Editing Boxing in the 1970s

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{| class="infobox"
|- style="background:#f3f3f3;"
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Boxing in the 1960s|1960s]] <sup>.</sup> '''Boxing in the 1970s''' <sup>.</sup> [[Boxing in the 1980s|1980s]]
|-
|}
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{{Refimprove|date=April 2016}}
During the 1970s, [[boxing]] was characterized by dominating champions and history-making rivalries. The decade had many superstars, who also had fierce rivals. [[Alexis Arg%C3%BCello|Alexis Argüello]], for example, who won the world Featherweight and Jr. Lightweight titles in the '70s, had to overcome [[Alfredo Escalera]] twice before the decade was over.

At least six divisions had world champions who could be considered dominant: The Bantamweights had [[Carlos Zárate Serna| Carlos Zárate]]; the Super Bantamweights, (a division created in 1976) had [[Wilfredo Gómez]] winning the title in 1977 and keeping it until he left it vacant in 1983; the Lightweights had [[Roberto Durán]], who won the title in 1972 and vacated it in 1979 to seek championships at other weights; the Jr. Welterweights had [[Antonio Cervantes]], who reigned twice; the Middleweights had [[Carlos Monzón]], sometimes referred to as ''King Carlos'' because of his seven-year reign as champion; the Light-Heavyweights had [[Bob Foster (boxer)|Bob Foster]]. The Heavyweights had [[Muhammad Ali]], who ruled twice between 1974 and 1979.<ref>{{cite web|author=Frank Keating |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2010/oct/27/muhammad-ali-jerry-quarry-october-1970 |title=The night Muhammad Ali's legend was reborn – and the party that followed|work=The Guardian |date= |accessdate=2016-03-26}}</ref>

Another aspect of '''boxing in the 1970s''' is that the decade is considered by a few to be the best ever for the Heavyweight division: Ali returned in 1970 from his forced retirement, and [[Joe Frazier]] was world champion when Ali returned.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/story/0,3604,434092,00.html |title=Boxing: Earnie Shavers; the baddest bouncer in Liverpool |website=Guardian.co.uk |date= |accessdate=2016-04-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/hope-for-the-heavyweights-1.1115212 |title=Hope for the heavyweights |website=Irishtimes.com |date=2000-11-11 |accessdate=2016-04-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://a.espncdn.com/boxing/columns/kellerman_max/1331288.html |title=ESPN.com: BOXING - As heavyweight eras go, this one is very good |website=A.espncdn.com |date= |accessdate=2016-04-28}}</ref> Former world champions [[Jimmy Ellis (boxer)|Jimmy Ellis]] and [[Floyd Patterson]] as well as [[George Foreman]], [[Oscar Bonavena]], [[Jerry Quarry]], [[Earnie Shavers]], [[Leon Spinks]], [[Ken Norton]], as well as [[Larry Holmes]], [[Ron Stander]], [[Chuck Wepner]], [[José Roman (boxer)|José Roman]], Light Heavyweight champ Foster, [[John Tate (boxer)|John Tate]], [[Jimmy Young (boxer)|Jimmy Young]], [[Ron Lyle]], [[Joe Bugner]], [[Scott LeDoux]] and many others added intrigue to the division. [[Don King (boxing promoter)|Don King]] surged as a leading boxing promoter, and champions Duran, Monzon and Ali had historic rivalries with [[Esteban De Jesús]], [[Rodrigo Valdez]] and Frazier, respectively.<ref>{{cite web|author=Briggs Seekins |url=http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2219216-ranking-the-10-best-boxers-of-the-1970s |title=Ranking the 10 Best Boxers of the 1970s |publisher=[[Bleacher Report]] |date=2014-10-03 |accessdate=2016-04-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gbQHxb_P0QC&q=1970s+is++best+ever+for+the+Heavyweight+division&pg=PA275 |title=Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: From the Age ... |page=275 |isbn=9780195167795 |accessdate=2016-04-28|last1=Finkelman |first1=Paul |year=2009 }}</ref>

==1970==
*February 16 – [[Joe Frazier]] becomes world Heavyweight champion by knocking out [[Jimmy Ellis (boxer)|Jimmy Ellis]] in five rounds at New York City's [[Madison Square Garden]].
*April 18 – [[Rubén Olivares]] begins his trilogy of world championship fights with [[Chucho Castillo]] by defeating Castillo with a fifteen-round unanimous decision in [[Inglewood, California|Inglewood]].
*May 9 – [[Vicente Saldivar]] returns to the ring, with only one fight in the last two years, to win the [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] world Featherweight championship with a fifteen-round unanimous decision over [[Johnny Famechon]] in [[Rome, Italy]].
*August 4 – [[George Foreman]] beats [[George Chuvalo]] by a technical knockout in round three in New York.
*September 26 – [[Ken Buchanan]] wins the world Lightweight title with a fifteen-round split decision over [[Ismael Laguna]] of [[Panama]] at [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]]. 
*October 16 – Chapter 2 of Olivares-Castillo, as Chucho Castillo conquers the world Featherweight title with a fourteenth-round technical knockout of Rubén Olivares in Inglewood.
*October 26 – [[Muhammad Ali]] returns from his forced exile with a three-round stoppage of [[Jerry Quarry]] in [[Atlanta]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/181567-ali-quarry-remembered |title=Ali-Quarry remembered – Ring TV |website=Ringtv.craveonline.com |date=October 26, 2013 |accessdate=2016-03-26 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303003955/http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/181567-ali-quarry-remembered |archivedate=March 3, 2016 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
*November 7 – [[Carlos Monzón]] becomes world Middleweight champion by knocking out [[Nino Benvenuti]] in twelve rounds in Rome.
*November 18 – Joe Frazier retains his world Heavyweight crown with a two-round knockout of reigning world Light Heavyweight champion [[Bob Foster (boxer)|Bob Foster]] in Detroit. 
*December 3 – [[Billy Backus]] beats [[José Nápoles]] by knockout in four rounds, winning the world Welterweight title in [[Syracuse, New York|Syracuse]].
*December 7 - In the 15th and final round, Muhammad Ali knocked down [[Oscar Bonavena]] 3 times and earned the win at [[Madison Square Garden]].

==1971==
*March 8 – The ''[[Fight of the Century]]'': before a jet-set crowd that included [[Cher]], [[Frank Sinatra]], [[Woody Allen]], [[Mia Farrow]], [[Diana Ross]] and others, [[Joe Frazier]] drops [[Muhammad Ali]] in the fifteenth round and wins a unanimous decision to retain the world's Heavyweight title, at New York City's [[Madison Square Garden]].
*March 16 - In what turn out to be [[Henry Cooper]]'s final fight, he lost to [[Joe Bugner]] in a controversial 15-round decision as Bugner became the British, Commonwealth and European heavyweight champion in Cooper's hometown of [[London, England]].
*April 3 – In the last chapter of the Olivares-Castillo trilogy, [[Rubén Olivares]] recovers from a knockdown to regain the world Featherweight title with a fifteen-round unanimous decision over [[Chucho Castillo]] in [[Inglewood, California|Inglewood]].
*May 9 – [[Carlos Monzón]] retains his title with a three-round knockout of [[Nino Benvenuti]] in [[Monte Carlo, Monaco]]. It is Benvenuti's last fight.
*June 4 – [[José Nápoles]] recovers his world Welterweight title with an eighth-round knockout of [[Billy Backus]] in Inglewood.
*July 26 – Former world Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali beats his friend and gymmate, former Heavyweight champion [[Jimmy Ellis (boxer)|Jimmy Ellis]], by a knockout in round twelve in [[Houston]].
*August 9 – [[Rodrigo Valdez]] beats [[Bobby Cassidy]] by ten round unanimous decision in New York, but gets infected with [[Hepatitis]], which Cassidy did not know he had before entering the ring. Both boxers then enter quarantine.
*September 25 – Carlos Monzón retains his world Middleweight championship with a fourteen-round knockout of multiple time world champion [[Emile Griffith]] in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
*November 5 – [[Pedro Carrasco]] becomes Spain's second world boxing champion, beating [[Mando Ramos]] by an eleventh round disqualification in [[Madrid, Spain]] to take the [[World Boxing Council|WBC's]] vacant world Lightweight title. This bout was extremely controversial; Ramos was disqualified because, after Carrasco hit the deck in round eleven, the referee decided to declare Carrasco the winner because he didn't know if Carrasco had been felled by a punch or a push.

==1972==
*January 15 – [[Joe Frazier]] retains his world Heavyweight title with a five-round knockout of [[Terry Daniels]] in [[New Orleans]].
*April 7 – [[Bob Foster (boxer)|Bob Foster]] recovers the [[World Boxing Association|WBA]] world Light-Heavyweight title, unifying it once again with his [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] championship, knocking out [[Vicente Rondon]] in two rounds at Miami. Rondon had become the second [[Latin American]] world Light Heavyweight champion when the WBA recognized him after Foster refused to defend the championship against him, but the WBC had kept Foster as world champion.
*May 26 – Joe Frazier retains his world Heavyweight title with a five-round knockout over [[Ron Stander]] in [[Omaha, Nebraska|Omaha]].
*June 26 – [[Roberto Durán]] wins the first of four world titles, knocking out WBA world Lightweight champion [[Ken Buchanan]] in thirteen rounds at New York City. The fight has a controversial ending: many believe that the blow with which Duran ended the fight was actually low and that he should have been disqualified.
*June 27 – [[Muhammad Ali]] knocks out [[Jerry Quarry]] in the seventh round of their [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] rematch.
*September 20 – [[Muhammad Ali]] beats [[Floyd Patterson]] by a knockout in round seven of their rematch, held at New York. It is Patterson's last professional fight, he retires with a record of 55–8–1 with 40 knockouts.
*October 28 – [[Antonio Cervantes]] wins the WBA world Jr. Welterweight title for the first time, with a tenth-round knockout of defending champion ''[[Alfonso Frazer|Alfonso Peppermint Frazer]]'' in [[Panama City, Panama]].
*November 17 – [[Esteban De Jesús]] begins his trilogy of fights with Roberto Durán by defeating the world Lightweight champion by a ten-round unanimous decision in New York. Durán suffers his first career defeat in the non-title fight.

==1973==
*January 22 – [[George Foreman]] becomes world Heavyweight champion, defeating [[Joe Frazier]] by knockout in round two at [[Kingston, Jamaica]]. It is the first fight televised on [[HBO Boxing]].
*January 24 – [[World Boxing Association|WBA]] world Flyweight champion [[Masao Ohba]] dies after his car collided with a truck in [[Tokyo, Japan]]. He left a record of 35 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, with 15 knockouts.
*March 31 – [[Ken Norton]] becomes the second boxer to defeat [[Muhammad Ali]], breaking Ali's jaw en route to a twelve-round split decision in [[San Diego]].
*May 5 – [[Eder Jofre]] wins the [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] world Featherweight title three years after his first retirement from boxing, defeating world champion [[Jose Legra]] by a fifteen-round majority decision in [[Brasília]], Brazil.
*May 19 – [[Antonio Cervantes]] retains his WBA world Jr. Welterweight title with a five-round knockout of ''[[Alfonso Frazer|Alfonso Peppermint Frazer]]'', in their [[Panama City, Panama]] rematch.
*June 2 – [[Carlos Monzón]] retains his world Middleweight title with a fifteen-round unanimous decision over [[Emile Griffith]], at their rematch, held in [[Monte Carlo, Monaco]].
*July 2 – Former world Heavyweight champion Joe Frazier returns to the ring, beating [[Joe Bugner]] by a twelve-round decision at London.
*September 1 – George Foreman retains his world Heavyweight title with a first-round knockout over ''[[José Roman (boxer)|José Roman]]'', who becomes the first [[Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican]] to challenge for the world Heavyweight championship, in Tokyo.
*September 10 – Muhammad Ali avenges his loss to Ken Norton, beating Norton by a twelve-round split decision in [[Inglewood, California]].
*November 3 – [[Arnold Taylor]] survives four knockdowns to knock out WBA world Bantamweight champion [[Romeo Anaya]] in fourteen rounds, winning the world title in [[Johannesburg, South Africa]], in what boxing writer [[Chris Greyvenstein]] called ''probably the most murderous and dramatic (fight) in South African history''.
*December 1 – In the first boxing fight pitting a Black man against a White man in South African history, [[Bob Foster (boxer)|Bob Foster]], an African-American, retains his world Light Heavyweight championship with a fifteen-round unanimous decision over [[Pierre Fourie]]. It was, in addition, Foster's second fifteen-round decision win over Fourie.

==1974==
*January 28 – [[Muhammad Ali]] avenges his defeat to [[Joe Frazier]], beating Frazier by a unanimous decision in twelve rounds at New York City.
*February 9 – [[Carlos Monzón]] retains the world's Middleweight title with a seventh-round knockout over world Welterweight champion [[José Nápoles]] in Paris, France.
*February 16 – [[Alexis Argüello]]'s first world title fight: he loses a fifteen-round unanimous decision to [[World Boxing Association|WBA]] world Featherweight champion [[Ernesto Marcel]] in [[Panama City, Panama]]. Marcel never fought again.
*March 16 – [[Roberto Durán]] avenges his loss to [[Esteban De Jesús]], recovering from a first round knockdown to knock out the [[Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican]] in round eleven and retain his world Lightweight championship in Panama City, Panama.
*March 26 – [[George Foreman]] retains his world Heavyweight championship with a second-round knockout over [[Ken Norton]] in [[Caracas, Venezuela]].
*July 9 – [[Rubén Olivares]] conquers the vacant WBA world Featherweight championship with a seventh-round knockout over [[Zensuke Utagawa]] in [[Inglewood, California|Inglewood]].
*July 17 – [[Bob Foster (boxer)|Bob Foster]] is knocked down in round thirteen, but retains his world Light-Heavyweight title with a draw (tie) with [[Jorge Ahumada]] in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]]. It is Foster's last championship defense. 
*August 24 – WBA world Jr. Lightweight champion [[Ben Villaflor]], a Hawaiian-based [[Philippines|Filipino]], retains his world title with a second-round knockout of Japan's future world champion, [[Yasutsune Uehara]], in [[Honolulu]].
*October 30 – ''[[The Rumble in the Jungle]]'': Muhammad Ali regains the world Heavyweight championship, joining [[Floyd Patterson]] as the two only boxers to achieve such a feat, by knocking out George Foreman in eight rounds at [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Zaire]].
*November 23 – Alexis Argüello wins the first of three world titles, knocking out Rubén Olivares in the thirteenth round at Inglewood. He also becomes the first Nicaraguan world boxing champion.
*December 7 – [[Victor Galindez]] becomes the third [[Hispanic]] world Light-Heavyweight champion. The [[Argentina|Argentine]] beats [[Len Hutchins]] by TKO in round thirteen to claim the vacant WBA title, in [[Buenos Aires]].

==1975==
*March 24: The fight that inspired the movie [[Rocky]]: With a young [[Sylvester Stallone]] sitting at home and watching, [[Muhammad Ali]] retains his world Heavyweight championship with a fifteenth-round knockout over underdog [[Chuck Wepner]], but not without suffering a ninth round knockdown first, in [[Cleveland]].
*March 30 – [[José Nápoles]] retains his world Welterweight title with a highly controversial and suspicious twelve round technical decision over [[Armando Muniz]] in [[Acapulco]], Mexico. Although no one knew for sure when Nápoles' facial cuts (which caused the fight to be stopped) happened, it was decided that they were probably the result of a headbutt in round three. Therefore, instead of giving the world title to Muniz by technical knockout, it was decided to check the judge's scorecards, and Nápoles was ahead on points, making him the winner by technical decision.
*April 26 – [[George Foreman]] stages a boxing exhibition against five different boxers, including former [[Joe Frazier]] challenger [[Terry Daniels]]. He beats the five men by knockout in [[Toronto]], Ontario, Canada.
*May 16 – Muhammad Ali retains the world Heavyweight title with an eleventh-round knockout of [[Ron Lyle]] in [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]].
*May 17 – [[Antonio Cervantes]] retains his [[World Boxing Association]] (WBA) world Jr. Welterweight title with a fifteen-round decision over [[Esteban De Jesús]] in [[Panama City, Panama]].
*June 20 – [[Rubén Olivares]] wins the [[World Boxing Council]] (WBC) world Featherweight title, knocking out [[Bobby Chacon]] in the second round of their second of three fights, in [[Inglewood, California|Inglewood]].
*June 28 – [[Ángel Espada]] wins the vacant WBA world Welterweight title that had been stripped from José Nápoles after Nápoles refused to fight him, by beating [[Clyde Gray]] with a fifteen-round decision in [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]].
* June 30 – Muhammad Ali retains his world Heavyweight title with a fifteen-round unanimous decision over [[Joe Bugner]] in [[Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia]].
* July 12 – José Nápoles retains his world Welterweight title with a fifteen-round decision over Armando Muniz in their [[Mexico City]], [[Mexico]] rematch.
* July 15 – With only two previous professional bouts, [[Thailand]]'s [[Saensak Muangsuring]] makes history by winning the WBC world Jr. Welterweight title, knocking out world champion Jose Fernandez in [[Bangkok, Thailand|Bangkok]]. Muangsuring becomes the fastest boxer to reach a world championship after his debut.
* August 23 – The first world Junior Flyweight world championship fight sees [[Jaime Rios (boxer)|Jaime Rios]] beat [[Rigoberto Marcano]] by decision in fifteen rounds at Panama City to become the WBA's world champion.
* September 20 – [[David Kotey]] becomes [[Ghana]]'s first world champion, defeating Rubén Olivares by a fifteen-round decision to win the WBC's world Featherweight championship in Inglewood.
*September 30 – The ''[[Thrilla in Manila]]'':  Muhammad Ali retains his world Heavyweight title in his third fight with Joe Frazier, by TKO in round fourteen in [[Manila, Philippines|Manila]]. Ali compared this bout to being ''next to death''.
*December 6 – José Nápoles' last fight, as he loses his WBC world Welterweight title to [[John H. Stracey]] in Mexico City, Mexico.

==1976==
*January 24 – [[George Foreman]] recovers from two four round knockdowns and beats [[Ron Lyle]] by a knockout in the fifth round at [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]]. Lyle had also suffered a knockdown in round four, which was picked ''round of the year'' by [[The Ring (magazine)|The Ring]], publication that also selected the fight as ''[[Ring Magazine fights of the year|fight of the year]]''. Also, it was the major boxing fight at the [[Caesars Palace]] hotel and casino, which would become known as the "Home of Champions".
*March 17 – [[Wilfred Benítez]] becomes, at age 17, the youngest world champion in boxing history and wins his first of three world titles, defeating [[World Boxing Association|WBA]] world Jr. Welterweight champion [[Antonio Cervantes]] by a fifteen-round split decision in [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]].
*April 3 – The first Jr. Featherweight world title bout in history, as [[Rigoberto Riasco]] knocks out [[Wainunge Wakayama]] in ten rounds at [[Panama City, Panama]] to win the WBC vacant title. 
*April 30 – [[Muhammad Ali]] retains the world Heavyweight title with a highly disputed fifteen round unanimous decision over Jimmy Young at [[Capital Centre (Landover, Maryland)|Capital Centre]] in {{nowrap|[[Landover, Maryland]].<ref name=sagby>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7tIVAAAAIBAJ&pg=6452%2C62499 |work=Milwaukee Sentinel |agency=UPI |title=Sluggish Ali gets by Young |date=May 1, 1976|page=1, part 2}}</ref><ref name=waldecl>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=38ASAAAAIBAJ&pg=5412%2C51875 |newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |title=Winner Ali declares he misjudged Young |date=May 1, 1976 |page=10}}</ref>}}
*May 24 - [[Muhammad Ali]] knocks out [[Richard Dunn (boxer)|Richard Dunn]] in 5 rounds to retain his undisputed heavyweight championship. For Ali, it was his 37th and final knockout of his Hall of Fame career.
*June 26 – [[Carlos Monzón]] re-unifies his WBA world Middleweight title with the WBC one by defeating WBC champion [[Rodrigo Valdez]] with a fifteen-round unanimous decision at [[Monte Carlo, Monaco]]. (The WBC had stripped Monzon in 1974 for failing to defend the title against Valdez)
*September 28 – In the last chapter of their trilogy, Muhammad Ali retains the world Heavyweight championship with a disputed fifteen round unanimous decision over [[Ken Norton]], at New York City's [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]].

==1977==
*January 16 - In front of an [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] National Television audience, future Boxing Hall of Famer Larry Holmes defeated Tom Prater in an 8-round unanimous decision on board the [[USS Lexington (CV-16)|USS ''Lexington'']] in Pensacola, [[Florida]].
*March 17 – [[Jimmy Young (boxer)|Jimmy Young]] defeats [[George Foreman]] by a twelve-round unanimous decision at the [[Roberto Clemente Coliseum]], [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]]. Yet Ali still refused to give Young a title fight rematch.  Immediately after the fight, Foreman has a religious experience, becomes a new-born Christian and retires from boxing.
*April 23 – In a fight without any titles at stake, [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] world Bantamweight champion [[Carlos Zarate (boxer)|Carlos Zarate]] defeats [[World Boxing Association|WBA]] world champion [[Alfonso Zamora]] in four rounds at [[Inglewood, California|Inglewood]]. 
*May 11 – [[Ken Norton]] knocks out former Olympian [[Duane Bobick]] in the first round at the [[Madison Square Garden]], New York City.
*May 21 – [[Wilfredo Gómez]] wins the first of three world titles by knocking out WBC world Jr. Featherweight champion [[Dong Kyun Yum]] in twelve rounds at San Juan.
*July 30 – [[Carlos Monzón]] recovers from a second round knockdown and retains his world Middleweight championship with a fifteen-round unanimous decision against [[Rodrigo Valdez]] in their rematch, at [[Monte Carlo, Monaco]]. Monzon broke the all-time record of defenses at the Middleweight division with fourteen successful defenses, and he retired permanently after this fight.
*September 29 – [[Muhammad Ali]] retains the world Heavyweight championship with a fifteen-round unanimous decision over [[Earnie Shavers]] in New York.
*November 5 – Rodrigo Valdez wins the undisputed world Middleweight championship left vacant by archrival Carlos Monzón, outpointing [[Bennie Briscoe]] by unanimity after fifteen rounds in [[Campioni d' Italia, Italy]].

==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.

==1979==
*January 14 – [[Wilfred Benítez]] wins his second of three world titles, defeating [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] world Welterweight champion [[Carlos Palomino]] by a fifteen-round split decision in [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]].
*February 4 – The rematch between [[Alexis Argüello]] and [[Alfredo Escalera]] has exactly the first result as their first bout, when Arguello retains his WBC world Jr. Lightweight title with a knockout in round thirteen at [[Rimini, Italy]]. Both fights were picked by ''[[The Ring (magazine)|The Ring]]'' among the 100 greatest fights of all times in 1994.
*March 14 – [[Larry Holmes]] retains his WBC world Heavyweight title with a seventh-round knockout of future [[World Boxing Association|WBA]] world Cruiserweight champion [[Ossie Ocasio]] in [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]].
*April 14 – [[Victor Galindez]] regains the WBA world Light Heavyweight championship with a tenth-round knockout of his former conqueror, [[Mike Rossman]], in [[New Orleans]].
*April 22 – [[Matthew Saad Muhammad]] wins the WBC world Light Heavyweight title with an eighth-round knockout of WBC world champion [[Marvin Johnson (boxer)|Marvin Johnson]] in [[Indianapolis]].
*June 3 – [[Lupe Pintor]] survives a knockdown to win the WBC world Bantamweight title, defeating [[Carlos Zarate (boxer)|Carlos Zarate]] by a fifteen-round split decision at Las Vegas.
*June 17 – In Ring Magazine's [[Ring Magazine fights of the year|fight of the year]], [[Danny Lopez (boxer)|Danny Lopez]] retains his WBC world Featherweight title by knocking out [[Mike Ayala]] in round fifteen at [[San Antonio]]. Ayala later admitted to being ''high'' on [[Illegal drugs|drugs]] during the fight.
*June 22 – [[Roberto Durán]] beats Carlos Palomino by a ten-round unanimous decision in Palomino's last fight for the next eighteen years, and Larry Holmes retains his WBC world Heavyweight title with a twelfth-round knockout of [[Mike Weaver (boxer)|Mike Weaver]] at the [[Madison Square Garden]], New York City.
* September 28 – Larry Holmes recovers from a seventh round knockdown to defeat perennial challenger [[Earnie Shavers]] by an eleventh-round knockout to retain his WBC world Heavyweight title at Las Vegas. [[Wilfredo Gómez]] retains his WBC world Super Bantamweight title with a tenth-round knockout win over [[Carlos Mendoza (boxer)|Carlos Mendoza]] in the same undercard.
* October 20 – [[John Tate (boxer)|John Tate]] defeats [[Gerrie Coetzee]] by a fifteen-round unanimous decision to win the WBA world Heavyweight title that had been vacated by [[Muhammad Ali]], [[Pretoria]].
* November 30 – A preview of things to come, as [[Sugar Ray Leonard]] wins his first of five world titles by knocking out [[Wilfred Benítez]] in round fifteen for the WBC world Welterweight title and [[Marvin Hagler]] draws in fifteen round with undisputed world Middleweight champion [[Vito Antuofermo]] in Las Vegas.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Boxing History}}

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[[Category:Boxing by decade|1970s]]
[[Category:1970s in sports]]
[[Category:1970s in boxing| ]]