HBO World Championship Boxing Ali and Joe Frazier; Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney, for the World Boxing Council 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-Thomas Hearns fight, billed as The War; 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 KO'd Michael Moorer to become the oldest heavyweight champion of the world at age 45; James Douglas's stunning
Boxing in the 1970s Durán, who won the title in 1972 and vacated it in 1979 to seek championships at other weights; the Jr. Welterweights had Antonio Cervantes, who reigned twice; the Middleweights had Carlos Monzón, sometimes referred to as "King Carlos" because of his seven-year reign as champion; the Light-Heavyweights had Bob Foster. The Heavyweights, of course, had Muhammad Ali, who ruled twice between 1974 and 1979. Another aspect of boxing in the 1970s is that the decade is considered by a few to be the best ever for the Heavyweight division: Ali returned in 1970 from his forced retirement, and Joe Frazier