Editing Boxing in the 1970s (section)

==1978==
*January 21 – [[Roberto Durán vs. Esteban de Jesús III]] : The third and final chapter of the [[Roberto Durán|Duran]]-[[Esteban De Jesús|De Jesus]] trilogy, as Roberto Durán re-unifies his [[World Boxing Association|WBA]] world Lightweight championship with the [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] one, defeating Esteban De Jesús by a knockout in round twelve at [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]]. Duran had been stripped of his WBC belt for failing to meet [[Ishimatzu Suzuki]] in a world championship bout, Suzuki later won the WBC title and lost it to De Jesus.
*January 28 – [[Alexis Argüello]] wins the second of three world titles, knocking out WBC world Jr. Lightweight champion [[Alfredo Escalera]] in thirteen rounds at [[The Bloody Battle of Bayamon]] in [[Bayamón, Puerto Rico]].
*February 15 – [[Leon Spinks]], a novice who had had only had seven professional fights, wins the undisputed world Heavyweight championship, defeating [[Muhammad Ali]] by a fifteen-round split decision, in Las Vegas.
*March 18 – Recognition of World Heavyweight Champion [[Leon Spinks]] is withdrawn by the [[World Boxing Council]] after Spinks elected to fight [[Muhammad Ali]] in a rematch rather than face the organization's #1 contender, [[Ken Norton]].  In an unprecedented step, the WBC immediately announces its recognition of Norton as champion, and orders him to fight the highest ranked contender available ([[Larry Holmes]]) not later than June 17.
*March 25 - [[Larry Holmes]] earned his spot for the heavyweight title by beating [[Earnie Shavers]] in a twelve-round unanimous decision in front of a national [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] television audience in [[Las Vegas]].
*April 15 – [[Eusebio Pedroza]] begins his record-setting championship run as WBA world Featherweight champion, knocking out [[Cecilio Lastra]] in thirteen rounds at [[Panama City, Panama]].
*May 20 – [[José Cuevas (boxer)|José Cuevas]] retains his WBA world welterweight title with a first-round knockout of former world champion [[Billy Backus]] in [[Inglewood, California|Inglewood]].
*June 9 – [[Larry Holmes]] becomes the WBC's fourth World Heavyweight champion in precisely four months (after Muhammad Ali, Leon Spinks and Ken Norton) by defeating [[Ken Norton]] by a fifteen-round split decision.
*September 15 – Muhammad Ali makes history, becoming the first boxer to be world Heavyweight champion three times, by beating novice Leon Spinks by a fifteen-round unanimous decision at their [[New Orleans]] rematch. 
*October 28 – [[Wilfredo Gómez vs. Carlos Zárate|In an eagerly anticipated bout]], [[Wilfredo Gómez]] delivers what many consider the greatest victory ever by a [[Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican]] boxer, knocking out [[Carlos Zarate (boxer)|Carlos Zarate]] in five rounds to retain the WBC world Super Bantamweight title, [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]].
*November 10 – Larry Holmes retains his WBC world Heavyweight title with a seventh-round knockout over Uruguayan [[Alfredo Evangelista]], in Las Vegas.