On This Day In Boxing History!

1977: Jimmy Young vs George Foreman!

Who was Jimmy Young? Fighting in the 70′s during the Golden Age of Heavyweights amongst the likes of Muhammad Ali, "Smokin" Joe Frazier, "Big" George Foreman, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Ron Lyle, and Larry Holmes there is one name that always seems to get lost in the “Ali” shuffle, Philadelphia’s, Jimmy Young. Why is that so?

Jimmy, coached by Hall of Fame trainer, George Benton, the 6’2”, Philly talent, a sparring partner for Jerry Quarry, Joe Frazier and Ken Norton somehow, gets overlooked when it comes to the names boxing enthusiasts generally bring to mind recalling the great heavyweights of the Golden Age.

Young suffering a third-round knockout to Earnie Shavers, then broadly considered the hardest puncher in the heavyweight division he fought Shavers to a draw in a rematch. Beat ing largely avoided Ron Lyle (twice) it was in what would become his most famous fight versus Muhammad Ali that Jimmy lost a widely disputed fifteen round unanimous decision, a fight the Associated Press and many ringside, had Young winning by three points.

It would be St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1977 defeating heavily favored George Foreman by a way of a twelve-round unanimous decision in a bout named Ring Magazine Fight of the Year, Young ultimately cost “Big George” a long-awaited rematch with Ali.

After losing a split decision WBC Heavyweight Title Eliminator to Ken Norton that most onlookers thought he won, Young 3-4 over the next three years went 5-0 in 1981 and was named The Ring Magazine Comeback Fighter of the Year. Named the 37th greatest heavyweight of all-time by The Ring Magazine in 1998. On February 20, 2005, Young 35-18-3, 11Ko’s, died of heart disease after a six-day hospitalization.

March 17th

1897: First boxing motion pictures Bob Fitzsimmons KO14 Jim Corbett

1906: Joe Gans TKO10 Mike Sullivan

1908: Tommy Burns KO1 Jem Roche - quickest world heavyweight title fight 88 seconds

1910: Sam Langford KO8 Fireman Jim Flynn

1911: Ad Wolgast KO9 George Memsic

1914: Alberto "Baby" Arizmendi was born in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico

1919: Harry Greb NWS10 Bill Brennan

Jack Britton KO9 Ted (Kid) Lewis

1921: Johnny Wilson W15 Mike O’Dowd

1923: Mike McTigue W20 Battling Siki

1927: Young Stribling W10 Maxie Rosenbloom

1933: Ben Jeby D15 Vince Dundee

1939: Ceferino Garcia TKO5 Lloyd Marshall

1947: Rocky Marciano KO3 Lee Epperson - Marciano’s pro debut. Fights under the name of Rocky Mack to protect his amateur status

1950: Willie Pep W15 Ray Famechon

1953: Archie Moore KO3 Al Spaulding

1956: Kid Anahuac KO7 Americo Rivera

Archie Moore W10 Frankie Daniels

1965: John John Molina is born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico

1969: Freddie Little W15 Stanley Hayward

1973: Antonio Cervantes KO10 Nicolino Locche

Rodolfo Gonzalez KO9 Ruben Navarro

1977: Jimmy Young W12 George Foreman

Alfredo Escalera KO6 Ronnie McGarvey

1984: Julian Jackson KO2 Eddie Gazo

Edwin Rosario KO1 Roberto Elizondo

Joo Do Chun KO1 Diego De Villa

1990: Julio Cesar Chavez KO12 Meldrick Taylor

1991: Michael Carbajal W 2 Javier Varguez

1995: Claressa Shields is born in Flint, Michigan

Julian Jackson TKO2 Agostino

2000: Stevie Johnston KO2 Julio Alvarez

Fernando Montiel KO5 Armando Correa

Javier Castillejo KO8 Mohamed Boualleg

2001: Johnny Tapia KO6 Cuauhtemoc Gomez

2002: Corey "T-Rex" Sanders KO8 Oleg Maskaev

2003: Anthony Mundine KO1 Rogerio Cacciatore

2006: Lucas Matthysse TKO3 Hernan Abraham Valenzuela

Oleydong Sithsamerchai W10 Tommy Terado

Chatchai Sasakul KO2 Bernardo Oclos

2007: Jean Marc Mormeck W12 O’Neil Bell

Juan Manuel Marquez W12 Marco Antonio Barrera

Wladimir Sidorenko D12 Ricardo Cordoba

2008: Pungluang Sor Singyu W10 Javier Malulan

Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo KO3 Elpher Paganpan

2009: Srisaket Sor Rungvisai TKO3 Akira Yaegashi

2010: Koki Eto KO5 Naoki Shisawa

2011: Chris Algieri TKO4 Julias Edmonds

Kamil Laszczyk K 2 Laquan Lewis

2012: Román González KO1 Manuel Jiménez

Sergio Martínez RTD11 Matthew Macklin

Antonio DeMarco KO5 Miguel Roman

Alicia Ashley W10 Maria Elena Villalobos

Kell Brook W12 Matthew Hatton

Giacobbe Fragomeni MDraw12 Silvio Branco

Kerry Hope WM12 Grzegorz Proksa

Pawel Kolodziej W12 Giulian Ilie

Edwin Rodriguez W10 Donovan George

Cesar Seda, Jr. TKO1 Domingo Guillen

2020: Roger “Black Mamba” Mayweather passes

Roger Mayweather passes at the age of 58