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Boxing in the 1990s

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As in the 1980s, the 1990s in boxing's popularity focused on all divisions. When 1980s legends Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, as well as others retired, newer superstars filled the void: Pernell Whitaker, Julio César Chávez, in the early 1990s, Oscar De La Hoya, Félix Trinidad, Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the mid to late 1990s.

As for the heavyweight division, Mike Tyson's reign ended prematurely with the upset loss to Buster Douglas. Former cruiserweight champion, Evander Holyfield took over as the undisputed champion of the division, and later built a rivalry against former Olympic silver medalist, Riddick Bowe. The later 1990s was dominated by Lennox Lewis who unified the division in 1999.

The 1990s also saw the emergence of the battles between the British super middleweight fighters Chris Eubank, Michael Watson and Nigel Benn.

List of notable fights by year

1990

  • February 11 – Buster Douglas upsets Mike Tyson by 10th-round KO in Tokyo, to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Douglas was a 42–1 underdog.
  • March 17 – Thunder Meets Lightning: Julio César Chávez defeats Meldrick Taylor by 12th-round KO, for the WBC-IBF light welterweight unification. There was controversy as referee Richard Steele stops the contest with 2 seconds left in the bout and Taylor ahead on the scorecards.
  • August 11 – Pernell Whitaker defeats Juan Nazario by first-round knockout to unify the WBA, WBC, IBF belts and becomes the undisputed lightweight champion of the world.
  • October 25 – Buster Douglas's short reign as heavyweight champion ends as he loses to Evander Holyfield by third-round KO. Douglas was very noticeably out of shape, despite being in pinnacle shape in the Tyson fight, eight months and two weeks before.
  • November 11 – Julian Jackson wins by stunning knockout over Herol Graham by a devastating 4th-round KO for the vacated WBC middleweight title. Graham, ahead in the fight, was knocked out by Jackson by a devastating right hand and was out for five minutes.
  • November 18 – Chris Eubank wins the WBO middleweight title by beating Nigel Benn by 9th round TKO.

1991

1992

1993

  • March 13 – Michael Carbajal wins by KO against Humberto González to unify the IBF and WBC Flyweight belts. Carbajal got knocked down twice during the fight and came back to knock out Gonzalez late in the seventh round.
  • May 22 – Roy Jones Jr. defeats Bernard Hopkins by unanimous decision to win the vacated IBF middleweight title.
  • September 10 – Julio César Chávez and Pernell Whitaker's fight for the WBC welterweight title ends in a controversial draw, despite Whitaker seemingly dominating the fight.
  • October 1 – Lennox Lewis beats Frank Bruno in the seventh round by a technical knockout. Lewis was defending his WBC Heavyweight title. It was the first time that two British-born boxers had fought for the world heavyweight title.
  • November 6 – Evander Holyfield defeats Riddick Bowe by majority decision in their rematch for the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles. A man parachutes to the corner of the ring during the fight and starts a mini riot, the fight is later labelled the Fan Man Fight.

1994

1995

  • February 15 – Nigel Benn defeats Gerald McClellan by a tenth round TKO for the WBC super middleweight title after being knocked through the ropes in the first round, and knocked down again in the eighth round. McClellan is counted on his knees, then loses consciousness in the ring and is transported to hospital, where he falls into a coma and suffers extensive brain damage, losing his eyesight and becoming 80 percent deaf.
  • May 6 – Oscar De La Hoya unifies the WBO and IBF Lightweight titles in his victory against Rafael Ruelas.
  • August 19 – Mike Tyson defeats Peter McNeeley in his first comeback fight.
  • November 4 – Riddick Bowe knockouts Evander Holyfield in the 8th round of their rubber match.

1996

1997

1998

  • March 28 - Lennox Lewis defeats Shannon Briggs by fifth round knockout to retained his WBC Heavyweight Championship and won the Lineal heavyweight title
  • July 18 - Roy Jones Jr defeats Lou Del Valle by unanimous decision to unify the WBC & WBA Light Heavyweight Championship
  • August 22 - Ivan Robinson defeats Arturo Gatti by split decision the fight was named fight of the year by ring magazine
  • October 3 - Floyd Mayweather Jr., aged 21, defeats Genaro Hernández to win the Lineal & WBC Super featherweight titles, becoming the first 1996 U.S Olympian to win a world title.
  • November 6 - After being absent for nearly two years Thomas Hearns was back in the ring in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan to knock out Jay Snider in Round one.
  • December 12 - Fernando Vargas at 21 years of age, defeats Yori Boy Campas to win the IBF light middleweight title, and Ivan Robinson defeats Arturo Gatti in their rematch by unanimous decision
  • December 19 - Floyd Mayweather Jr defeats Angel Manfredy by second round knockout to retained his WBC & Lineal Super Featherweight Championship, and David Tua defeats Hasim Rahman by tenth round knockout IBF Heavyweight eliminator

1999

  • March 13 – WBA and IBF champion Evander Holyfield and WBC champion Lennox Lewis meet in a unification heavyweight bout at Madison Square Garden, but the fight ends in a controversial draw.
  • June 5 – Roy Jones Jr. defeats Reggie Johnson and successfully unifies the light heavyweight division becoming the undisputed champion of the division.
  • September 18 – in what was billed as the Fight of the millennium, Félix Trinidad defeats Oscar De La Hoya by a close, controversial majority decision. The fight generated 1.4 million pay per view buys generating a record for a non-heavyweight fight.
  • November 13 – Lennox Lewis becomes the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world in his rematch against Evander Holyfield by unanimous decision.
  • December 4 - Fernando Vargas defeats Winky Wright by majority decision to retain his IBF Light Middleweight Championship

References

  1. Warren Tasker More Warren Tasker. "Riddick Bowe and other monsters dominated a decade". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  2. Oxoby, Marc (2003). The 1990s. ISBN 9780313316159. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  3. Paul Campbell. "From the Vault: Mike Tyson is knocked out by 42–1 underdog Buster Douglas". the Guardian. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  4. ^ Warren Tasker More Warren Tasker. "A true warrior, Holyfield slayed many dragons, including Tyson". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
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