March 31, 1980: Lots of Title Fights in One Night? 45 Years Ago.

[elmersalsa]

On Monday night of March 31st, 1980, ABC Sports broadcasted 4 world boxing title fights in one night from different parts in the United States soil.

The first fight was Eddie Gregory of Brooklyn, stopping WBA World Light-Heavyweight Champion Marvin Johnson of Indianapolis, IN in Knoxville, TN at the Stokely Athletic Center. Gregory won the title by knockout in 11 rounds and later changed his name to Eddie Mustapha Muhammad.

Then, later at the same arena, Mike Weaver of Texas, behind on points, dramatically stopped Knoxville's favorite son, Big John Tate. A left hook dropped Tate in dramatic fashion. Tate laid unconscious, face down.

Weaver, 28, nicknamed "Hercules", listed at 6'1" and weighed in at 207lbs, full of muscle! He challenged the great Larry Holmes the year before for Holmes' WBC World Heavyweight Title losing by knockout in 12 rounds.
Tate, 25, listed at 6'4" and weighed in 232lbs!

Later on that night, in Baltimore's Civic Center in Baltimore, MD, America's Darling and the Face of Boxing, the great Sugar Ray Leonard, 23, of Palmer Park, MD, successfully defended his WBC World Welterweight Championship in 4 rounds by knocking out Dave "Boy" Green of England. It was one of the greatest knockouts ever seen on film and in a live coverage. Green was down for about 30 minutes. It was Sugar Ray's first title defense. He received a payday of $1.4 million dollars.

And later on, in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, the great Larry Holmes, 30, of Easton, PA, the WBC World Heavyweight Champion, successfully defended his crown by stopping Leroy Jones, 30, of Denver, CO. It was Holmes's second title defense of the year 1980. And his 6th title defense overall since winning the title in June '78. Holmes listing at 6'3", weighed in 211lbs. And Jones, at 6'5" weighed in 254lbs!

Holmes won by an eight round TKO. Holmes received $1.3 million dollars for his title defense. Jones was undefeated in 25 bouts.

A lot of boxing action on free TV in America. Would that ever happen again? Your comments of these fights.

[Ambling Alp II]

I think I posted a thread about this a long time. Remember watching it. It was primetime and on a weeknight!!

Gregory-Johnson was a good fight. Gregory was very impressive inning that fight. Wish Hall of Fame voters would have watched this fight.

The Tate-Weaver ending was unbelievable. There had been talk of a Tate-Holmes unification fight. If Tate would have won, that probably would have happened. Tate looked pretty good for most of the fight and seemed way ahead. He just needed to hold in the last round. then boom, it was all over. It was a devastating knockout.

The Leonard Ko of Green was brutal as well. It just was not quite as surprising.

The Holmes-Jones fight was awful. It was mandatory title fight. The WBC made him the #1 contender even though he had no business being rated that high. I had never even heard of Jones before the fight.

For people that like to post in the Mythical Fight forum, keep this in mind:
Holmes weighed 211. Jones weighed 254. A 43-pound weight "advantage" for Jones. Yet as usual in real life, that didn't matter. Holmes completely dominated him. Who could have imagined that.

[elmersalsa]

It was a night called "The Night of Champions". The first two champions, Marvin Johnson and "Big" John Tate lost their world titles meanwhile the greats Sugar Ray Leonard and Larry Holmes kept theirs.

"Big" John Tate was a very talented heavyweight. He was big, could fight inside and could also box. But he lacked that drive, a fighting spirit and a good chin. He had the height (6'4") and the weight (232lbs), to make it big at heavyweight. But, I guess you got to have more than size and weight to become a great fighter.

I don't understand why Eddie Mustapha Muhammad nor Marvin Johnson are not in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, NY. I don't understand why. There are plenty of guys in the IBHOF that aren't worthy, but somehow these two are not in.

It was a great boxing extravaganza for the fans. Were the winners were the fans. Good quality matches in an unforgettable era of boxing. I miss those days!