{"id":180843,"date":"2026-04-16T10:14:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/un-dia-como-hoy-en-el-boxeo-16-de-abril\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T10:16:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:16:38","slug":"on-this-day-in-boxing-history-april-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/on-this-day-in-boxing-history-april-16\/","title":{"rendered":"On This Day in Boxing History\u2026 April 16"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\" data-path-to-node=\"2\"><strong>On This Day in Boxing History\u2026 April 16<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"3\">1968.- On a gala night at the Memorial Auditorium in Dallas, Texas, American champion Curtis Cokes reaffirmed his status as the king of the welterweights. Cokes successfully defended his WBC world crown by defeating South African Willie Ludick by unanimous decision. It was a display of precision and control by Cokes, who used his technical advantage to neutralize Ludick&#8217;s momentum during the 15 regulatory rounds, consolidating a reign that marked an era at 147 pounds.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"4\">1978.- The legendary Yucatecan Miguel Canto once again demonstrated why he is considered one of the best flyweights in history. In one more defense of his WBC title, Canto traveled to the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo to face the gritty Shoji Oguma. True to his style, the &#8220;Master&#8221; dictated a masterclass in defense and counter-punching, eluding the Japanese fighter&#8217;s attacks with millimetric elegance. Canto took the victory by decision, silencing the arena and leaving his indelible mark on Asian territory.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"5\">1994.- At the Inae Sports Center in Nagoya, Japan, local monarch Yasuei Yakushiji exposed his WBC world bantamweight title against Mexican challenger Josefino Su\u00e1rez. Although Su\u00e1rez showed the characteristic bravery of the Aztec boxer, Yakushiji imposed a devastating rhythm as the minutes progressed. The outcome came in the tenth round, when the Japanese connected solid combinations that sent the Mexican to the canvas, achieving a knockout that reaffirmed his power in the division.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6\">2005.- Tokyo witnessed a historic changing of the guard when young Hozumi Hasegawa dethroned the experienced Thai Veeraphol Nakhonluang. Hasegawa pulled off an upset by defeating the man who had dominated the bantamweight category for years by decision. With impressive hand speed and impeccable physical condition, Hasegawa began a reign that would make him one of the most beloved and long-standing champions in the history of Japanese boxing and the WBC.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"7\">2011.- In what was one of the most dramatic fights of the 21st century, Mexican-American Victor Ortiz was crowned WBC world welterweight champion by defeating Andre Berto in Connecticut. Both warriors visited the canvas on multiple occasions in a frenetic exchange of power that kept fans on their feet. &#8220;Vicious&#8221; Ortiz showed immense heart to overcome adversity and take a unanimous decision in a bout that was named &#8220;Fight of the Year.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"8\">2016.- In Mashantucket, Connecticut, American Gary Russell Jr. gave a display of pure speed by defending his WBC world featherweight championship. Russell Jr. gave no opportunity to Irish challenger Patrick Hyland, finishing him via knockout in the second round. With this lightning knockout, Russell Jr. confirmed that he possessed the fastest hands in the division and a lethal finisher&#8217;s instinct.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9\">2022.- On a night of unification before more than 40,000 people in Arlington, Texas, Errol Spence Jr. demonstrated why he was the dominant force of the welterweights. Spence Jr. systematically punished the brave Cuban Yordenis Ug\u00e1s, causing an orbital fracture that forced the doctor to stop the battle in the tenth round. With this triumph, Spence not only defended his WBC title but also consolidated himself as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On This Day in Boxing History\u2026 April 16 1968.- On a gala night at the Memorial Auditorium in Dallas, Texas, American champion Curtis Cokes reaffirmed his<span class=\"excerpt-hellip\"> [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":180839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[121,120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main-news","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180843"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":180845,"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180843\/revisions\/180845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wbcboxing.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}