the second time, knocking out Roddy McDonald in five rounds for the IBF's vacant title, in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada.

1984

*February 26 - Rocky Lockridge knocked out Roger Mayweather in Round 1 to win the WBA Super Featherweight Championship in Beaumont, Texas.
*March 30 – Marvin Hagler retains his undisputed world Middleweight title with a tenth-round knockout over Juan Roldán in Las Vegas.
*March 31 – Wilfredo Gómez