May is the biggest month of the year for championship sports. While the Super Bowl is a February occasion and the World Series will forever be a hallmark of October, the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup are both fixtures of May. By chance, the month is also full of combat sports history across boxing and mixed martial arts, as shown by the events that occurred on May 11.
Individual Victories, Achievements, and a Historic Defeat
- 1900: In one of the earliest title fights in organized boxing history, heavyweight champion James Jeffries knocked out former champion James Corbett in round 23. The knockout, despite occurring over a century ago, remains one of boxing’s most legendary one-punch finishes, rescuing Jeffries from certain defeat on the scorecard.
- 1963: Los Angeles Dodgers legend Sandy Koufax tossed his second career no-hitter, this time against rival San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Juan Marichal.
- 1992: Center Bob Lanier was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, a recognition of his 14 years of excellence with the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks.
- 1997: Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov was officially defeated by supercomputer Deep Blue, a landmark victory that showed the potential of computer involvement in chess.
- 2000: Elton Brand and Steve Francis are named co-Rookies of the Year, representing the Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets, respectively.
- 2019: UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas headlined UFC 237 against challenger Jessica Andrade. Andrade won the bout by slam knockout, winning the belt in her second appearance in a title fight. Earlier on the same card, future featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski defeated the legendary Jose Aldo by unanimous decision, setting up his first shot at then-champion Max Holloway.
A Baseball Anomaly and Championship Wins
- 1919: The Washington Senators and the New York Yankees battled to a 0-0 tie at the Polo Grounds in New York. Senators pitcher Walter Johnson tossed 12 scoreless innings en route to the unsatisfactory ending.
- 1966: Real Madrid triumphed over Partizan Belgrade in the European Cup final, winning by a score of 2-1 for the club’s sixth European Cup victory.
- 1968: The Montreal Canadiens won yet another Stanley Cup, sweeping the St. Louis Blues to hang the banner in the rafters. The Canadiens would go on to sweep the Blues in the Stanley Cup Finals once again in 1969.
- 1972: The Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers 3-0 in Madison Square Garden to win the Stanley Cup. It was Boston’s fifth championship win.
- 1992: The Portland Trail Blazers and the Phoenix Suns combined to score 304 points in a Western Conference Semifinal game that went to double overtime. It remains one of the highest-scoring postseason games ever.
Overall, May 11 has seen a variety of moments that helped shape American sports, along with some international events that are worthy of recognition. Several championship victories in the NHL preceded some extraordinary moments in the NBA, including the second of three sets of co-Rookies of the Year in NBA history. Most recently, one of the most memorable strawweight title fights in UFC history highlighted an excellent day in sports.
