The Boxing History Blog

In January 1977, aged twenty-one, Luigi Minchillo made his professional debut, stopping fellow Italian Silvano Bischeri in the fifth round. Minchillo went 17-0 before suffering his first defeat, a fourth-round stoppage due to cuts against Alvaro Scarpelli. In April 1979, only five months after his first setback, he challenged Clemente Gessi for the vacant Italian light-middleweight title, winning it in the maiden round. He defended his national championship four times and in July 1981 he challenged the French-Algerian Louis Acaries for the European light-middleweight title. Minchillo became champion by unanimous decision and the following month had a second-round TKO victory over America's Danny Myers, before his big date with Roberto Duran in September 1981.  Duran returned to Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, in his second bout since losing his world welterweight crown against Leonard. In the opposite corner was 'Il Guerriero Del Ring' or 'The Ring Warrior' Luigi Min...

26th June 1972, Madison Square Garden, New York WBA Lightweight Title Ken Buchanan Vs Roberto Duran World champion Ken Buchanan was born in  Edinburgh, Scotland on 28th June 1945. He became ABA champion in 1965, turning professional on 20th September that very same year, stopping Brian Rocky Tonks in the second round in the lightweight division. In his seventeenth bout he became the British Scottish Area lightweight champion, outpointing John McMillan over ten rounds for the vacant title. On 19th February 1968 he beat Maurice Cullen for the British lightweight title with an eleventh round knockout, taking his unbeaten record to 24-0 with nine KO's. Nine more victories put him in line for the vacant European lightweight title. He travelled to Madrid, Spain to take on Miguel Velasquez. The bout went the full fifteen rounds and the Spaniard was given the decision 72-69 by Italian referee and sole judge. Buchanan leaned dejected against the ropes as the home supporters inv...

30th January 1982, Caesars Palace, Las Vegas WBC Light-Middleweight Title Wilfred Benitez Vs Roberto Duran Wilfred Benitez returned to the ring in March 1980 after suffering his first defeat to 'Sugar' Ray Leonard. His opponent was Brooklyn light-middleweight Johnny Turner, who boasted a solid record of 34-3-1 and twenty-six knockouts, one more than Benitez.  Remarkably the former two-weight world champion was still only twenty-one-years-old and he went on to score a ninth round technical knockout over the New Yorker, who played French boxer Laurent Dauthuille opposite Robert DeNiro in 1980's Raging Bull. He continued 1980 with an eighth round TKO over Tony Chiaverini in the August and finished the year by clearly outscoring Pete Ranzany over ten rounds. "Ranzany made me change my mind about a second round knockout. They told me he would be easy, but he gave me a hard fight," said Benitez. "He's a very difficult man to hit. He k...

07th December 1989, Mirage Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas WBC Super-Middleweight Title Ray Leonard Vs Roberto Duran Thomas Hearns's trainer, Emanuel Steward, expected Leonard-Hearns III to go ahead in November 1989 at Caesars Palace, to settle the impasse produced from their second meeting. "We are tentatively set to go into training for that bout on 01st September," Steward was quoted as saying on 07th July 1989 in the New York Times. "But this time Thomas will have parity in the purses paid to the fighters." However, team Hearns was left disappointed as on 16th July 1989 a press conference was held at the famous Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan, New York, to officially announce Ray Leonard vs Roberto Duran III. "Everybody who has a Thoams Hearns fight signed and sealed for the 02nd November at Caesars Palace is way ahead of the game," claimed Mike Trainer. "This is a better deal for Ray, because Hearns was seeking parity. He wanted as...