What got you interested in boxing?

REED's Ol' Man and Post-Exile Muhammad Ali Spawned His Interest.

As was the Case w/Just about Every Black Man Born in the 50's, REED's Ol' Man WORSHIPED Ali. He Passed that Down to his 1st Born Son...

REED Arrived a Few Months AFTER Ali-Frazier I...Growing Up, REED Vividly Recalls His Ol' Man Having Ali Fight Watching Parties and It was Ingrained...Ali + Boxing = Festive Environment...That Childhood Feeling Still Resonates on Most Fight Nights, to Varying Degrees...

Earliest Fight from REED's Memory was the "Thrilla in Manilla", Ali-Frazier III...It was on Closed Circuit and REED Stood in the Aisle Throwing Punches @ the Movie Screen Shouting "Get 'em Ali, Get 'em!"...REED was 4 or 5 Then...

REED's Ol' Man Loved Sugar Ray Leonard Too, so REED Followed Suit...But "Sweet Pea" Whittaker was the 1st Fighter REED Could Discern was GOOD w/Out the Assistance of his Ol' Man...This was During the '84 Olympic Trials...

The '88 Trials was the Time REED Watched Ammy Boxing w/Out his Ol' Man (REED had Moved to Texas by Then) and a Young Lad Named Roy Jones Jr. LEAPT from the TV Screen, Into REED's Conscious...

Just like Sweet Pea, NOBODY Had to Tell REED Roy Jones was Good...The Rest, as they Say, is HISTORY!...








REED

 

I didn't realise you'd been a Roy fan all the way since his ammy career ;)

 

Yep.

Back in Those Days, the US Olympic Trials, Box-Offs and the ENTIRETY of Each US Fighter’s Olympic Bout was Nationally Televised. As Faaaaaaaaar Back as ‘76, That REED Can Personally Vouch For, Probably Even Fuuuuuuuurther.

So Yeah, REED’s Rode Roy Since Back in the Day. Youngest Fighter on the ‘88 Team AND The Team Captain. His Run was Breathtaking. REED was Scared to Say it Out Loud, Yet he’d Think to Himself “This is THE Best Fighter I’ve Ever Seen”.

After Graduating High School, Starting College and Seguing Into Young Adult Life, REED Fell Out of Touch w/Boxing a Bit. This Coincided w/Roy Sr. Taking Roy Off the Radar for a Few Years.

REED Would Catch a Tyson, Holyfield, Dela Hoya, Past-Prime Ray Leonard or Sweet Pea Fight, But that was About It. Next Thing You Know, James Toney (Who REED Heard Of, Seen a Couple Times and Respected) Signed to Fight Roy Jones.

It Wasn’t a Big Enough PPV to Be Shown at Sports Bars/Gentlemen’s Clubs, So REED Couldn’t Watch It Live. He Heard and Read About How It Played Out Though, and Fell Back in Love.

1st Boxing Match REED Ever Recorded was Whittaker-Chavez. The 2nd Was Roy Jones vs Antoine Byrd; Roy’s 1st Defense After Beating Toney.






REED

 

For me, I think it was the Hilton Ouellet fights. The first fights I rebember watching are these 2, alongside the Tito-DLH and Grant-Golota ones

 

Figures...

 

December 2nd is a national holiday in Australia called "Legend Day".

 

Aye, naz firstly. Though, weirdly one of the things to further pique my interest was the whole furore over the first Lewis-Holyfield fight. The subjectivity, the corruption, it all seemed really intriguing somehow. Then about a year later my old man got sky sports and I happened to be up mad late the night of Barrera-morales 1. Overnight obsession, from then on all paper run money went to the vhs dealer on the back pages of boxing monthly

 

that'd make an addict out of anybody

 

I remember watching that at my nans, I was going mental downstairs, kept waking her up.

 

Man I feel sorry for anyone who missed that one live - Morales - Barrera 1 was fucking superb live, the most fun fight I've ever seen live hands down, and just one of the best fights ever.

It's amazing even to rewatch, but seeing it unfold live, the furious back and forth action round after round, was something to behold.

 

That and Hamed-Kelley are my favourite world title fights I've seen live on TV.

 

I knew quite a few names when I was young and would always call my Dad to find out who won the big fights when I was unable to watch them at home. The one fight that sticks in my head that really got me in to boxing to the next level was Lewis-Tyson. Just the whole build up and anticipation was something else, even if the fight itself proved to be pretty shite.