On February 12, 1977, the 25-year-old WBC lightweight world champion, Esteban de Jesús (49-3, 28 KOs), faced Buzzsaw Yamabe, in a title defense fight.
Jesús came in to the fight on a 4-fight win streak with a 53% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 5 months and 2 days.
Esteban de Jesús stopped Buzzsaw Yamabe via TKO in the 6th round of the 15-round world-title fight, and successfully defended his WBC lightweight title. Jesús improves his record to 50-3 (29 KOs)
On June 25, 1977, the 25-year-old WBC lightweight world champion, Esteban de Jesús (50-3, 29 KOs), faced Vicente Mijares, in a title defense fight.
Jesús came in to the fight on a 5-fight win streak with a 54% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 4 months and 13 days.
Esteban de Jesús stopped Vicente Mijares via KO in the 11th round of the 15-round world-title fight, and successfully defended his WBC lightweight title. Jesús improves his record to 51-3 (30 KOs)
On September 10, 1976, the 25-year-old WBC lightweight world champion, Esteban de Jesús (48-3, 27 KOs), faced Hector Julio Medina, in a title defense fight.
Jesús came in to the fight on a 3-fight win streak with a 52% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 4 months and 2 days.
Esteban de Jesús stopped Hector Julio Medina via KO in the 7th round of the 15-round world-title fight, and successfully defended his WBC lightweight title. Jesús improves his record to 49-3 (28 KOs)
On May 8, 1976, a 24-year-old Esteban de Jesús (47-3, 27 KOs) got a shot at the WBC lightweight title held by Guts Ishimatsu.
Jesús came in to the fight on a 2-fight win streak with a 54% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 2 months and 2 days.
Esteban de Jesús defeated Guts Ishimatsu via unanimous decision and wins the WBC title — in his first world-title fight. Jesús improves his record to 48-3
On November 17, 1972, a 21-year-old Esteban de Jesús (33-1, 20 KOs) and a 21-year-old Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán (31-0, 27 KOs) met in the ring.
Jesús came in to the fight on a 7-fight win streak with a 58% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 18 days. Durán was on a 31-fight win streak with a 87% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 20 days.
Esteban de Jesús defeated Roberto Durán via unanimous decision in the 10-round fight. Jesús improves his record to 34-1, while Durán adds a loss to his record at 31-1.
On May 17, 1975, a 23-year-old Esteban de Jesús (45-2, 25 KOs) got a shot at the super-lightweight WBA and The Ring title held by 29-year-old Colombian boxer Antonio Cervantes (47-9-1, 25 KOs).
Jesús came in to the fight on a 3-fight win streak with a 53% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 2 months and 2 days. Cervantes was on a 16-fight win streak with a 43% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 2 months and 2 days.
Antonio Cervantes defeated Esteban De Jesus via unanimous decision and successfully defended his WBA and The Ring super-lightweight titles. Cervantes improves his record to 48-9-1, while Jesús adds a loss to his record at 45-3.
On May 10, 1980, a 28-year-old Esteban de Jesús (57-4, 32 KOs) and José Vallejo met in the ring.
Jesús came in to the fight on a 5-fight win streak with a 52% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 6 months and 1 day.
Esteban de Jesús stopped José Vallejo via KO in the 7th round. Jesús improves his record to 58-4 (33 KOs)
On September 8, 1973, a 22-year-old Esteban de Jesús (38-1, 20 KOs) and Radames Checo met in the ring.
Jesús came in to the fight on a 12-fight win streak with a 51% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 1 month and 25 days.
Esteban de Jesús stopped Radames Checo via KO in the 1st round. Jesús improves his record to 39-1 (21 KOs)
On November 22, 1973, a 22-year-old Esteban de Jesús (40-1, 21 KOs) and Al Foster met in the ring.
Jesús came in to the fight on a 14-fight win streak with a 51% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 24 days.
Esteban de Jesús stopped Al Foster via KO in the 1st round. Jesús improves his record to 41-1 (22 KOs)
On March 28, 1970, an 18-year-old Esteban de Jesús (10-0, 9 KOs) and Bobby Parnell met in the ring.
Jesús came in to the fight on a 10-fight win streak with a 90% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 1 month.
Esteban de Jesús stopped Bobby Parnell via KO in the 1st round. Jesús improves his record to 11-0 (10 KOs)