This Week in Boxing History: May 1-7

May 1, 1972 – Muhammad Ali defeated George Chuvalo by 12-round unanimous decision to retain his NABF heavyweight title at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Including their first meeting in March 1966, Ali was unable to knock down the rugged Canadian once in 27 rounds. He wasn’t alone, though, as Chuvalo never hit the canvas in 93 career fights.

May 2, 2009 – Manny Pacquiao knocked out Ricky Hatton in Round 2 of their light welterweight bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao floored the British former two-division champion twice in the first round before finishing him off in the second with a left hand that The Ring named Knockout of the Year.

May 3, 1986 – Mike Tyson beat James “Quick” Tillis by 10-round unanimous decision in a non-title heavyweight bout at the Civic Center in Glens Falls, New York.

Tyson scored a fourth-round knockdown as he improved to 20-0 in a bout that aired on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports,” but the more experienced Tillis became the first opponent to go the distance with the future world champion.

May 5, 2007 – Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Oscar De La Hoya by split decision to claim the WBC super welterweight title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The highly anticipated showdown between the unbeaten Mayweather and six-division world champion De La Hoya was the richest boxing match at that time, with about $165 million in generated revenue. Fighting for the first time at 154 pounds, Mayweather became a five-division world champion with the victory.

May 7, 2005 – Diego Corrales stopped Jose Luis Castillo in the 10th round to unify the WBC and WBO world lightweight titles at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

The bloody, action-packed bout is widely regarded as one of the greatest fights of all time, and was named The Ring’s Fight of the Year. The Ring also deemed the final round, in which Corrales was knocked down twice before storming back to gain the TKO, as the Round of the Year.