Boxing in The 1960s - 1968

1968

• February 26- Australia's Lionel Rose beats world Bantamweight champion Fighting Harada by a fifteen round unanimous decision to become boxing's first aborigine world champion in history, Tokyo, Japan.
• March 4- Nino Benvenuti recovers the world's Middleweight title with a fifteen round unanimous decision over Emile Griffith in their rubber match, in the main event of a card that also featured Joe Frazier's knockout in eleven over Buster Mathis, Madison Square Garden, New York.
• April 27- Jimmy Ellis wins the vacant WBA world Heavyweight championship, with a fifteen round majority decision over Jerry Quarry, Oakland.
• May 24- Bob Foster wins the world Light-Heavyweight title knocking out Dick Tiger in four rounds, New York. It was the only time in Tiger's career (he had fought 77 times before this) that he was knocked out, New York.
• June 25- Carlos Cruz defeats Carlos Ortiz to win the world's Lightweight title by a fifteen round unanimous decision, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
• September 14- Jimmy Ellis retains the WBA world Heavyweight title with a fifteen round decision over Floyd Patterson, who was attempting to become the first boxer to hold the world Heavyweight title three times, in Stockholm, Sweden.
• December 6- Lionel Rose retains his world Bantamweight title with a fifteen round split decision over Chucho Castillo in Inglewood. The decision caused the ire of the pro-Castillo crowd, and a large scale riot ensued, fourteen people, including the one judge who scored the fight for Castillo, are hospitalized.
• December 12- future Hall of Fame member Nicolino Locche of Argentina wins the world's Jr. Welterweight championship, knocking out Asian-American Paul Fujii out in ten rounds, at Tokyo.