Boxing in The 1970s - 1975

1975

• March 24: The fight that inspired the movie Rocky: With a young Sylvester Stallone sitting at home and watching, Muhammad Ali retains his world Heavyweight championship with a fifteenth round knockout over underdog Chuck Wepner, but not without suffering a ninth round knockdown first, in Cleveland.
• March 30- José Nápoles retains his world Welterweight title with a highly controversial and suspicious twelve round technical decision over Armando Muniz in Acapulco, Mexico. Although no one knew for sure when Nápoles' facial cuts (which caused the fight to be stopped) happened, it was decided that they were probably the result of a headbutt in round three. Therefore, instead of giving the world title to Muniz by technical knockout, it was decided to check the judge's scorecards, and Nápoles was ahead on points, making him the winner by technical decision.
• April 26- George Foreman stages a boxing exhibition against five different boxers, including former Joe Frazier challenger Terry Daniels. He beats the five men by knockout in Toronto, Canada.
• May 16- Muhammad Ali retains the world Heavyweight title with an eleventh round knockout of Ron Lyle in Las Vegas.
• May 17- Antonio Cervantes retains his WBA world Jr. Welterweight title with a fifteen round decision over Esteban De Jesús in Panama City, Panama.
• June 20- Rubén Olivares wins the WBC world Featherweight title, knocking out Bobby Chacon in the second round of their second of three fights, in Inglewood.
• June 28- Ángel Espada wins the vacant WBA world Welterweight title that had been stripped from José Nápoles after Nápoles refused to fight him, by beating Clyde Gray with a fifteen round decision in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• June 30- Muhammad Ali retains his world Heavyweight title with a fifteen round unanimous decision over Joe Bugner in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• July 12- José Nápoles retains his world Welterweight title with a fifteen round decision over Armando Muniz in their Mexico City, Mexico rematch.
• July 15- With only two previous professional bouts, Thailand's Saensak Muangsuring makes history by winning the WBC world Jr. Welterweight title, knocking out world champion Jose Fernandez in Bangkok. Muangsuring becomes the fastest boxer to reach a world championship after his debut.
• August 23- The first world Junior Flyweight world championship fight sees Jaime Rios beat Rigoberto Marcano by decision in fifteen rounds at Panama City to become the WBA's world champion.
• September 20- David Kotey becomes Ghana's first world champion, defeating Rubén Olivares by a fifteen round decision to win the WBC's world Featherweight championship in Inglewood.
• September 30- The Thrilla in Manila: Muhammad Ali retains his world Heavyweight title in his third fight with Joe Frazier, by TKO in round fourteen in Manila. Ali compared this bout to being next to death.
• December 6- José Nápoles' last fight, as he loses his WBC world Welterweight title to John H. Stracey in Mexico City, Mexico.