Boxing in the 1970s was world champion when Ali returned. Former world champions Jimmy Ellis and Floyd Patterson as well as George Foreman, Oscar Bonavena, Jerry Quarry, Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks, Ken Norton, as well as Larry Holmes, Ron Stander, Chuck Wepner, Jose King Roman, Light Heavyweight champ Foster, John Tate, Jimmy Young, Ron Lyle, Joe Bugner, Scott LeDoux and many others added intrigue to the division. Don King surged as a leading boxing promoter, and champions Duran, Monzon and Ali had historic rivalries with Esteban De Jesús, Rodrigo Valdez and Frazier, respectively. Boxing in the 1970s During the 1970s, boxing was characterized by
AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Boston version) AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Boston version) The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship promoted by Paul Bowser in Boston. The title was created by Bowser after Gus Sonnenberg, who had beaten Ed Lewis for the original World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in 1929, was stripped of the title by the National Boxing Association. Browser continued to recognize Sonnenberg as champion and named his championship after the "American Wrestling Association" governing body, which hitherto did not actually exist. Rival promoters, including Jack Curley, countered by forming the National Wrestling Association and its NWA World Heavyweight Championship. During Don Eagle's