Boxing in The 1970s - 1973

1973

• January 22- George Foreman becomes world Heavyweight champion, defeating Joe Frazier by knockout in round two at Kingston, Jamaica. It is the first fight televised on HBO Boxing.
• January 24- WBA world Flyweight champion Masao Ohba dies after his car collided with a truck in Tokyo, Japan. He left a record of 35 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, with 15 knockouts.
• March 31- Ken Norton becomes the second boxer to defeat Muhammad Ali, breaking Ali's jaw en route to a twelve round split decision in San Diego.
• May 5- Eder Jofre wins the WBC world Featherweight title three years after his first retirement from boxing, defeating world champion Jose Legra by a fifteen round majority decision in Brasília, Brazil.
• May 19- Antonio Cervantes retains his WBA world Jr. Welterweight title with a five round knockout of Alfonso Peppermint Frazer, in their Panama City, Panama rematch.
• June 2- Carlos Monzón retains his world Middleweight title with a fifteen round unanimous decision over Emile Griffith, at their rematch, held in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
• July 2- Former world Heavyweight champion Joe Frazier returns to the ring, beating Joe Bugner by a twelve round decision at London.
• September 1- George Foreman retains his world Heavyweight title with a first round knockout over Jose King Roman, who becomes the first Puerto Rican to challenge for the world Heavyweight championship, in Tokyo.
• September 10- Muhammad Ali avenges his loss to Ken Norton, beating Norton by a twelve round split decision in Inglewood, California.
• November 3- Arnold Taylor survives four knockdowns to knock out WBA world Bantamweight champion Romeo Anaya in fourteen rounds, winning the world title in Johannesburg, South Africa, in what boxing writer Chris Greyvenstein called probably the most murderous and dramatic (fight) in South African history.
• December 1- In the first boxing fight pitting a Black man against a White man in South African history, Bob Foster, an African-American, retains his world Light Heavyweight championship with a fifteen round unanimous decision over Pierre Fourie. It was, in addition, Foster's second fifteen round decision win over Fourie.