1980 — Harold Volbrecht challenges hard-hitting WBA welterweight champion Pipino Cuevas of Mexico in Houston. After four rounds the South African is leading on the scorecards of two judges. But in the fifth round he gets nailed by Cuevas’s left hook and goes down for the count. Volbrecht said afterwards he thought he heard the referee shouting break, so he made the mistake of stepping back with his guard down. Cuevas would lose his belt to Tommy Hearns. Volbrecht would get another world title shot nearly seven years later.
1994 — South Africa’s cricketers succumb tamely to a 36-run defeat against Australia in the seventh ODI at Newlands. The visitors, spearheaded by Mark Waugh’s 71, scored 242/6 in their 50 overs, and then restricted the hosts to 206/5. Opener Andrew Hudson, with 62 from 92 deliveries, was the only of the SA batsmen to get past the thirties. Shane Warne (3/31) and Paul Reiffel (1/18) helped to bog the SA batsmen down. Despite the defeat, SA still led the eight-match series 4-3.
1997 — Macchambes Younga-Mouhani scores twice in five minutes in the second half as Bafana Bafana are beaten 0-2 by Congo in a World Cup qualifying match in Pointe-Noire. It was the only qualifier SA lost en route to qualifying for France 1998.
2001 — Mbulelo Botile delivers a lacklustre performance as he loses his IBF featherweight title to Frankie Toledo in his first defence. Botile had won the title with a vicious knockout of Paul Ingle, putting him into hospital with bleeding on the brain. Though Ingle recovered, it was believed Botile had struggled emotionally.
2002 — The Proteas score 326/3 against Australia in Port Elizabeth, but it’s not enough to avoid their fifth ODI defeat of the home series. Graeme Smith made 84 up front, with Jacques Kallis scoring an unbeaten 80 off 59 deliveries and Jonty Rhodes 71 not out from 50. The visitors lost seven wickets in the chase, but Ricky Ponting’s 92 and Darren Lehmann’s 91 in the middle order helped get them home with five balls remaining.
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