Sporting Highlights for 1965
Here are many of the sporting highlights in the world of sport for 1965. A major sporting highlight of this year was in boxing, where Muhammad Ali took one minute and 44 seconds to demolish Sonny Liston's attempt to recapture his world heavyweight title. The famous “phantom punch” was dealt by Muhammad Ali. The rematch against Sonny Liston in May never went beyond the first round and Liston was knocked out by a punch that nobody saw.
In golf, Jack Nicklaus shot a Masters record 17 under par to win the Golf Masters by nine strokes, his second win at that time. In other golf highlights, Gary Player became the third man after Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen to win the four major championships when he triumphed in the US Open at Bellerive, Missouri.
West Ham became the second British club to win a European trophy when they beat Bayern Munich, 2 – 0 at Wembley in the European Cup-Winners Cup. Liverpool won the FA Cup for the first time defeating Leeds United 2-1. Stanley Matthews played his last match at the top level of English football, aged 50.
Also in 1965, the Amateur Swimming Union of Australia stunned the nation with its decision to ban Olympic champion and 1964 Australian of the Year Dawn Fraser from all amateur competitions for ten years.
In cricket, Australian opener Doug Walters made his maiden Test ton in his first Test appearance, and went on to make 155 runs.
Baseballer Willie Mays hit over 50 home runs in 1965, repeating what he had done 10 years earlier.
Marking the start of an era for the New York Jets, they signed quarterback Joe Namath. The US ABC TV network paid an unprecedented $32 million for a four-year contract with the NCAA to broadcast football games on Saturday afternoons.
In major events, the All-Africa Games, otherwise known as the “African Olympics” was first held in Congo.
Timeline
Below is a timeline of some significant results in the world of sport for the year 1965.
| Date | Results |
|---|---|
| Jan | Tennis Australia Open won by Roy Emerson and Margaret Smith |
| April | Golf Masters won by Jack Nicklaus (2nd win) |
| May | Tennis French Open won by Fred Stolle and Lesley Turner |
| June | Golf US Open won by Gary Player |
| July | the Cycling Tour de France won by Felice Gimondi |
| July | Tennis Wimbledon won by Roy Emerson and Margaret Smith |
| July | Golf The Open Championship won by Peter Thomson |
| Aug | Golf US PGA won by Dave Marr |
| Sep | Tennis US National Championship won by Manuel Santana and Margaret Smith |
| Oct | The Baseball World Series won by Los Angeles Dodgers |
Please note that the dates for past events are not always known, and are sometimes just placed in the month that the current event is held. If no exact date is listed, then it is just an estimated month that it was held.
If you have a correction or know of events that should be included here, please let me know.
Related Pages
- Ballon D'or Winners for 1965
- See my blog post about 50 years ago in sport (1965)
- Timeline (all years) in the world of sport
- For future sporting events, see the Calendar of Major Sporting Events
- More about the World of Sport
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
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