On This Day in Boxing History… July 17
1977.- At the Luis Ramos Gymnasium in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, local idol Luis “Luminao” Estaba successfully defended his WBC world light flyweight championship by defeating gritty Colombian challenger Ricardo Estupiñán via a 15-round unanimous decision.
1983.- Legendary Puerto Rican Carlos “Sugar” De León reclaimed the WBC cruiserweight crown, avenging his previous loss by defeating American S.T. Gordon via a clear 12-round unanimous decision at the iconic Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.
1993.- In a thrilling battle at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, the historic Michael Carbajal retained his WBC world light flyweight championship, stopping dangerous South Korean Olympic challenger Kwang-Sun Kim via a technical knockout (TKO) in the sixth round.
1999.- At the Philips Halle in Düsseldorf, Germany, superb Cuban southpaw Juan Carlos “The Black Panther” Gómez authoritatively defended his WBC world cruiserweight crown by stopping Jamaican Bruce Scott via technical knockout (TKO) in the sixth round.
2010.- Sensational Mexican Fernando “Cochulito” Montiel defended his WBC world bantamweight championship with an electrifying third-round knockout (KO) over tough Panamanian Rafael “El Torito” Concepción in a bout held in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico.
2021.- In an absolute unification war at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, American Jermell Charlo and Argentina’s Brian Castaño clashed in a memorable battle that ended in a split-decision draw after 12 rounds, keeping Charlo as the WBC super welterweight king.