On June 9, 1978, the late Ken Norton Sr. made the first defense of his World Boxing Council (WBC) Heavyweight Title against the hitherto unbeaten Larry Holmes at Caesars Palace Sports Pavilion, Las Vegas. Norton was awarded the WBC title in March, 1978, after Leon Spinks reneged on a prior agreement to face him and opted, instead, for a lucrative rematch with Muhammad Ali, whom he had suprisingly outpointed, by split decision, at the Hilton Hotel the previous month.

Norton, 34, was past his prime, but vastly more experienced than Holmes, 28, so started 6/5 favourite to retain his 84-day-old title. However, it was Holmes who made the early running, using his exceptional hand speed to win four of the first five rounds. By contrast, Norton started slowly and it was not until the sixth round that he started to hurt his opponent. Remarkably, having lost four of the first five rounds, Norton won five of the next six.

In rounds twelve and thirteen, Holmes responded, landing a succession of heavy shots as Norton, once again, covered up. Thereafter, Norton went on the offensive, once again, landing six unanswered punches to Holmes’ head and body at the end of the penultimate round and starting the final round in similarly aggressive fashion. Holmes fought back, launching a late flurry which, momentarily, looked to have Norton in trouble and the fight ended with the pair slugging it out, toe-to-toe, in the centre of the ring. The result went to the judges, with Holmes winning by split decision, and the minimum margin, 143-142, 143-142, 142-143.

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On December 6, 2008, reigning WBC lightweight champion Manny ‘Pac-Man’ Pacquiao stepped up two weight divisions to face Oscar ‘The Golden Boy’ De La Hoya, who stepped down one, in a welterweight contest at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Although a non-title fight, ‘The Dream Match’ , as it was billed, was a heavily publicised pay-per-view event; it was intended to represent an unofficial ‘passing of the torch’ from De La Hoya, a former six-division world champion, to Pacquiao, a five-division world champion.

In any event, while the fight did much to bring Philippines-born Pacquiao to the attention of the western world, it proved to be a distinctly one-sided affair. Pacquiao, 29, dominated De La Hoya, 35, right from the opening bell, using his superior hand speed to land a series of straight left hands. In the fifth round, Pacquiao opened up still further, seemingly aware that his opponent could do little, or nothing, to hurt him. Rounds six and seven followed a similar pattern, with De La Hoya looking slow and ineffective and coming under increasing pressure from Pacquiao.

In the eighth round, De La Hoya took further punishment and, at the end of the round, referee Tony Weeks warned this corner that if he continued to take punches the fight would be stopped. However, De La Hoya failed to answer the bell for the ninth round and retired on his stool after trainer Nacho Beristain threw in the towel, Pacquiao being declared the winner by technical knockout.

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