The World Boxing Association WBA President was Gilberto Mendoza and the World Boxing Council President was Jose Suliman. Due to the previous year’s Mancini-Kim tragedy, the WBC changed title bouts from 15 to 12 rounds. The first fight to take place under the new limit was Rafael Orono KO4 Pedro Romero in Caracas, Venezuela on January 31st.
The International Boxing Federation, headquartered out of Springfield, NJ, was the new kid on block. Robert Lee was the President. The organization would not gain momentum or be credible until the next year. The first recognized IBF title was Marvin Camel for the IBF Cruiserweight Championship KOD5 Roddy McDonald. The match was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on December 13th.
Lucrative Fights of the Year (1983)
March 18: (Atlantic City, NJ) – WBA Light Heavyweight Champ Michael Spinks vs WBC Light Heavyweight Champ Dwight Muhammad Qawi. This was a unification bout. Spinks won in a 15-round decision.
September 9: (Las Vegas, NV) – WBA Jr Welterweight Chap Aaron Pryor KO10 Alexis Arguello. Arguello was attempting to becoming the first man in boxing history to win championships in 4 different weight classes. Pryor won by KO in 10 rounds.
November 10: (Las Vegas, NV) – Marvin Hagler an Undisputed Champ in his first Super Fight W15 WBA Jr. Middleweight Champ Roberto Duran. Duran was attempting to be the first man to win titles in 4 different weight classes with a win.
Fighter of the Year (1983)
Marvelous Marvin Hagler had 3 title defenses. His victims were Tony Sibson, Wilford Scypion, and Roberto Duran. Marvin Hagler passed away on March 13 2021 this year untimely and unexpectedly at the age of 66. Rest In Peace Champ
Fight of the Year (1983)
Bobby Chacon W12 Cornelius Boza-Edwards in an absolute slugfest and bloodbath on May 15.
Comeback of the Year (1983)
On January 29, Roberto Duran KO4 Pipino Cuevas, former Welterweight Champ. On his 32nd birthday, June 16, he annihilated Davey Moore MSG in NYC, NY, in KO8. There were some big names in the crowd: Muhammad Ali, Ray Mancini, and Vicky Lamotta.
Most Popular Boxer of the Year (1983)
Ray Boom Boom Mancini.
The WBA Lightweight Champ was a mainstream superstar and the face of boxing, whom all the big money fights went through. After the retirement of Sugar Ray Leonard, boxing needed an identity, a spokesperson. Mancini was The All-American Boy with a touch of mozzarella. However, as the year progressed, Mancini took much criticism from the boxing press and experts.
He fought two non-title fights. The first was on Feb 6 in Italy, a 10 round decision over George Feeney, and the other was on Nov 25, KO 1, Johnny Torres. He makes one title defense, a KO9, over Orlando Romero, an unknown top contender from Peru.
This was the knockout of the year. On a personal note, Mancini fulfilled a lifelong dream fighting in the main MSG building, as his Dad (the original Boom Boom, Lenny Mancini) did several times decades before. Mancini suffered a bizarre shoulder injury sparring with Ted Hatfield, while training for a title defense against New Jersey Kenny Bang Bang Bogner, in South Africa.
Frank Sinatra was to appear in a concert and it would be the first time a lightweight title fight would pay a 1 million dollar purse. Mancini was out of action for 4-5 months. This fight was scheduled for May 27.
Most Active Heavyweight Champ (1983)
The most active champion of the year was Heavyweight Champ WBC Larry Holmes. He defended his title 4 times. First on March 27, a W12 vs. Lucien Rodriguez in Scranton, PA, the city of his first pro fight back on March 1973. He W4 Rodell Dupree, defeated Tim Witherspoon W12, Scott Frank KO5, and Marvis Frazier KO1.
May 20: (Las Vegas, NV) – Two heavyweight title defenses take place on the same card. WBC Larry Homes W12 Tim Witherspoon and WBA Michael Dokes D15 Mike Weaver.
Upset of the Year (1983)
Sept 23: (Richfield, OH) – Gerrie Coetzee KO 10 Michael Dokes WBA Heavyweight Title and Coetzee becomes first Caucasian to win the heavyweight title since 1959 (Ingemar Johannson) and the first native African to win the Heavyweight title.
Boxing Births and Deaths (1983)
Mult-division future world champs born this year were Roberto Guerrero, Juan Diaz, and Juan Manuel Lopez.
Deaths:
March 28: Paddy Flood passed away at the age of 48. Paddy was a popular NYC Gym owner and promoter.
May 31: Jack Dempsey (age 88). The Heavyweight Champ from 1919-1926, and along with Babe Ruth, one of the sports idols of the decade of the 1920s. My father and brother-in-law met Dempsey at his restaurant when both were children and commented he had a hand like a shovel. Jack Dempseys was in NYC and was opened from 1935-1974.
July 1: Richard Green (age 46). He was the referee of the Mancini-Kim fight.
Tragedies of the Year (1983)
Sept 1: (Los Angeles, CA) – WBC vacant Bantamweight Title Albert Davila KO12 Kiko Benjines. Kiko dies of injuries several days later.
Sept 30: One of the greatest matchups in boxing history. Lightweights, Juan Ramon vs. Gino Perez, in a 10 round fight. It was a savage war. Cruz KO Gino in 7 rounds. Perez lapses into a coma and passes away shortly thereafter. (MSG Felt Forum.) Several ironies are connected to this bout.
Number 1: (Feb 28, 1981, Atlantic City, NJ) Gino Perez KO6 Fred Bowman a former amateur rival of Ray Mancini from Ohio. Bowman dies of his injuries over a year later.
Number 2: Emile Griffith is in the corner with Cruz. He is the great welterweight champ of the 1960s, who on March 24, 1962, in the third fight with Benny Kid Paret Cuba KO12 Paret. Benny dies of injuries shortly thereafter.
Number 3: (MSG Felt Forum- Aug 5) – Michael De la Rue Kew Gardens NY is KOD 10 in the second fight with Robert Adams. Michael losses consciousness for some time. However, luckily and happily, he did survive. Needless to say, he never fought again. This was in the same exact location as the Cruz-Perez fight.
Controversy of the Year (1983)
June 16: MSG Duran-Moore undercard prelim bout. Jr. Middleweight Billy Collins an, up-and-coming prospect from Tennessee, challenges light-hitting journeyman, NYC Luis Resto. (10 Rounds). Resto pulverizes Collins and the fight lasts the distance. Collins tells his father (Billy SR cornerman and a former contender) several times that “it feels like he is hitting me with sticks.”
As the fight ends, and Resto wins a decision, Collins Sr. shakes his hand and discovers a problem with the gloves. The gloves are confiscated and the NY Boxing Commission conducts a thorough investigation.
It is discovered padding was removed from the gloves. Resto and cornerman Panama Lewis are tried, convicted, and both did lengthy jail sentences and were barred from boxing for life. The documentary, Assault In The Ring, was produced in 2008. Billy Collins suffered severe eye damage and never fought again.
He went into a deep depression and was killed in a car accident on March 6, 1984. Those who knew him said he really died on June 16, 1983, that evening in MSG against Luis Resto.
Additional Information From 1983
There was a total of 64 world title bouts in 1983. 11 of them were in Las Vegas, Nevada. Referees Tony Perez, Richard Steele, Vinnie Rainone, and Davey Pearl all refereed 4 title bouts.
There many lesser-known boxers, who fight for low income and little notice, but who in essence define the sport. They should be recognized, not overlooked, and not forgotten.
There were some famous Boxers who hinted at comebacks, but they never returned to action (Sugar Ray Leonard and Gerry Cooney).
Thumbless Gloves which were first produced by Everlast in 1983 never did catch on.
Super Fights On The Horizon For 1984
Mancini-Aaron Pryor
Mancini-Hector Camacho
Larry Holmes-Coetzee
None of these ever did happen.
I am your host Frank Reading and I am a middle-aged former boxing mega-fan from the 1980s-1990s. I have no allegiance or affiliation with any Boxing Organization Alliance or Federation.
I have a background in research and public speaking as well as boxing training and coaching. I hope you will enjoy the factual information provided on this program. My goal is to educated and inform the listener on the History of “The Sweet Science”
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