20th Century Boxing: Icons, Memories & More
@20thCentBoxIMM
Brief glimpses into fights, and fighters, of the 20th century; the great, the near great, the very good, the journeymen, the opponents and much more.
The 30th anniversary of Aileen Eatron running the legendary Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California is celebrated on July 27, 1972. Both Arturo Pineda and Danny Lopez would appear on the fight card that day and win via stoppages. No history of the Olympic Auditorium would…

WBC Featherweight Champion Johnny Famechon, on the canvas in the 2nd, 11th, 14th rounds (that is him dwon in this pic) and dropping Fighting Harada once in the 5th, wins a 15-round points decision to retain his title on July 27, 1969 in Sydney, Australia. Legendary Featherweight…

Newspaper clipping (Nanaimo Daily News) from Bob Cleroux's 5th round KO of Roy Harris (29-2-0 coming in) on July 27, 1960 at DeLormier Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Cleroux (pictured) came in at 20-1-1 and his next fight, just three weeks later (Try to even imagine that…


Live on CBS, WBC Bantamweight Champion Lupe Pintor retains his title, on July 26, 1981, with a 8th round TKO of Jovito Rengifo in Las Vegas. UPI, which had Rengifo slightly ahead, would write: "Bantamweight champion Lupe Pintor, nursing a swollen right hand and cuts on his…

Undefeated (24-0) Michael Moorer scores a 4th round TKO of Alex Stewart (27-2-0), on July 27, 1991, at Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia on the undercard of the Pernell Whitaker-Poli Diaz Lightweight Championship fight. Moorer dropped Stewart twice in the first round, and once in…

Left to right: Fighting Harada, referee and boxing legend Willie Pep, and World Featherweight Champion Johnny Famechon pose at the weigh-in, on July 27, 1969, before their title fight in Sydney, Australia, won by Famechon on a decision.

World Super Featherweight Champion Gabriel "Flash" Elorde scores a 12th round TKO of Teruo Kosaka (60-7-1 coming in), on July 27, 1964, in Tokyo, Japan. Kosaka was down once in the 12th before referee Jose Padilla Jr. stopped the bout.…

In a big heavyweight matchup at Madison Square Garden on July 27, 1963, Ernie Terrell (gloves up) wins a 10-round unanimous decision over Zora Folley. Five days earlier Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston had again semolished Floyd Patterson in one round and both Folley and…


Manager and Trainer Gus Wilson, shown here with Wally Hally (A lightweight who went 29-30-5 with 14 KO's for his career), dies on July 27, 1951. Among the many other fighters he handled were Bob Nestell, Harold Dade and Costello Cruz. Wilson was born in Strasbourg, Alsace,…

Booker Beckwith (pictured) is KO'd in the 9th round by Ezzard Charles on July 27, 1942 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The AP reported: "Ezzard Charles of Cincinnati knocked out Booker Beckwith of Chicago in 2:19 of the 9th round. Beckwith was counted out flat on his back and…

Al Ettore and Tony Galento weigh in on July 27, 1937, before their scheduled 10-round bout at the Velodrome in Nutley, New Jersey. The AP would report on "Two Ton" Tony's 8th round TKO as follows: "Tony Galento of Orange, N.J., scored an 8th round knockout over Al Ettore,…

A guy we just discussed yesterday, top-ranked heavyweight contender Fred Fulton, shakes hands (or gloves) with Jack Dempsey on July 27, 1918 at Federal League Baseball Park in Harrison, New Jersey. Fulton, who came in as a 2 to 1 betting favorite over "The Manassa Mauler", was…

Sid Flaherty (seated), who would go on to manage heavyweight contender Eddie Machen and the Moyer brothers, Denny and Phil in 1957, when they turned professional. Denny would go on to win the World Light Middleweight Title, was born on July 27, 1913. Originally based out of San…

m.youtube.com/watch?v=w7d5gc… Great fight between two future world titlists.
Mike Tyson used a devastating right uppercut to knock out Marvis Frazier, on July 26, 1986, just 30 seconds into their scheduled 10-round bout. The fighters met at center ring after the opening bell, and Tyson quickly stunned Frazier with a right hand. He then forced Frazier…

Razor Ruddock (12-1-1 at the time) is looking for another opponent, on July 26, 1986, after announcing that his August 23rd bout with Ken Lakusta has been postponed. Former WBA Titlist Mike Weaver will step in and Ruddock will take a 10-round split decision in Fayetteville,…

Mark Breland and Paul Gonzales (light flyweight) dreaming of Gold, on July 26, 1984, in Los Angeles for the Summer Olympic Games. Both would win the Gold Medal for the USA.

If you're a boxing fan over forty and you don't know who Malcolm "Flash: Gordon was then I'd suggest that you'd really better start doing a little reading. Flash Gordon's weekly newsletter features Leroy Haley on its cover on July 26, 1982. Haley had won the WBC Junior…

On July 26, 1980 at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles lightweights Rodolfo "Gato" Gonzalez (14-0-0) and Herman Montes (24-1-2) fought in the main event. The scheduled 12 rounder was declared a technical draw after three rounds. On the undercard Manuel Abedoy fought a ten round…

In their first meeting, on July 26, 1977, Matthew Franklin (Not yet Matthew Saad Muhammad) TKO's Marvin Johnson (left) in the 12th round, at The Spectrum in Philadelphia, to win the vacant NABF Light Heavyweight Championship. From Philly Boxing History: "Matthew Saad Muhammad…
