The Week That Was …

Nov. 6, 1981: WBC heavyweight champ Larry Holmes survives a scare in the seventh round when challenger Renaldo Snipes connects with a big right to the jaw that drops the Easton Assassin and sends him crashing into the ropes when he rises. But Holmes survives the haymaker and retains the title with an 11th round TKO in Pittsburgh. The win is a primer for Holmes' biggest challenge, which takes place in June 1982 against Gerry Cooney in Las Vegas.

Nov. 6, 1993: Evander Holyfield wins a split decision over champion Riddick Bowe to reclaim the IBF and WBA portions of the title. Bowe beat Holyfield in 1992, but relinquished the WBC belt. The fight was interrupted near the end of the seventh round when a man in a glider crashed into the ring. The “Fan Man” was then beaten by members of Bowe's entourage. Action was interrupted for more than 20 minutes.

Nov. 7, 1970: Argentine Carlos Monzon scores a 12th-round kayo over champion Nino Benvenuti in Rome to win the world middleweight title. The charismatic Monzon, the greatest fighter his country has ever produced, sets a then-division record of 14 title defenses until he retires, permanently, in 1977.

Nov. 7, 1988: Fighting for the first time since scoring his upset win over middleweight champion Marvin Hagler in April 1987, Sugar Ray Leonard knocks out WBC light heavyweight champion Donny Lalonde in the ninth round in Las Vegas to win the 175lbs. crown, and, newly created WBC super middleweight title.

Nov. 7, 1992: Fresh off his destruction of three-division champ Jeff Fenech in March, Azumah Nelson defends his WBC junior lightweight title via 12-round unanimous decision over Calvin Grove in Stateline, Nevada. It is the eighth defense of the title since he beat Mario Martinez for the vacant belt 1988.

Nov. 8, 1997: WBA champ Evander Holyfield stops IBF king Michael Moorer in the eighth round of their rematch to unify two-thirds of the heavyweight crown, setting up a showdown with WBC champion Lennox Lewis in March 1999. Moorer won a majority decisioned over Holyfield April 22, 1994 to win the WBA and IBF belts. Moorer then lost to George Foreman in his first defense.

Nov. 8, 2003: Six months after winning the WBA heavyweight title from John Ruiz, Roy Jones drops down to light heavyweight to defend his WBC 175 lbs. crown against Antonio Tarver. Jones rallies and wins in a controversial majority decision over 12 rounds. However tainted, it is the last victory in Jones' storied career. He goes on to lose twice to Tarver and is knocked out by Glen Johnson. Also on that card, Winky Wright easily defends his IBF junior middleweight crown with a lopsided unanimous decision over Angel Hernandez.

Nov. 9, 1996: Challenger Evander Holyfield knocks out champion Mike Tyson in the 11th round to win the WBA heavyweight title in Las Vegas. Holyfield takes command in the early rounds and drops the champion in Round 6. He steadily increases his control of the bout then drives Tyson into the ropes and pummels him at the end of Round 10. Holyfield wins the rematch via third-round disqualification, when a frustrated Tyson bites Holyfield's ear – twice.

Nov. 10, 1983: Marvin Hagler barely hangs on to his undisputed middleweight crown winning a 15-round unanimous decision over Roberto Duran in Las Vegas. Although never in trouble against then-three division champ Duran, who had won the WBA junior middleweight title in his previous fight, Hagler employs an overly cautious fight plan but rallies in the late rounds for the win. Hagler, who won the title from Alan Minter in 1980, reigns supreme at 160 lbs. until losing the title to Ray Leonard in 1987. Duran eventually wins the WBC middleweight title scoring a 12-round split decision over Iran Barkley in 1989.

Nov. 10, 1965: Sugar Ray Robinson, 44, is dropped in the sixth round en route to a 10-round unanimous-decision loss to top middleweight contender Joey Archer at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh in what is his final ring appearance. Robinson, who turned pro in 1941 and won world titles at 147 lbs. and 160 lbs., leaves the ring with a 173-19-6 record. He is still regarded by most historians as the best fighter ever, pound-for-pound.

Nov. 11, 1898: George Dixon recaptures the world featherweight crown when champion Dave Sullivan is disqualified in the 10th round. Dixon, who earlier won the world bantamweight title, holds two noteworthy distinctions: he is the first Canadian-born world boxing champion, and he is the first black man to win a world championship.

Nov. 11, 1978: Making the first defense of the title he won from Ken Norton, Larry Holmes dominates, then stops, Alfredo Evangelista via seventh-round knockout in Las Vegas to retain the WBC heavyweight title.

Nov. 12, 1943: How often did boxers fight in the old days? Answer: a lot. Future middleweight champ Jake LaMotta closes out an 11-2 campaign with a 10-round split-decision win over future welterweight champ Fritzie Zivic at Madison Square Garden. It's the third meeting between the two that year, with LaMotta winning a 10-round decision in June and Zivic prevailing in a 15-round split decision in July. Earlier in the year, LaMotta split a pair of 10-round decisions against another future champion: Sugar Ray Robinson. LaMotta and Zivic fought a fourth and final time January 14, 1944 in Detroit with the Bronx Bull taking the series 3-1, via 10-round unanimous decision.

Nov. 12, 1987: Roger Mayweather scores a sixth-round kayo over champion Ray Arrendondo in Los Angeles to win the WBC junior welterweight crown.

Nov. 12, 1994: Mexican Umberto “Chiquita” Gonzalez wins a majority 12-round decision over archrival American Michael Carbajal to retain the IBF/WBC junior flyweight titles in the third and final bout of their action-packed championship series. Carbajal won the first fight via seventh-round TKO in March 1993, Gonzalez rallied to win a split decision in the rematch in Feb. 1994.