Which Boxing Era do you most wish you saw in person? We all look back at different boxing eras using film, newspaper & magazine articles and books, but it really is impossible to get the real feel for the time unless you were there experiencing it as a fan as it actually happened. Which time in boxing do you wish you were part of as it actually unfolded? Was it when Tyson was mowing down all of his competition in the middle to late 80s?? Or maybe the late 70's to middle 80's when Leonard, Hearns, Duran, Hagler & Benitez were all testing each other in Superfights? Or Ali's prime years and then 70's comeback? Or even earlier to to see Ray Robinson, Lamotta, Marciano, Archie Moore, Henry Armstrong, Wille Pep, etc???
my love for boxing started with the 1976 olympics so I'll take Ray Robinson, Lamotta, Marciano, Archie Moore, Henry Armstrong, Wille Pep, etc
I see where he is going with this as it is actually close to my own choice. The early to middle 70's was when I first became a boxing fan so I already experienced that time so I would like to have been a fan during the 40's & 50's to have been able to see Robinson, LaMotta, Maricano, Moore, etc...and their rivalries. Or maybe Sonny Liston cleaning out the division while not even champion and making Floyd Patterson crap his pants just thinking about having to face Liston. And the build up to Ali-Liston I and the shock of Ali's victory.
C'mon Hanzy! Isn't there some fights you wish you had seen when they actually took place? This topic isn't a knock on today's fighters (even tho' I find myself much less interested in our current crop of champs and contenders than I have been in previous years). I'm sure everyone has a moment in time they wish they were part of instead of watching it on film years later.
I'm old enough to have seen all of these era's and I can assure you that January 10th is the return of THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME........FELIX TITO TRINIDAD!!! Cupey
the garden atmosphere during tito/joppy and tito/mayorga were greater than that of cotto-judah. i hope tito fights there again IF he really does comeback.
I always tell friends the same story. Monday at work this girl came in screaming into my office saying "Did you see that Trinidad-Mayorga fight? That shit was off the hook. My friends were in the living room watching and everyone was going crazy". That's why when Trinidad talks about comebacks people listen and when Roy talks about comebacks nobody really gives a shit. Cupey
& that's why N the Midst of Tito's Comeback U Still CAN'T Keep Roy Jones' Name OUT of YOUR Mouth... Tito's Coming Back, yet Cupey's STILL Thinking about Roy REED::
REED has Always Thought it'd B Cool to Go Back to the Joe Louis Days,Huddle Around a Radio w/a Group of People & LISTEN to the Fights like they Did Back then... REED
70' to middle 80'.....Ali, Duran, Gomez, Sanchez, Leonard, Hagler, GREAT HEAVY, MIDDLE, WELTERWEIGHT....great 15-20 years..
You betcha. Here in Galveston I saw an old newspaper ad from the 1930's in the archives at Galveston College on the microfiche that the live radio broadcast between Henry Armstrong and Barney Ross for the welterweight championship of the world was going to be played on a pier here beginning at like 8 o'clock at night. Seeing that not everyone had powerful radios back then that could pick up a broadcast from New York, what a thrill that must have been to be there that night. Bringing your own beer and sandwiches, envisioning the fight in your mind, everyone having their hands up and punching and rolling with the shots described by guys like Sam Taub and Don Dunphy (and all wearing hats)...truly boxing's Golden Age. That was real boxing "Water Cooler" talk the next day at work, huh?
I have watched a ton of tape... and my favourite to look back and watch is always the late 70s/80s. Just an awesome mix of great fighters (Leonard, Duran, Hearns, Hagler, Holmes etc..) and awesome action fighters (Saad Muhammad, Chacon etc..) Would have been a great time to be a boxing fan. Also, boxing on network TV was an every Saturday kinda thing during this era. Huge fan of afternoon sports.
Those WERE the Days,Steve_Dave... ALL the Greats from that Era fought on "Regular" T.V...All the Olympic Trials & Whatnot were on "Regular" T.V....REED Saw Leonard,Whittaker,Holyfield & Roy Jones as AMATUERs FOR FREE!!!:eeeek: Ali???..."Regular" T.V....U Could See Leonard-Benitez AND Hagler-Autofermo I on the SAME NIGHT,SAME Location,"Regular" T.V.... Guys like Pryor,Duran,Camacho,Chavez,Sanchez,Hearns,Arguello,Curry,Spinks,Hagler,Holmes & Others were REGULARS on "Regular" Weekend T.V....MORESOE,U had CBS,NBC AND ABC ALL Showing Fights on a REGULAR Basis... U had Action HEROE's like Saad Muhammad,Frank "The Animal" Fletcher",Yaqui Lopez,Danny "Little Red" Lopez,Bobby Chacon,Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini & John "The Beast" Mugabi REGULARLY Featured on "Regular" T.V.... Back then,on PRIMETIME,"Regular" T.V.,U'd Get Mike Weaver KO'ing John Tate w/45 Seonds Left,Followed by a Sugar Ray Leonard Fight,Followed by a Larry Holmes Fight... The BEST Part is,Damn Near EVERYBODY was a Boxing Fan Back Then,Cause it was ACCESSIBLE...No Shit,when Leonard & Hearns Fought,OLD LADIES had GENUINE Opinions on the Outcome...Ditto for Holmes vs Cooney or Pryor vs Arguello... Not TRYING to B Nostalgic,but those WERE the "Good Ol Days" Compared to Today...As MUCH as REED Enjoyed those Days,he Took them for GRANTED as a Kid... REED
