Floyd Mayweather Jr got the title he wanted, but not the impressive win he needed. In his first fight as a lightweight at Las Vegas, Mayweather took the World Boxing Council (WBC) 135-pound title from Jose Luis Castillo in a foul-filled bout that did little to showcase the talents of either boxer. Mayweather won 115-111 on two scorecards and 116-111 on the third ringside card in a decision that was loudly booed by the pro-Castillo crowd. The unbeaten Mayweather was moving up after successfully defending his 130-pound title eight times and was a 7-2 favourite despite never having fought as a lightweight. He won by using his jab effectively and staying away from Castillo much of the fight, tactics that did nothing to endear himself to the crowd or give him the impressive win he said he needed. A bitterly disappointed Castillo said he would welcome a rematch after a fight he thought he had won. “I was robbed,” Castillo said. “I knew it was a close fight but I thought I had it won.”.
Other important events:
1792 France declares war on Austria, marking the start of the French Revolutionary wars.
1854 Austria and Prussia conclude defensive alliance against Russia.
1859 The Netherlands and Portugal sign an accord dividing islands in the East Indies, including Timor, between them.
1902 Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie isolate the radioactive element radium.
1908 Some 44 people die when trains collide at Sunshine, Victoria, Australia.
1920 Tornadoes kill 219 in Alabama and Mississippi.
1923 Egyptian constitution is adopted.
1945 Soviet forces penetrate Berlin defences in Second World War.
1957 Japan protests to Soviet Union over nuclear tests.
1968 Pierre Elliott Trudeau is sworn in as Canada’s Prime Minister.
1970 Bruno Kreisky becomes first socialist chancellor of Austria.
1972 US Apollo 16 astronauts make safe landing on Moon.
1978 Soviet fighter planes force off-course South Korean airliner down in Soviet Union near Arctic Circle.
1980 The first Cubans sailing to the United States as part of the massive Mariel boatlift reach Florida.
1985 A bomb explosion seriously damages the Nato Assembly centre in Brussels.
1986 Giant irrigation reservoir bursts and floods Sri Lanka town, killing at least 100.
1987 Palestine Liberation Organisation chairman Yasser Arafat calls for a sovereign Palestinian state.
1991 Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit South Korea
1994 Israeli and PLO negotiators wrap up an agreement transferring civilian government powers to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
1995 Egyptian aircraft begin a UN-approved shuttle service for Muslim pilgrims from Libya to Saudi Arabia.
1998 An Ecuadorean airliner from Bogota slams into a mountainside in Colombia, killing all 53 people aboard.
1999 Fifteen people are killed in a rash of school shootings at Columbine High School, US.
2000 Former Slovak prime minister Vladimir Meciar is arrested for abusing powers in office.
2012 A passenger plane belonging to Bhoja Air crashes near Islamabad, Pakistan, while trying to land, killing all 127 people on board.
2014 A speeding passenger bus smashes into a tractor-trailer in Sukkur, Pakistan, killing 42 people.
2016 A massive explosion rocks a major petrochemical facility of Pemex in Veracruz, Mexico, killing at least 13 people.
