Famous matches broadcast on
World Championship Boxing include: • the
Rumble in the Jungle, in which
Muhammad Ali regained the world heavyweight title from George Foreman in
Kinshasa,
Zaire in 1974; • the
Thrilla in Manila, the final encounter between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier and HBO's first program when the service uplinked to
satellite in 1975; •
Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns I and II • When
Wilfred Benítez beat Roberto Durán •
Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney, for the
World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight championship; • the
Battle of the Champions, when
Aaron Pryor beat
Alexis Argüello in their first fight; •
Carnival of Champions, in which
Wilfredo Gómez beat
Lupe Pintor, and
Thomas Hearns beat
Wilfred Benítez; •
Marvin Hagler defeats Roberto Durán and
Hector Camacho beat
Rafi Solis - both fights shown on the same night, days after they had taken place • Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns fight, billed as
The War; •
Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman, billed as The Battle of the Ages; •
Thunder Meets Lightning, in which
Julio César Chávez beat
Meldrick Taylor with two seconds remaining in the twelfth round; •
Michael Moorer vs. George Foreman, in which Foreman knocked out
Michael Moorer to become the oldest heavyweight champion of the world at age 45; •
James "Buster" Douglas's
stunning upset of
Mike Tyson for the undisputed world heavyweight title in
Tokyo, Japan; •
Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis and
Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis II; •
Arturo Gatti vs.
Micky Ward trilogy, in which the first fight, Ward beat Gatti by majority decision, while Gatti beat Ward twice, in second and third fights by unanimous decision; •
Manny Pacquiao vs.
Juan Manuel Márquez tetralogy, in which
the first fight ended in a split draw where Burt Clements incorrectly scored 113-113, despite three knockdowns scored by Pacquiao,
the second fight ended in Pacquiao winning by split-decision with the knockdown scored in round three as the difference in the fight,
the third fight, in which Pacquiao won by majority decision and
the final fight of the rivalry resulting Márquez knocking out Pacquiao in the sixth round with one second left; •
The Fight of the Millennium, when
Felix Trinidad beat
Oscar De La Hoya by twelve rounds majority decision. •
Bernard Hopkins vs. Oscar De La Hoya; •
The World Awaits -
Floyd Mayweather Jr. beat
Oscar De La Hoya for the WBC super-welterweight title; •
Undefeated" - Floyd Mayweather Jr. beat
Ricky Hatton to retain the WBC welterweight title with a TKO in the 10th round; •
The Dream Match - The Welterweight match between
Manny Pacquiao (moving up 2 weight classes) against Oscar De La Hoya (moving down 1 weight class). Pacquiao won by technical knockout before the 9th round began (De La Hoya retired on his stool); •
Mayweather Jr. vs. Pacquiao, when Mayweather outpointed Pacquiao over 12 rounds in one of the most widely seen fights around the world in boxing history (on May 2, 2015, simulcasted with
Showtime); •
Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez's
outpointing of
Miguel Cotto by 12 round unanimous decision on a November 21, 2015. •
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez vs
Gennady Golovkin I &II. Canelo took on
GGG in 2017 and 2018. Both fights were very close and are still disputed today, with the first fight ending in a draw and the second ending in a win, via
majority decision, for Canelo. •
Riddick Bowe vs. Andrew Golota. A confrontation between Golota and Bowe's entourage after Golata's disqualification for delivering low blows to Bowe, resulting a chaotic and violent brawl between the boxers' respective entourages and fans. During the fight, HBO's commentary team had to evacuate their ringside position (with George Foreman helping to protect his fellow commentators after unsuccessfully attempting to put an end to the fighting; the commentators' table was destroyed in the brawl), resulting in several minutes of commentary-free coverage of the melee before Jim Lampley was able to resume coverage of the incident from several levels above. Larry Merchant and Foreman remained in the ring providing coverage as tempers continued to flare into punch-ups between spectators. The credits rolled over footage of NYPD officers entering MSG and beginning to make arrests.
World Championship Boxing has also had three
spin-off series:
Boxing After Dark;
KO Nation; and
MetroPCS Friday Night Knockout, a weekly broadcast co-produced with
Turner Sports for sister cable network
TruTV.
multiplex Spanish-language channel HBO Latino aired two spin-off series
Oscar De La Hoya Presenta Boxeo De Oro (focused on fighters from De La Hoya's
Golden Boy Promotions) and
Generación Boxeo. Additionally, a video game carrying the brand name
HBO Boxing was released for the
PlayStation in 2000, which was published by
Acclaim Entertainment under their Acclaim Sports banner. ==Commentators ==