Come Out Smokin' (14 page)

March 7, 1951—Ezzard Charles defeated Jersey Joe Walcott on points, 15 rounds, Detroit. Charles, 186; Walcott, 193. Referee, Clarence Rosen.

May 30, 1951—Ezzard Charles defeated Joey Maxim on points, 15 rounds, Chicago. Charles, 182; Maxim 181½. Referee, Frank Gilmer.

July 18, 1951—Jersey Joe Walcott knocked out Ezzard Charles, 7 rounds, to win the title, Pittsburgh. Walcott, 194; Charles, 182. Referee, Buck McTiernan.

June 5, 1952—Jersey Joe Walcott defeated Ezzard Charles on points, 15 rounds, Philadelphia. Walcott, 196; Charles, 191½. Referee, Zack Clayton.

Sept. 23, 1952—Rocky Marciano knocked out Jersey Joe Walcott, 13 rounds, Philadelphia. Marciano, 184; Walcott, 196. Referee, Charley Daggert.

May 15, 1953—Rocky Marciano knocked out Jersey Joe Walcott, 1 round, Chicago, Ill. Marciano, 184½; Walcott, 197¾. Referee, Frank Sikora.

Sept. 24, 1953—Rocky Marciano knocked out Roland LaStarza. 11 rounds. New York, N. Y. Marciano, 185; LaStarza, 184¾. Referee, Ruby Goldstein.

June 17, 1954—Rocky Marciano defeated Ezzard Charles on points, 15 rounds, New York. Marciano, 187½; Charles, 185½. Referee, Ruby Goldstein.

Sept. 17, 1954—Rocky Marciano knocked out Ezzard Charles, 8 rounds, New York, N. Y. Marciano, 187, Charles 192½, Referee, Al Berl.

May 16, 1955—Rocky Marciano knocked out Don Cockell, 9 rounds, San Francisco, Calif. Marciano, 189; Cockell, 205. Referee, Frankie Brown.

Sept. 21, 1955—Rocky Marciano knocked out Archie Moore, 9 rounds, New York, N. Y. Marciano, 188¼; Moore, 188. Referee, Harry Kessler.

April 27, 1956—Rocky Marciano announced his retirement as undefeated champion.

Nov. 30, 1956—Floyd Patterson knocked out Archie Moore, 5 rounds, Chicago, Ill., to win the vacant title. Patterson, 182¼; Moore, 187¾. Referee, Frank Sikora.

July 29, 1957—Floyd Patterson stopped Tommy Jackson, 10 rounds, New York, N. Y. Patterson, 184; Jackson, 192½. Referee, Ruby Goldstein.

Aug. 22, 1957—Floyd Patterson knocked out Pete Rademacher, 6 rounds, Seattle, Wash. Patterson, 187¼; Rademacher, 202. Referee, Tommy Loughran.

Aug. 18, 1958—Floyd Patterson knocked out Roy Harris, 12 rounds, Los Angeles, Calif. Patterson, 184½; Harris, 194. Referee, Mushy Callahan.

May 1, 1959—Floyd Patterson knocked out Brian London, 11 rounds, Indianapolis, Ind. Patterson, 182½; London, 206. Referee, Frank Sikora.

June 26, 1959—Ingemar Johansson won the title by knocking out Floyd Patterson, 3 rounds, New York, N. Y. Johansson, 196; Patterson, 182. Referee, Ruby Goldstein.

June 20, 1960—Floyd Patterson became the first man to regain the title by knocking out Ingemar Johansson in 1:51 of the fifth round, New York, N. Y. Patterson, 190; Johansson, 194¾. Referee, Arthur Mercante.

March 13, 1961—Floyd Patterson knocked out Ingemar Johansson, 6 rounds, Miami Beach, Fla. Patterson, 194¾; Johansson, 206½. Referee, Billy Regan.

Dec. 4, 1961—Floyd Patterson knocked out Tom McNeeley, 4 rounds, Toronto, Canada. Patterson, 188½; McNeeley, 197. Referee, Jersey Joe Walcott.

Sept. 25, 1962—Sonny Liston won the title by knocking out Floyd Patterson in 2:06 of the first round, Chicago, Ill. Liston, 214; Patterson, 189. Referee, Frank Sikora.

July 22, 1963—Sonny Liston knocked out Floyd Patterson in 2:10 of the first round, Las Vegas, Nevada. Liston, 215½; Patterson, 194½. Referee, Harry Krause.

Feb. 25, 1964—Cassius Clay won the title when Sonny Liston failed to answer the bell for the seventh round, Miami Beach, Fla. Clay, 210½; Liston, 218. Referee, Barney Felix.

May 25, 1965—Cassius Clay knocked out Sonny Liston in Lewiston, Maine, in what was officially announced as a one minute knockout. But an examination of the official films showed that 1:42 had elapsed by the time the referee declared Liston out. The Timer declared he had clocked the knockout in one minute flat. Clay, 206; Liston, 215¼. Referee, Jersey Joe Walcott.

Nov. 22, 1965—Cassius Clay stopped Floyd Patterson in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2:18 of the twelfth round. Referee Harry Krause halted the bout when Patterson, due to an injured back, plus the beating he had taken, was unable to defend himself. Clay, 210; Patterson, 196¾.

Mar. 29, 1966—Cassius Clay, (Muhammad Ali), defeated George Chuvalo, Toronto, in Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Canada, by unanimous decision, 15 rounds. Clay, 214½; Chuvalo, 216. Referee, Jackie Silvers.

May 21, 1966—Cassius Clay stopped Henry Cooper, London, in the Arsenal Stadium of London, Eng., in the sixth round. Clay, 201½; Cooper, 188. Referee, George Smith.

Aug. 6, 1966—Cassius Clay knocked out Brian London in the Earl's Court, London, Eng., in the third round. Clay, 209½; London, 201½. Referee—Harry Gibbs.

Sept. 10, 1966—Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali), knocked out Karl Mildenberger, Frankfurt, Germany, in 1:30 of the twelfth round. Referee Ted Waltham of England stopped the fight to save Mildenberger from further punishment. Clay, 203½; Mildenberger, 194¼.

Nov. 14, 1966—Cassius Clay, (Muhammad Ali), stopped Cleveland Williams in the Houston Astrodome, Houston, Texas, in 1:08 of the third round. The referee was Harry Kessler. Clay, 212¾; Williams, 210½.

Feb. 6, 1967—Cassius Clay, (Muhammad Ali), retained his crown by defeating Ernie Terell, Philadelphia, Pa. by a decision, 15 rounds, in Houston, Texas. Clay, 212¼; Terell, 212½. Referee, Harry Kessler. Unanimous decision.

Mar. 22, 1967—Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali), retained his crown, stopping Zora Folley, of Chandler, Arizona, in Madison Square Garden, New York City, in the seventh round. Clay, 211½; Folley, 202½. Referee, John La Bianco.

May 9, 1967—Immediately following the indictment of Clay by a Federal Grand Jury in Houston for refusing to accept service in the armed forces, the New York Commission took Clay's title from him and the World Boxing Association did the same. Clay was banned in all U.S. and his heavyweight title was vacated.

On Mar. 4, 1968, Joe Frazier, Philadelphia, Pa., stopped Buster Mathis, Grand Rapids, Mich., in 11 rounds at Madison Square Garden, New York. Frazier, 204½; Mathis 243½. Referee, Arthur Mercante. Frazier was recognized heavyweight champion in New York, Maine, Pennsylvania, Texas, Massachusetts, Illinois, Mexico and South America.

The W.B.A. conducted a series of elimination bouts and on April 27, 1968, Jimmy Ellis, Louisville, Ky., won a split decision over Jerry Quarry, Bellflower, Calif., at Oakland, Calif. Ellis, 197; Quarry, 195. Referee, Elmer Costa.

Ellis defended his W.B.A. title on Sept. 14, 1968, gaining a decision in 15 rounds over Floyd Patterson in Stockholm, Sweden.

Frazier defended his share of the heavyweight crown four times. He knocked out Manuel Ramos in the second round on June 24, 1968, in New York. On Dec. 10, 1968, he scored a 15-round decision over Oscar Bonavena in Philadelphia. On April 29, 1969, Frazier knocked out Dave Zyglewicz in the first round at Houston, Tex., and on June 23, 1969, Frazier scored a seventh round knockout over Jerry Quarry in New York.

Feb. 16, 1970—Joe Frazier stopped Jimmy Ellis in five to win the vacant world heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden. Frazier, 205; Ellis, 201. Referee, Tony Perez.

Nov. 18, 1970—Joe Frazier knocked out Bob Foster, Washington, D.C., in the second round at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Mich. Frazier, 209; Foster, 188. Referee, Tom Brisco.

Mar. 8, 1971—Joe Frazier scored a unanimous decision over Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) in 15 rounds in Madison Square Garden. Frazier, 205½; Ali, 215. Referee, Arthur Mercante.