The two best welterweights in the world were signed to meet on November 30, 1979 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Sugar Ray Leonard was coming off of a spectacular performance in September, a first round knockout of Andy Price. Benitez had come off a solid win over Harold Weston in June as well. As […]
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Wilfred Benitez was born on September 12, 1958 in the Bronx, New York. He began his professional career at age 15 when he knocked out Hiram Santiago on November 22, 1973. He would fight another 12 times in 1974, and continued to hone his skills as a junior welterweight. Wilfred fought another 11 times in
HBO recognized by 1978 that Ray Leonard was the future of boxing. His second fight on the network was his November 3rd unanimous decision win over Bernardo Prada in Portland, Maine. He fought again on January 11, 1979 against Johnny Gant in another TKO victory. Leonard was showcasing his talent with each win, and defeated
Sugar Ray Leonard had been the darling of the 1976 Olympic games in Montreal, and captured a gold medal in the light welterweight division. He had originally wanted to go to the University of Maryland and retire from boxing, but his father’s illness and medical bills forced him to turn pro. His first fight was
The only fight on the calendar year of 1976 for HBO was the June 19th fight between Alexis Arguello and Salvador Torres. The Nicaraguan champion was making his mark as one of the greats in the sport. However he was far from a household name in America. HBO decided to tap into the pool of
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After it’s inaugural year of covering boxing, HBO had only one fight on the calendar in 1974. It was the ‘Rumble in Jungle’ on October 30, 1974 between Muhammad Ali and champ George Foreman. Ali shocked the world and regained his title by knocking out the favored Foreman in the 8th round in Zaire, South
The very first fight that HBO broadcast was the heavyweight championship bout between Joe Frazier and George Foreman on January 22, 1973. The belt changed hands that night in Kingston, Jamaica when the young challenger knocked down Frazier 6 times enroute to a second round stoppage, Their next show was on June 18, 1973 at
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Archie Moore would get his first shot at the light heavyweight championship on December 17, 1952 in St, Louis, Missouri against veteran Joey Maxim. The 39 year old grizzled fighter did not disappoint his hometown at the arena, and defeated Maxim via a 15 round decision. After sixteen long years, he had finally achieved his
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Archie Moore was born Archibald Lee Wright on December 13, 1913. He began his boxing career as middleweight after being a thief landed him in reform school for 2 years in Missouri. He then joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, and worked on his physical fitness and learning to become a boxer. He started his career
Sugar Ray Robinson was enjoying his reign as welterweight champion of the world in the summer of 1946, when he signed to fight L.A. fighter Jimmy Doyle. Training was nothing out of norm for Ray, with a morning 5 mile run followed by an afternoon of bag work, sparring and jumping rope. But something extraordinary
