Billy Backus

Billy Backus (born March 5, 1943) is a former world boxing champion whose coronation was considered by some to be as surprising as Team USA's ice hockey gold medal coronation at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games or James Buster Douglass knockout victory over Mike Tyson.

World Welterweight Title Bout

After that last streak, Backus was ranked among the top ten Welterweight challengers of the world at number 10. The year was 1970 and world champion Jose Mantequilla Napoles had earned the right to make an optional defense (meaning he could pick any challenger among the top ten to defend against), and his management, figuring they'd have an easy fight ahead of them, picked Backus as the challenger for this optional title bout. But Backus landed a punch that opened a cut over Napoles' eye in round one, causing Napoles to bleed profusely, and the fight was stopped in round four. Since the cut had been ruled to be caused by a punch, Backus was declared winner by a technical knockout, and he had realized a dream that many fans never thought he would: he had become the world's Welterweight champion. His uncle Basilio, watching from ringside, said: Billy winning the world title is the best thing ever to happen in my life, even better than me winning the world title.

Related Topics:
1970 - Jose Mantequilla Napoles

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Billy won two non title fights, including one over Robert Gallois in Paris, and then had a rematch with Napoles in Los Angeles, but this time Napoles returned the favor, knocking Backus out in the fourth round and regaining his title.

Related Topics:
Robert Gallois - Paris - Los Angeles

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