Boxing in the 1990s
As in the 1980s, the 1990s in boxing's popularity focused on all divisions. When 1980s legends Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, as well as others retired, newer superstars filled the void: Pernell Whitaker, Julio César Chávez, in the early 1990s, Oscar De La Hoya, Félix Trinidad, Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in the mid to late 1990s.
As for the heavyweight division, Mike Tyson's reign ended prematurely with the upset loss to Buster Douglas. Former cruiserweight champion, Evander Holyfield took over as the undisputed champion of the division, and later built a rivalry against former Olympic silver medalist, Riddick Bowe. The later 1990s was dominated by Lennox Lewis who unified the division in 1999.
The 1990s also saw the emergence of the battles between the British super middleweight fighters Chris Eubank, Michael Watson and Nigel Benn, all of whose careers ended in tragedy.
List of notable fights by year
1990
- February 11 – Buster Douglas upsets Mike Tyson by 10th-round KO in Tokyo, to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Douglas was a 42–1 underdog.
- March 17 – Thunder Meets Lightning: Julio César Chávez defeats Meldrick Taylor by 12th-round KO, for the WBC-IBF light welterweight unification. There was controversy as referee Richard Steele stops the contest with 2 seconds left in the bout and Taylor ahead on the scorecards.
- August 11 – Pernell Whitaker defeats Juan Nazario by first-round knockout to unify the WBA, WBC, IBF belts and becomes the undisputed lightweight champion of the world.
- October 25 – Buster Douglas's short reign as heavyweight champion ends as he loses to Evander Holyfield by third-round KO. Douglas was very noticeably out of shape, despite being in pinnacle shape in the Tyson fight, eight months and two weeks before.
- November 11 – Julian Jackson wins by stunning knockout over Herol Graham by a devastating 4th-round KO for the vacated WBC middleweight title. Graham, ahead in the fight, was knocked out by Jackson by a devastating right hand and was out for five minutes.
- November 18 – Chris Eubank wins the WBO middleweight title by beating Nigel Benn by 9th round TKO.
1991
- February 9 – Terry Norris soundly defeats Sugar Ray Leonard by 12-round unanimous decision, and successfully defends his WBC super welterweight title.
- April 19 – in his first defense as undisputed heavyweight champion, Evander Holyfield defeats George Foreman by unanimous decision. Foreman was surprisingly valiant in defeat despite being 42 years of age.
- June 1 – in Palm Springs, California Terry Norris knocks out Donald Curry in the 8th round and successfully defends the WBC super welterweight championship.
1992
- June 19 – Evander Holyfield successfully defends his undisputed heavyweight championship by unanimous decision over Larry Holmes.
- November 13 – Riddick Bowe defeats Evander Holyfield by 12-round unanimous decision to become the undisputed champion of the world.
1993
- March 13 – Michael Carbajal wins by KO against Humberto González to unify the IBF and WBC Flyweight belts. Carbajal got knocked down twice during the fight and came back to knock out Gonzalez late in the seventh round.
- May 22 – Roy Jones Jr. defeats Bernard Hopkins by unanimous decision to win the vacated IBF middleweight title.
- September 10 – Julio César Chávez and Pernell Whitaker's fight for the WBC welterweight title ends in a controversial draw, despite Whitaker seemingly dominating the fight.
- October 1 – Lennox Lewis beats Frank Bruno in the seventh round by a technical knockout. Lewis was defending his WBC Heavyweight title. It was the first time that two British-born boxers had fought for the world heavyweight title.
- November 6 – Evander Holyfield defeats Riddick Bowe by majority decision in their rematch for the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles. A man parachutes to the corner of the ring during the fight and starts a mini riot, the fight is later labelled the Fan Man Fight.
1994
- January 29 – Frankie Randall causes Julio César Chávez his first defeat in 91 professional bouts, winning the WBC world Jr. Welterweight title in the process, by a split decision in 12 rounds.
- April 22 – Michael Moorer defeats Evander Holyfield to win the Lineal, WBA & IBF Heavyweight Championship
- September 24 – Lennox Lewis loses his WBC championship and undefeated record after getting knocked out by Oliver McCall in front of his home crowd in London
- November 5 – George Foreman at 45 years old becomes the oldest heavyweight champion defeating Michael Moorer by knockout in round 10, with Foreman behind in all the scorecards.
- November 18 – Roy Jones Jr. defeats James Toney by a lopsided unanimous decision to win the IBF super middleweight championship
1995
- February 15 – Nigel Benn defeats Gerald McClellan by a tenth round TKO for the WBC super middleweight title after being knocked through the ropes in the first round, and knocked down again in the eighth round. McClellan is counted on his knees, then loses consciousness in the ring and is transported to hospital, where he falls into a coma and suffers extensive brain damage, losing his eyesight and becoming 80 percent deaf.
- May 6 – Oscar De La Hoya unifies the WBO and IBF Lightweight titles in his victory against Rafael Ruelas.
- August 19 – Mike Tyson defeats Peter McNeeley in his first comeback fight.
- November 4 – Riddick Bowe knockout Evander Holyfield in the 8th round
1996
- March 16 – Mike Tyson defeats Frank Bruno by third round KO to win the WBC heavyweight title.
- June 7 – Oscar De La Hoya defeats Julio César Chávez by fourth round KO to win the WBC light welterweight title.
- July 11 – Andrew Golota gets disqualified during the seventh round of a fight against Riddick Bowe at Madison Square Garden for striking low blows against Bowe. A massive riot ensues, in which many civilians are injured.
- September 7 – Mike Tyson defeats Bruce Seldon in one round for the WBA heavyweight title, unifying it with the WBC heavyweight title he already holds. Tupac Shakur, an American rapper, watched the fight but was fatally shot later on that night. He died 6 days later.
- September 24 – Mike Tyson is stripped of the WBC heavyweight title.
- November 9 – Evander Holyfield wins by technical knockout against Mike Tyson to win the WBA heavyweight title.
- December 14 – Andrew Golota gets disqualified again against Riddick Bowe for low blows in their rematch.
1997
- February 7 – Lennox Lewis regains the now vacant WBC heavyweight title against his only conqueror Oliver McCall, in a bizarre bout, where McCall refuses to fight after the third round and begins to cry in the ring forcing the referee to stop the fight in the fifth round
- March 1 – Sugar Ray Leonard returns to the ring after a six-year layoff at the age of 41, but loses a fifth round TKO against Héctor Camacho and retires for good after the fight.
- March 21 – Roy Jones Jr. loses his WBC light heavyweight title by disqualification to Montell Griffin for hitting after the fighter was down, suffering the first loss in his career, Jones Jr. was behind on two score cards.
- April 12 Oscar De La Hoya defeats Pernell Whitaker by unanimous decision to win the Lineal &WBC Welterweight Championship
- June 28 – Evander Holyfield wins by disqualification over Mike Tyson, after Tyson tries to bite Holyfield's ear twice, to retaliating to Holyfield's headbutts.
- August 7 – Roy Jones Jr. regains his WBC light heavyweight title by first-round knockout in his rematch against Montell Griffin.
- October 4 Arturo Gatti defeats Gabriel Ruelas by fifth round knockout to retained his IBF Super Featherweight Championship
- Lennox Lewis defeats Andrew Golota by first round knockout to retained his WBC Heavyweight Championship
- November 8 Evander Holyfield defeats Micheal Moore by 8th RTD unifying the WBA and IBF Heavyweight Championship
- December 19 Naseem Hamed defeats Kevin Kelley by fourth round knockout to retained his WBO Featherweight Championship
1998
- March 28 Lennox Lewis defeats Shannon Briggs by fifth round knockout to retained his WBC Heavyweight Championship and won the Lineal heavyweight title
- July 18 Roy Jones Jr defeats Lou Del Valle by unanimous decision to unify the WBC & WBA Light Heavyweight Championship
- August 22 Ivan Robinson defeats Arturo Gatti by split decision the fight was named fight of the year by ring magazine
- October 3 Floyd Mayweather, Jr., aged 21, defeats Genaro Hernández to win the Lineal & WBC Super featherweight titles, becoming the first 1996 U.S Olympian to win a world title.
- December 12 Fernando Vargas at 21 years of age, defeats Yori Boy Campas to win the IBF light middleweight title*
- Ivan Robinson defeats Arturo Gattii in the rematch by unanimous decision
- December 19 Floyd Mayweather Jr defeats Angel Manfredy by second round knockout to retained his WBC & Lineal Super Featherweight Championship
- David Tua defeats Hasim Rahman by tenth round knockout IBF Heavyweight eliminator
1999
- March 13 – WBA and IBF champion Evander Holyfield and WBC champion Lennox Lewis meet in a unification heavyweight bout at Madison Square Garden, but the fight ends in a controversial draw.
- June 5 – Roy Jones Jr. defeats Reggie Johnson and successfully unifies the light heavyweight division becoming the undisputed champion of the division.
- September 18 – in what was billed as the Fight of the millennium, Félix Trinidad defeats Oscar De La Hoya by a controversial majority decision. The fight generated 1.4 million pay per view buys generating a record for a non-heavyweight fight.
- November 13 – Lennox Lewis becomes the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world in his rematch against Evander Holyfield by unanimous decision.
- December 4 Fernando Vargas defeats Winky Wright by majority decision to retained his IBF Light Middleweight Championship