This week in boxing history, PBC celebrates two light heavyweight champions, the longest heavyweight title fight of the 20th century, the first undisputed cruiserweight champion in history and a legendary middleweight upset.
April 4, 2015 – Adonis Stevenson beat Sakio Bika by unanimous decision to retain his WBC light heavyweight title at Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City.
Stevenson floored Bika in the sixth and ninth rounds as he successfully defended his title for the fifth time in the main event of a PBC on CBS broadcast.
April 5, 1915 – Jess Willard knocked out Jack Johnson in Round 26 to claim the world heavyweight title at Oriental Park in Havana, Cuba.
Johnson, who was making the ninth defense of his title, claimed afterward that he threw the fight, which was the longest heavyweight championship bout of the 20th century, but later repudiated that confession.
April 6, 1987 – Sugar Ray Leonard defeated Marvin Hagler by split decision to win the WBC middleweight championship at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Fighting for just the second time in five years, Leonard was a 3-to-1 underdog against Hagler, who was making the 12th defense of the title he earned in September 1980. The Ring not only named the bout Fight of the Year and Upset of the Year, but later elevated it to Upset of the Decade.
April 7, 1972 – Bob Foster stopped Vicente Rondon in the second round to unify the WBA and WBC light heavyweight titles at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Foster floored Rondon twice in Round 2 as he retained his WBC title and reclaimed the WBA title, which was stripped from him in December 1970 for not defending against No. 1 contender Jimmy Dupree.
April 9, 1988 – Evander Holyfield stopped Carlos De Leon in Round 8 to become the first-ever undisputed cruiserweight world champion at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
In his final bout before moving up to heavyweight, Holyfield retained his WBA and IBF belts and took the WBC championship from De Leon, who was making his fourth title defense.
