| MARCIANO | Rocky ... won the world heavyweight crown on September 23, 1952 |
| HOLYFIELD | First boxer to win world heavyweight crown four times (9) |
| USSR | Where Rocky won in '85 |
| TITLE | The position of being a winner in a competition. "He won the world heavyweight in 2014." |
| ALI | American prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three times (born in 1942). |
| JOHNCONTEH | British boxer who won the WBC Light Heavyweight crown in October 1974 |
| LAS | Boxer Sonny Liston knocked out Floyd Patterson in US gambling city ... Vegas in 1963 to regain the heavyweight crown |
| HAROLDEVANS | Crusading journalist who died on September 23, and in the 1970s, exposed the thalidomide scandal |
| AUTUMNALEQUINOX | This usually falls on September 23 in the northern hemisphere (8,7) |
| JOHANNGOTTFRIEDGALLE | On September 23, 1846, which German astronomer discovered the planet Neptune? (6,9,5) |
| YEAR | The first day of fall falls on September 23 every ___ |
| ANI | DiFranco who's playing a concert in the Village on September 23 |
| BIVISIBILITY | *What's celebrated on September 23 to prevent an identity's erasure, or a hint to the pair of prefixes in each starred answer |
| STEM | Winding pin of a watch, connecting the crown on the outside to the movement within (4) |
| RAYED | Like the crown on the Statue of Liberty |
| INCAPACITY | Legal disqualification on the crown on a major town (10) |
| AIRSPACE | Pakistan extended the ban on Indian aircraft using its ___ until September 23. (8) |
| SKOR | Hershey's brand with a crown on the wrapper |
| GREATSEAL | Chief signet of the Crown on official documents, green, blue or scarlet (5,4) |
| HATER | One who loathes putting crown on the Queen (5) |
