Events in Sport
Boxing Title Fight
Dec 3 After losing his world welterweight boxing titles to Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns wins WBC Super Welterweight crown in a majority points decision over Wilfred Benitez at Superdome, New Orleans

Sugar Ray Leonard

Thomas Hearns
- Dec 4 48th Heisman Trophy Award: Herschel Walker, Georgia (RB)
- Dec 5 Cleveland Browns' Brian Sipe sets club record with 33 pass completions
- Dec 5 Ingrid Berghmans (Neth) retains judo's world championship
- Dec 5 Mel Gray ends NFL streak of 121 consecutive game receptions
- Dec 5 PGA Seniors' Championship Men's Golf, PGA National GC: Don January wins his lone Champions Tour major title by 1 stroke over Julius Boros
- Dec 9 World Boxing Council first to reduce the length of championship fights from 15 to 12 rounds, and allows referees to order standing 8-count for fighters in trouble
Boxing Title Fight
Dec 10 Heavyweight Michael Doakes KOs Mike Weaver in 1:03 in Las Vegas

Mike Weaver
Australian Open Women's Tennis
Dec 12 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Chris Evert-Lloyd wins her first Australian title; beats Martina Navratilova 6-3, 2-6, 6-3

Chris Evert

Martina Navratilova
- Dec 13 Australian Open Men's Tennis: South African Johan Kriek wins 2nd straight Australian title; repeats previous year's win over American Steve Denton 6-3, 6-3, 6-2
Event of Interest
Dec 14 Marcel Dionne becomes 9th NHLer to score 500 goals

Marcel Dionne
Event of Interest
Dec 15 Bill Parcells becomes 12th head coach of NY Giants

Bill Parcells
- Dec 24 Chaminade, with a student body of only 850 students, beats #1 ranked Virginia 77-72 in a Honolulu holiday basketball classic
Event of Interest
Dec 25 Mudassar Nazar scores century, then Imran Khan rips through Indians

Imran Khan
- Dec 27 Imran Khan 8-60 to bring innings victory v India at Karachi
- Dec 28 Ballon d'Or: Juventus striker Paolo Rossi is named best European football player; beats Bordeaux midfielder Alain Giresse and Juventus' Polish midfielder Zbigniew Boniek
- Dec 30 England defeat Australia by three runs at cricket MCG
Birthdays in Sport
- Dec 3 Michael Essien, Ghanaian soccer midfielder (58 caps; Chelsea, Lyon), born in Accra, Ghana
- Dec 4 Ho-Pin Tung, Dutch-Chinese auto racer (FIA World Endurance C'ship 2017, 18-19, 19-20 runner-up), born in Velp, Netherlands
- Dec 4 Waldo Ponce, Chilean soccer defender (42 caps; Universidad de Chile), born in Los Andes, Chile
- Dec 5 Trai Essex, American football player, born in Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Dec 6 Alberto Contador, Spanish cyclist and Tour de France winner (2007, 09), born in Pinto, Madrid, Spain
- Dec 6 Sean Ervine, Zimbabwean cricketer (played for Zimbabwe in the 2003 Cricket World Cup), born in Harare, Zimbabwe
- Dec 6 Robbie Gould, American football player (San Francisco 49ers), born in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania
- Dec 8 Dee Dee Trotter, American athlete, born in California, United States
- Dec 8 Hamit Altintop, German-born Turkish football player (identical twin brother of Halil Altintop), born in Gelsenkirchen, Germany
- Dec 8 Halil Altintop, German-born Turkish football player (identical twin brother of Hamit Altintop), born in Gelsenkirchen, Germany
- Dec 9 Tamilla Abassova, Russian cyclist, born in Moscow, Russia
- Dec 9 Nathalie De Vos, Belgian athlete, born in Ghent, Belgium
- Dec 10 Matt Stutzman, American Paralympic archer and record holder for longest accurate shot in archery- despite having no arms, born in Kansas City, Kansas
- Dec 11 Pablo Pérez Companc, Argentine racing driver, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Dec 12 Dmitry Tursunov, Russian tennis player, born in Moscow
- Dec 13 Ricky Nolasco, American baseball player, born in Corona, California
- Dec 13 Tuka Rocha, Brazilian racing driver, born in São Paulo, Brazil
- Dec 13 Dominik Werling, German footballer, born in Ludwigshafen, Germany
- Dec 14 Josh Fields, American baseball player, born in Ada, Oklahoma
- Dec 14 Steve Sidwell, English footballer, born in Wandsworth, England
- Dec 15 Borja García, Spanish racing driver
- Dec 16 Antrel Rolle, National Football League defensive back
- Dec 17 Josh Barfield, American baseball player
- Dec 17 Stephane Lasme, Gabonese basketball player
- Dec 19 Mo Williams, American basketball point guard (NBA C'ship 2016, NBA All Star 2009 Cleveland Cavaliers) and coach (Alabama State), born in Jackson, Mississippi
- Dec 19 Tero Pitkamaki, Finnish javelin thrower
- Dec 20 Mohammed Asif, Pakistani cricket player, born in Sheikhupura, Pakistan
- Dec 20 Kasper Klausen, Danish footballer, born in Denmark
- Dec 20 David Wright, American baseball player (New York Mets), born in Norfolk, Virginia
- Dec 21 Mike Gansey, American basketball player, born in Olmsted Falls, Ohio
- Dec 21 Philip Humber, American baseball player, born in Nacogdoches, Texas
- Dec 21 Iljo Keisse, Belgian cyclist, born in Ghent, Belgium
- Dec 25 Shawn Andrews, American football player, born in Littleton, Massachusetts
- Dec 25 Rob Edwards, English-born Welsh footballer, born in Madeley, United Kingdom
- Dec 28 Cedric Benson, American football player, born in Midland, Texas
- Dec 28 François Gourmet, Belgian decathlete, born in Libramont-Chevigny, Belgium
- Dec 30 Dawan Landry, American football player
- Dec 30 Dathan Ritzenhein, American runner
- Dec 31 Julio DePaula, Dominican baseball player, born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- Dec 31 Luke Schenscher, Australian basketball player, born in South Australia, Australia
- Dec 31 Craig Gordon, Scottish footballer, born in Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Deaths in Sport
- Dec 2 Giovanni Ferrari, Italian soccer midfielder and manager (44 caps; Juventus, Internazionale; mgr Italy), dies at 74
- Dec 3 Dutch Meyer, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (National C'ship 1935, 38; TCU), dies at 84
- Dec 8 Bertus de Harder, Dutch soccer star (Bordeaux), dies
- Dec 13 Jack Badcock, Australian cricketer (7 Tests, 1 century but inconsistent), dies at 68
- Dec 18 Ray Emery, New Zealand cricketer (2 Tests NZ v WI 1952, 46 runs, 2 wkts), dies at 67
- Dec 18 Bernard Malivoire, French cox pair (Olympic gold 1952), dies at 44