Sugar Ray Leonard pulled off one of the most remarkable upsets in boxing history when he danced and jabbed his way to a split points decision over Marvellous Marvin Hagler to win the World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight championship. Leonard had been given little chance to win by many boxing observers, who thought he was asking too much of his body after not having fought in nearly three years. Leonard, 30, jabbed, danced and ducked his way throughout the fight as he executed what he said afterward had been his strategy to “hit and move, taunt, intimidate and frustrate” the 32-year-old Hagler. Judge Lou Fillippo of the United States scored the fight 118-110 for Leonard and fellow American judge Dave Moretti had it 115-113 for the new champion.Leonard was gracious in victory, saying that he still thought Hagler was the champion after the 12-round fight in an outdoor stadium at Caesars Palace. Leonard said, “It was a good fight, a touch fight. He never hurt me. He stung me. I felt his punching power in the later rounds.”
Other important events:
1841 John Tyler is sworn in as the 10th President of the United States.
1896 The first modern Olympic Games open in Athens, Greece.
1897 Sultan of Zanzibar abolishes slavery.
1909 US explorers Robert E. Peary and Matthew Henson reach the North Pole.
1917 US declares war on Germany, entering the First World War.
1928 The Palmas Island near Philippines is awarded to Holland in arbitration of dispute with US.
1941 Germany invades Greece and bombs Belgrade during the Second World War.
1945 Sarajevo liberated from Nazi occupation by Tito’s partisans.
1947 The first Tony Awards are presented in New York City, US.
1959 Scientists at Los Alamos, New Mexico, generate electricity from an atomic reaction for the first time.
1972 Egypt breaks ties with Jordan because of Jordanian King Hussain’s proposal for new Palestine state.
1978 US president Jimmy Carter signs legislation extending the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 70.
1985 King Fahd inaugurates Saudi Arabia’s largest military city.
1990 Police open fire on pro-democracy demonstrators in Nepal, killing at least 35 people.
1991 Iraq accepts UN conditions for ending the Gulf War.
1992 The European Community recognises Bosnia as an independent country.
1993 Two armed hijackers surrender after diverting a Chinese jetliner with 187 people aboard to Taipei.
1994 The presidents of Rwanda and Burundi are killed in a plane crash in Rwanda.
2000 Deposed Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is sentenced to life imprisonment by an anti-terrorism court in Lahore.
2004 Lawmakers remove Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas from office in a vote.
2005 Monaco’s Prince Rainier III dies at the age of 81.
2008 Filip Vujanovic claims victory in Montenegro’s first presidential polls since the Balkan nation split from Serbia.
2009 A powerful earthquake strikes in L’Aquila, central Italy, killing more than 310 people.
2010 Maoist rebels kill 75 policemen in a jungle ambush in central India.
2011 An 85-year-old British sailor crosses the Atlantic on a raft with three friends.
2013 Moderate MP Tammam Salam is named Lebanon’s new Prime Minister.
2014 Sri Lanka wins ICC World Twenty20 Cup after beating India in the final.
2015 Italian designer Francesco Smalto dies at the age of 87.
2016 Country music singer Merle Haggard dies at the age of 79.
