Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury: A history of heavyweight fights at the Staples Center featuring Lennox Lewis, Vitali Klitschko and Butterbean
Some notable fights in boxing’s glamour division have taken place at the arena
Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury will face off in an arena laden with modern history on December 1 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The 21,000 capacity American venue first opened in 1999 and has been hosting boxing since 2000, with multiple big heavyweight bouts having taken place there since the turn of the millennium.
Take a look at our collection of seven notable Staples Center fights from boxing’s glamour division below.
1. June 17, 2000: Eric ‘Butterbean’ Esch vs Kerry Biles
The first heavyweight bout at the Staples Center saw US cult sensation ‘Butterbean’ win by second round knockout against a journeyman. America’s 300lbs-400lbs monster became a celebrity after competing across multiple combat sports, despite his ridiculous size. This fight took place on the first boxing card at the arena, headlined by Shane Mosley vs Oscar De La Hoya.
2. June 21, 2003: Lennox Lewis vs Vitali Klitschko – WBC Title
After ‘Butterbean’ left his unique impression on the venue, top-calibre heavyweight boxing headlined the Staples Center with a fight for the ages when Lewis took on Klitschko. Lennox went out with a controversial win in his final bout, as the clash was stopped in the sixth due to cuts Vitali suffered in the early rounds, during which he was dominating.
3. April 24, 2004: Vitali Klitschko vs Corrie Sanders – Vacant WBC Title
After feeling robbed of a victory against the since-retired Lewis, Vitali Klitschko returned to the scene of the crime for some semblance of revenge. The Ukrainian knocked out Corrie Sanders in the eighth to win the vacant WBC title which Lennox had vacated when he left the sport instead of opting for a rematch. The bout was also of extra significance to Vitali, as Sanders had knocked out his brother Wladimir seven weeks earlier.
4. September 2, 2006: Samuel Peter vs James Toney – WBC Title Eliminator
James Toney became a middleweight, super-middleweight and cruiserweight world champion before moving up to heavyweight. The American beat John Ruiz for the WBA belt, though this result was then voided due to a failed drugs test, and he later drew with Hasim Rahman in a WBC title shot. After this, he ran into Samuel Peter, initially losing a controversial split decision at the Staples Center, before next being beaten by wide, unanimous verdict in the rematch. Peter would go on to win the WBC heavyweight title.
5. September 26, 2009: Vitali Klitschko vs Chris Arreola – WBC Title
After a four-year absence from the ring between 2004-2008, Klitschko returned and beat Samuel Peter to reclaim his old WBC belt. He would then defend it back at the Staples Center a year later against a very tough Chris Arreola, who sustained an almighty beating before being pulled out by his corner at the end of the tenth round. Arreola would fight for the same title twice more against Bermane Stiverne in 2014 and Deontay Wilder in 2016, losing on both occasions.
6. January 23, 2016: Dominic Breazeale vs Amir Mansour
American contender Breazeale secured a world title shot against Anthony Joshua after this topsy-turvy victory on the undercard of Danny Garcia vs Robert Guerrero. Mansour won all of the first five rounds on the three judges’ scorecards and even knocked Dominic down in the third, but then suffered a severe tongue injury and quit at the end of the fifth as he was struggling to breathe. Breazeale was comfortably stopped by new-IBF champion AJ when they met a few months later.
7. July 28, 2018: Luiz Ortiz vs Razvan Cojanu
Dangerous Cuban heavyweight Ortiz is the latest big, heavyweight name to appear at the Staples Center. The 39-year-old knocked out former world title challenger Razvan Cojanu on the undercard of Mikey Garcia’s lightweight unification against Robert Easter Jr in July. Ortiz was returning off the back of his entertaining defeat to Deontay Wilder and got the job done in two rounds.
December 1, 2018: Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury, Luis Ortiz vs Travis Kauffman, Joe Joyce vs Joe Hanks
At the start of next month, Ortiz will appear at the venue once again as he continues his quest for a second world title shot and British contender Joyce will also feature. However, all eyes will of course be on the main event as unbeaten kings Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury clash for the WBC world heavyweight championship.
