My favorite era is the heavyweight seventies with Ali, Frazier and Foreman. IMO this is the most special era in boxing. We will never see anything like it again. Foreman, Ali and Frazier had character. There were plenty of other good boxers too. Too bad I wasn't born yet. What is your favorite era? Middleweight fifties? Welterweight ninetees?
crazy for me to say this - but actually the welterweights of the 90's was my favorite. looking back with Tito, Quartey, DLH, Mosley, Sweet Pea, and even Oba Carr, Jose Luis Lopez, James Page. Throw in the super welters too with Vargas, Reid and Winky (anyone remember Harry Simon). I really loved that era. I was a DLH hater and there was nothing like it when he fought... in terms of my excitement level. i wanted him to lose so badly. the only downfall was the huge disappointment of DLH-Tito... and also that Ike-Tito never happened.... but the anticipation level and the hype surrounding all the fights was unbelievable. and the debates on the boxing forums! great stuff.
Same here. Even though I only remember the very late 70's first hand. (I remember Ali losing to Spinks vividly)
This era was also nice because I discovered fans on the internet that could hang with my knowledge of the sport, and in many cases surpass it. Ultimately, this era (late 90's) fails because of the limited television exposure. It was decent--far better than the mid to early 90's, but the 2000's provided more boxing than almost anyone can watch. I'd have to say the last few years are the best era because high speed internet + youtube + dvd's have made it possible to be a fan of almost every fighter in the top 10 of every weight class. That's what it's all about, imo. The only reason I would put the early 00's over the late 00's is because I had more time to devote to watching boxing.
agREED... For REED, the Late 70's-Early 80's Era of Boxing is the "Good Ol' Days"...Fights were Broadcast on FREE Network Television & U'd Get RIDICULOUS Bouts like Hagler-Antuofermo I & Leonard-Benitez on the SAME Night...PLENTY of Other Sugar Ray Leonard Fights were Shown Under a Similar Format, Sometimes Combined w/a Larry Holmes Fight &/or a Bout like Weaver-Tate... Aaron Pryor, "Boom Boom" Mancini, Alexis Arguello, Salvador Sanchez, All of the RELEVANT Members of the 80' U.S. Olympic Team & Many Others Got REGULAR Showings on FREE Network Television... It Still AMAZES How NEGLECTED Free Network Television is as a PROMOTIONAL Tool... REED:hammert:
Of course I remember Harry Simon. He was a damn good fighter.. and he'd have spanked Daniel Santos.:hammert:
Simon was class, I saw him fight live against Kevin Lueshing. You could wobble him but he was tough and very strong. When he put Lueshing out in the 3rd you could almost hear Kevins ribs cracking at ringside, was pretty brutal. Anyways to answer the question, for me personally its the 90's heavyweights, wasn't around in the other eras. Saying that though, this era from 147 - 130 is shaping up to be pretty cool
The 90's were my favorite time. Great fighters, great fights. PPV cards were stacked, were affordable, and when a fight was on PPV, it was a major fight, not like today where they put fights on PPV that 15 years ago would be lucky to make ESPN on the undercard. Also, Tuesday Night Fights was in it's prime. Almost all of the great fighters of the era came appeared on TNF at one time or another, as did many of the stars on their way down. The Foreman and Holmes comebacks, the Pazienza drama, the Riddick Bowe craziness, it was must watch TV every week. And there were plenty of good heavyweights. Tyson, Bowe, Holyfield, Mercer, Morrison, Ruddock, Lewis, etc, etc. TFK
As with everybody else: the time when I grew up to follow the sport. Which means the later part of 90s
I think TNF often sucked, but it filled an important niche and nothing has stepped in to replace the void it its absence. Not sure if it was the commentary, the Blue Horizon, or the dinosaur sideshows (the part I didn't like, but got good ratings), but for whatever reason, TNF was an important part of the boxing landscape. And it was killed, not because of ratings, but because of a new focus from USA. Bastards. You would have thought that ESPN Wed night fights would have filled the void, but nope. You would have thought that someone would have picked up the TNF show, but nope. You would have thought that a good show would have sucked up the male viewership on Tuesday nights, but nope. Tuesday nights have generally been a horrible night for tv watching. Only NCIS has been worth watching and maybe a couple of new shows this past year.
Don't forget Jimmy Thunder and Jeremy Williams. They combined for like the best 20+ seconds of boxing ever.
I agree! With the LHW's and 160's being red hot! Mid 50's run a close 2nd with 147-160 also HW. Good times. I sometimes watch the tapes for hours!
For me it was late 70's early 80's welterweights: Leonard, Hagler, Duran, Benitez and three of then went to up to fight Hagler! Damn, that was great!
Early to mid 90s Maybe it's nostalgia, it's when I first really started being a hardcore fan. The HW scene was good with guys like Tyson, Foreman, Bowe, Lewis, Holyfield, along with fights like Moorer-Cooper and up and rising contenders like Morrison and Mercer. The middleweight scene was real good too with the likes of Jackson, G-Man, Nunn, Toney, Barkley, Jones, Norris, etc..all fighting around the MW range, or a little outside of it. It's a bit of a shame though that not quite as many good matchups took place that could have. Chavez would headline King PPVs with Tyson locked up, and King would load the undercards with good fights and fighters. Plus it was easier to steal PPVs then anyway. The talent pool at welterweight was strong too.
Agree with this. Early 90s was when I first started following the sport hardcore. Terry Norris was whacking guys out and getting whacked out. Roy Jones was a young up-and-comer, Chavez was nearing the end of the road, and there were a bunch of young stars from the 84 and 88 Olympics at the top of their game. It was the end of Tyson's first reign and the dawn of the welterweight modern era.: Tito, Quartey, Pernell Whitaker, Buddy McGirt, Oba Carr... Those DK cards that had 4-5 world title fights were fun to watch. Finito Lopez would invariably breakdown and crush this guy or that guy, and he did it with a complete set of tools. Chavez still had power and stamina, and Oscar was at 130, crunching cans and raising expectations.
Ricardo Lopez wasn't televised in the early 90's. He was just this mythical speck of perfection whose results would pop up as "earlier tonight" on the ppv cards.
Exactly, it is unbeatable. Fighters were far better conditioned then and so much better technically. Why? Because of the presence of the great masters like Futch, Arcel, Dundee, Hernandez, Petronelli, Benitez, and Clancy actually taking the time to show their guys how to fight and developing them.
Early Ninties was the era that got me hooked on boxing, especially the British middleweights/supermiddles. Benn, Watson, Eubanks and Herol Graham were all regulars on prime time, free to air Saturday night TV at a time when cable and SKY hadn't splintered the TV audience like it has now. These fighters were household names and Benn-Eubanks II, Eubanks-Watson II and Benn-McClellan (still my favourite fight ever in spite of the tragic end) pulled in 15 million+ viewers and were front page news for days (especially Eubanks-Watson I, which the press had a 'robbery' field day over). It was only after McClellan nearly died, followed by Hamed horribly icing some mook live on TV a few days later, that ITV pulled the plug on live boxing- something British boxing has only just recently recovered from thanks to Hatton, Calzaghe, Haye and perhaps Froch. MTF
