On This Day in Boxing… July 8
1979.- The legendary Nicaraguan Alexis Argüello successfully retained his WBC world super featherweight championship by defeating the rugged Mexican challenger Rafael “Bazooka” Limón via technical knockout in the eleventh round. The thrilling battle took place at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York, consolidating Argüello as one of the most solid champions of the era in a highly physical defense.
1988.- The notable American boxer Donald Curry conquered the WBC world super welterweight title after winning by technical knockout in the tenth round over the then Italian champion Gianfranco Rosi. The bout was held at the Casino Municipal in San Remo, Italy; Curry dropped Rosi five times before the Italian’s corner decided to stop the fight, marking Curry’s return to the forefront of world boxing.
1989.- The Ugandan knockout artist John “The Beast” Mugabi was crowned the new WBC world super welterweight champion by swiftly defeating the Frenchman René Jacquot via technical knockout in the very first round at the Mirapolis amusement park in Courdimanche, France. The outcome occurred in an unfortunate manner for the local fighter, who suffered a severe injury to his left ankle after an exchange, which prevented him from continuing and awarded the victory to Mugabi at 2 minutes and 53 seconds into the bout.
2012.- The Japanese stylist Yota Sato successfully defended his WBC world super flyweight crown for the first time by overcoming the official Filipino challenger Sylvester López via unanimous decision. The bout took place at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan, where Sato imposed his superior reach and speed to take clear scorecards of 118-110, 116-113, and 119-109, frustrating the attempts of the dangerous Tagalog challenger.
