World Welterweight Title Bout
After that last streak, Backus was ranked among the top ten Welterweight challengers of the world at number 10. The year was 1970 and Mexico's José Nápoles had earned the right to make an optional defense of his world title (meaning he could pick any challenger among the top ten to defend against). His management, figuring they'd have an easy fight ahead of them, picked Backus as the challenger for this optional title bout. But Backus landed a punch that opened a cut over Nápoles' eye in round one, causing Nápoles to bleed profusely, and the fight was stopped in round four. Since the cut had been ruled to be caused by a punch, Backus was declared winner by a technical knockout, and he had realized a dream that many fans never thought he would: he had become the world's Welterweight champion. His uncle Basilio, watching from ringside, said: "Billy winning the world title is the best thing ever to happen in my life, even better than me winning the world title."
Billy won two non-title fights, including one over Robert Gallois in Paris, and then had a rematch with Nápoles in Los Angeles. This time Nápoles returned the favor, knocking Backus out in the Eighth round and regaining his title.
Read more about this topic: Billy Backus
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