1960s Timeline

Sept. 26, 1961 - Sugar Ray Robinson, floored by a left hook to the midsection near the end of the eighth round, hung on last night for a split decision over the Canadian middleweight champion, Wilf Greaves. Robinson, the 41-year-old former champion who is trying to start another comeback, looked sharp only in the middle rounds. In the eighth, Robinson unleashed a flurry of right uppercuts, left jabs, and right crosses. He outboxed and outpunched the slower, awkward Greaves wi

Sept. 16, 1961 - Emile Griffith, who defends his welterweight title against Benny (Kid) Paret at Madison Square Garden Sept. 30, is running out of sparring partners, and the fault is his. The 22-year-old Virgin Island fighter has become unpopular with spar-mates because of his vicious handling of them since he began training three weeks ago for the second defense of his title. Two of them, Walter Daniels and Frank Sallee, have walked out on him, vowing never to return. Daniel

Aug. 30, 1961 - Harold Johnson (left), the National Boxing Association's light-heavyweight champion, gained a split decision over Eddie Cotton last night and collected $20,000 for the job - the biggest take-home pay he's had in 14 years of fighting. It was a close battle. The ring announcer gave one judge's score as 147-145 for Johnson. Then he announced the other judge's score which was 148-144 for Cotton. "There goes my crown," Johnson said to his manager, Pat Olivieri. But

Aug. 17, 1961 - Irish Bob Murphy (pictured right with Danny Nardico in 1951), once a contender for the light heavyweight championship, was killed in an automobile accident in Boston today. The police said that Mr. Murphy's car had gone out of control and collided with a two-ton truck. He was 43 years old. The former fighter was born Edward Lee Conarty in Denver. He began fighting under the name Irish Bob Murphy and later changed his name legally to Robert M. Murphy. On Aug. 2

Aug. 16, 1961 - Harry William Balogh (pictured with Joe Louis in 1938), the boxing announcer, died today in New York's Beth Israel Hospital. He was 70 years old. Mr. Balogh was for a quarter century the unquestioned master of his craft who soared to dizzying heights of rhetorical fancy. It was he who adopted the tuxedo and stiff-front shirt as the boxing announcer's uniform. Mr. Balogh conducted a one-man campaign from the center of the prize ring against racial prejudice. He

Aug. 5, 1961 - Gene Fullmer took a terrific battering in the closing rounds, but had enough of an early lead to win a 15-round split decision over Florentino Fernandez at Utah's Municipal Stadium today. Fullmer retained the National Boxing Association middleweight title. Fernandez, a 9-5 short-ender staggered him in the 14th round with a right-left combination to the head. Then the converted southpaw from Havana switched to his old southpaw stance and blasted Fullmer with lef

Aug. 2, 1961 - Charles (Sonny) Liston was released on $500 bail today on a charge resulting from an incident in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park last June 12. The 26-year-old boxer, regarded as the strongest contender for Floyd Patterson's heavyweight title, had been arrested after a police chase in which one shot was fired. Liston and Isaac Cooper, also 26, were accused of forcing a woman motorist to the side of a road in the park. They then told the woman they were policemen.

July 23, 1961 - Cassius Clay, a relative newcomer to the professional boxing ranks, won a unanimous 10-round decision from Alonzo Johnson last night in Louisville's Freedom Hall before 6,000 fans. Clay, indifferent in the early rounds, went to work in the ninth and tenth and had his Pittsburgh opponent hanging on at the finish. The victory ran Clay's record to 8-0. During the first three rounds, Johnson, 26, carried the fight to his younger opponent and punched with both hand

July 21, 1961 - Cassius Clay, who figures he has to win every fight to reach his goal of heavyweight champion in two years, will meet his toughest opponent to date in a 10-rounder against Alonzo Johnson tomorrow night. Clay, a 19-year-old Olympic champion who left the amateur ranks less than a year ago, has won all seven of his fights as a pro, five by knockouts. Johnson, 26, who has a record of 19-7, came up with the usual pre-fight gimmick of a "secret weapon," holding some

July 14, 1961 - Charles (Sonny) Liston, the top-ranking contender for the heavyweight boxing crown, was suspended indefinitely today by the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission. The 3-man commission announced that two recent arrests of the 28-year-old fighter were detrimental to boxing. Liston's suspension automatically applies throughout this country as well as Canada and some Latin American countries. Liston was arrested on May 17 for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, a

July 11, 1961 - Terry Downes (right) won the world middleweight title from Paul Pender (left) by a technical knockout in London tonight when a bad cut over the left eye forced the defender to retire at the end of the ninth round. The finish came suddenly. Pender's seconds seemed to be preparing him for the 10th round when Al Lacey, his chief second, called over the referee and told him the champion could not continue. Downes, the 25-year-old Londoner and new champion, jumped

July 10, 1961 - Henry Hank (pictured center) out-punched Joey Giardello in a brutal ten-round middleweight bout at Convention Arena in Detroit and gained a unanimous decision. Hank, who has scored 34 knockouts, battered Giardello with murderous overhand rights in the first three rounds. He also scored heavily in the seventh and eighth. Hank is considered pound-for-pound one of the hardest punchers in boxing. #boxing #boxinghistory #boxingnews