Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing punches at each other for a predetermined amount of time.
Julio César Chávez González, also known as Julio César Chávez Sr., is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2005. A multiple-time world champion in three weight divisions, Chávez was listed by The Ring magazine as the world's best boxer, pound for pound, from 1990 to 1993. During his career he held the WBC super featherweight title from 1984 to 1987, the WBA and WBC lightweight titles between 1987 and 1989, the WBC light welterweight title twice between 1989 and 1996, and the IBF light welterweight title from 1990 to 1991. He also held the Ring magazine and lineal lightweight titles from 1988 to 1989, and the lineal light welterweight title twice between 1990 and 1996. Chávez was named Fighter of the Year for 1987 and 1990 by the Boxing Writers Association of America and The Ring respectively.
Marvelous Marvin Hagler was an American professional boxer. He competed in boxing from 1973 to 1987 and reigned as the undisputed champion of the middleweight division from 1980 to 1987, making twelve successful title defenses, all but one by knockout. Hagler also holds the highest knockout percentage of all undisputed middleweight champions at 78 percent. His undisputed middleweight championship reign of six years and seven months is the second-longest active reign of the 20th century. He holds the record for the sixth longest reign as champion in middleweight history. Nicknamed "Marvelous" and annoyed that network announcers often did not refer to him as such, Hagler legally changed his name to "Marvelous Marvin Hagler" in 1982.
The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO).
Julio César Chávez vs. Meldrick Taylor, billed as Thunder Meets Lightning, was a professional boxing match contested on March 17, 1990, for the WBC and IBF light welterweight championship. Its title was an allusion to the punching power of Chávez and fast hand speed of Taylor. Chavez won the fight by a controversial TKO of Taylor only two seconds before the end of the twelfth and last round, while he was behind on the score cards. The fight would later be named The Ring magazine's Fight of the Year for 1990, and later the "Fight of the Decade" for the 1990s.
Thomas Hearns is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 2006. Nicknamed the "Motor City Cobra", and more famously "The Hitman", Hearns's tall, slender build and long arms and shoulders allowed him to move up over fifty pounds (22.7kg) in his career and become the first boxer in history to win world titles in five weight divisions: welterweight, light middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight.
José Luis Ramírez is a Mexican former professional boxer who was a two-time World Lightweight Champion. His most notable fights include two fights each with Edwin Rosario and Pernell Whitaker as well as fights against Ruben Olivares, Alexis Arguello, Ray Mancini, Hector Camacho, Julio Cesar Chavez and Juan Martin Coggi.
Boxing in the 1980s was filled with important fights, events and personalities that shaped the sport. Boxing in the 1980s was shaped by many different situations, such as the continuous corporate battles between the different world sanctioning organizations, the void left by Muhammad Ali as the sport's ambassador and consequent search for a new boxing hero, the continuous presence of Don King as the sport's most famous promoter, the surge of rival promoters as Bob Arum, Butch Lewis and Murad Muhammad, and major rule changes. In 1986, Mike Tyson emerged as a fresh new face in the heavyweight division, which had seen a decline in champion quality level after Ali's retirement and, later on, after longtime WBC ruler Larry Holmes' prime. In addition, the IBF and WBO began operating.
Meldrick Taylor is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2002. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF junior welterweight title from 1988 to 1990, and the WBA welterweight title from 1991 to 1992. As an amateur, Taylor won a gold medal in the featherweight division at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Donovan "Razor" Ruddock is a Jamaican-born Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 2001 and in 2015. He is known for his two fights against Mike Tyson in 1991, a fight against Lennox Lewis in 1992, and a fight with Tommy Morrison in 1995. Ruddock was also known for his exceptionally heavy punching; some of the best examples of his left hand and overall power was his knockouts of former WBA heavyweight champions James Smith in 1989, Michael Dokes in 1990, and Greg Page in 1992. His favored weapon at the ring proved to be a highly versatile half-hook, half-uppercut left-handed punch he called "The Smash" which accounted for the majority of his knockout wins -- it also happened to be his major downside throughout his career. Being a left-handed puncher fighting out of the orthodox stance, he didn't throw right handed punches during most knockout flurries.
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.
Showtime Championship Boxing is a television boxing program that aired on Showtime. Debuting in March 1986, it was broadcast live on the first Saturday of every month. Showtime Championship Boxing, which was very similar to HBO World Championship Boxing, featured Mauro Ranallo on play-by-play, Al Bernstein as the color analyst, Jimmy Lennon as ring announcers, and Jim Gray as reporter.
Mike Tyson vs. Alex Stewart, billed as The Hard Way Back, was a professional boxing match contested on December 8, 1990. It was Tyson's second fight since losing the undisputed world heavyweight championship earlier in the year.
Mike Tyson vs. Donovan Ruddock, billed as Fight of the Year, was a professional boxing match contested on March 18, 1991 at the Mirage in Paradise, Nevada. At the time the two fighters were the top two ranked contenders for the WBC, WBA, and IBF world heavyweight championships that were at the time held by Evander Holyfield. The bout was a twelve-round championship eliminator fight, with the winner becoming the mandatory challenger to Holyfield's crown.
Mike Tyson vs. Donovan Ruddock II, billed as The Rematch, was a professional boxing match contested on June 28, 1991. It was the second time the two fighters fought that year, as their first bout in March was mired in controversy.
Anthony Perez was an American boxing referee and judge of Puerto Rican descent. During his career, he refereed many major boxing fights and participated in a number of boxing related documentaries.
Charles "Chuck" Hull was an American ring announcer and sportscaster who worked for more than thirty years in Las Vegas, Nevada, introducing professional boxers to live and television crowds at many non-title and major world championship boxing fights, both amateur and professional ones, many of which were held at the city's Caesar's Palace hotel. Hull was a member of the defunct World Boxing Hall of Fame. Hull was also a broadcaster, participating in shows shown at Las Vegas' KLAS_TV television channel.
Julio César Chávez vs. Meldrick Taylor II, billed as Unfinished Business, was a professional boxing match contested on September 17, 1994, for the WBC super lightweight title.
Julio César Chávez vs. Héctor Camacho, billed as Ultimate Glory: The Fight for it All, was a professional boxing match contested on September 12, 1992, for the WBC super lightweight title.
Julio César Chávez vs. Frankie Randall was a professional boxing match contested on January 29, 1994, for the WBC super lightweight title. The fight was the featured bout on a Don King-promoted boxing card dubbed the Super Grand Slam of Boxing.
