Boxing in The 1960s - 1965

1965

• March 5- Ernie Terrell becomes the WBA world Heavyweight champion, beating Eddie Machen by a fifteen round decision, in Chicago.
• March 30- José Torres becomes the first Hispanic Light-Heavyweight champion in history, knocking out Willie Pastrano in nine rounds at New York. Emile Griffith retains his world Welterweight title with a fifteen round decision over Jose Stable as part of the same program.
• April 23- Ismael Laguna defeats Carlos Ortiz by a fifteen round decision in Panama City, Panama, to win the world's Lightweight title.
• May 17- Fighting Harada defeats Eder Jofre in Nagoya, Japan to win the world Featherweight title.
• May 25- Muhammad Ali retains his WBC world Heavyweight title in a rematch with Sonny Liston, by knockout in round one. What proved to be one of the most controversial fights in boxing history (because few were able to see the knockout punch, the fight therefore became known as the Phantom Punch Fight) was also the world title fight that attracted the smallest number of live spectators in boxing history, fought in Lewiston, before a crowd of 2,434 people.
• September 7- Vicente Saldivar retains his world Bantamweight title with a fifteen round decision over former world champion Howard Winstone, London.
• October 21- Dick Tiger regains the world Middleweight title, defeating Joey Giardello by a fifteen round unanimous decision, New York.
• November 13- Carlos Ortiz regains the world Lightweight title with a fifteen round unanimous decision over Ismael Laguna, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• November 22- Muhammad Ali retains his world Heavyweight title with a twelfth round knockout of former world champion Floyd Patterson, Las Vegas.
• December 10- After a ceremony to honor Sugar Ray Robinson for his retirement (featuring former Robinson rivals Carmen Basilio, Gene Fullmer, Carl Olson and Randy Turpin), Emile Griffith retains his world Welterweight title with a fifteen round decision over Mexican-American Manuel Gonzalez, in the first fight ever to be shown in color on television.