“Sure the fight was fixed. I fixed it with a right hand.” – George Foreman

July 22, 1963 – Liston KOs Patterson in the first round to retain heavyweight title

Sonny Liston became World Heavyweight Champion in 1962 by knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round. Patterson and Liston had a rematch held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Liston again won by a knockout as he knocked Patterson down three times, with the three-knockdown rule being in effect. Patterson lasted four seconds longer than in the first bout. After this victory, Liston was loudly booed.

Video: Sonny Liston vs Floyd Patterson, II:

July 21, 1989 – Mike Tyson TKOs Carl Williams in 1:33 of the first round

The fight would only last 93 seconds, becoming Mike Tyson‘s second quickest title fight after his 91 second victory over Michael Spinks the previous year. Tyson and Williams began the fight trading punches with each other, though Tyson’s aggressiveness caused Williams to hold several times. About 76 seconds into the round, Williams attempted to hit Tyson with a left jab. Tyson countered and hit Williams with a left hook that sent Williams to the canvas. Though Williams was able to get back on his feet and was seemingly ready to continue the fight, referee Randy Neumann controversially stopped the fight and awarded Tyson the victory by technical knockout.

Video of Tyson vs Williams:

June 20, 1967 – Muhammad Ali was convicted of refusing to enter into the U.S. armed services

After only 21 minutes of deliberation, the jury found Muhammad Ali guilty. He was convicted of draft evasion, sentenced to five years in prison, fined $10,000 and banned from boxing for three years. After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court.

During this time, the public began turning against the war and support for Ali began to grow. Ali supported himself by speaking at colleges and universities across the country, where opposition to the war was especially strong. Ali returned to the ring on October 26, 1970, knocking out Jerry Quarry in Atlanta in the third round.

June 9, 1978 – Larry Holmes wins 15 round split decision over Ken Norton

Video from Round 15 of Larry Holmes vs Norton (the 7th most exciting round in boxing history, according to The Ring magazine):

After 15 brutal rounds, Holmes was awarded the title via an extremely close split decision. After fourteen rounds, all three judges had the fight scored dead even at seven rounds each. The three judges’ cards were as follows: 143-142 for Holmes, 143-142 for Holmes, and 143-142 for Norton. The March 2001 edition of The Ring magazine listed the final round of the Holmes-Norton bout as the 7th most exciting round in boxing history. As noted above, Holmes-Norton is ranked as the 10th greatest heavyweight fight of all time by Monte D. Cox, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO). Holmes went on to become the second-longest reigning world heavyweight champion in the history of boxing, behind Joe Louis. Holmes years later wrote of his experience that this was his toughest match in over 70 contests.

May 24, 1976 – Ali TKOs Dunn in fifth round for boxing Heavyweight title

Dunn was knocked down five times in five rounds. After the fight, Muhammad Ali promised the gloves he had used in the fight to British promoter Mickey Duff, who was raising funds for Chris Finnegan, a terrific fighter who had lost sight in one eye. When he passed his gloves to Duff in the ring, Ali told Duff to look inside. In one it was written ‘Ali wins’ and in the other ‘round five’.

After winning the European Heavyweight title with a third round TKO OF Bernd August in April 1976, Dunn was given the chance of fighting for the WBC and WBA titles against Muhammad Ali in Munich, for which he received £52,000 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £472,500 in 2011).

Dunn is also notable as the only Yorkshireman ever to fight Ali, who knocked him out 2:05 minutes into the fifth round; this was to be the last knockout Ali ever achieved in his professional career. Although he was seriously overmatched, many British fans have said that Dunn made one of the most courageous showings of any British fighter when he faced Ali.

May 21, 1966 – Muhammad Ali TKOs Henry Cooper in 6 for heavyweight title

Henry Cooper twice fought Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay), firstly in a non-title fight in 1963 at Wembley Stadium. Clay was knocked down by Cooper, later saying on British television that Cooper “had hit him so hard that his ancestors in Africa felt it”. The fight was stopped due to deep cuts in Cooper’s eyes in the fifth round.

Cooper fought Ali, now world heavyweight champion, for a second time at Highbury. However Ali was now alert to the danger posed by Cooper’s left and more cautious than he had been in the previous contest; he held Cooper in a vice-like grip during clinches, and when told to break leapt backward several feet. Accumulated scar tissue around Cooper’s eyes made him more vulnerable than in the previous meeting and a serious cut was opened by Ali, which led to the fight being stopped, Cooper again suffering a technical knockout when he was ahead on the scorecards.

Video of Ali vs Cooper II

“I’ll beat him so bad he’ll need a shoehorn to put his hat on.” – Muhammad Ali