Best Card Ever?

[raylawpc]

Friday 24 May 1918
Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA

Harry Greb - Gunboat Smith
Jack Britton - Ted Kid Lewis
Battling Levinsky - Jim Coffey
Johnny Dundee - Eddie Wallace
Leo Johnson - Joe Lynch
Augie Ratner - Tex Kelly
Benny Valger - Battling Reddy
Lew Tendler - Barney Adair

Some great names . . . not any particularly great fights . . .

[Ambling Alp II]

Some other interesting ones from the late 1970s:

5/11/1977
Norton-Bobick
Rossman-Mike Quarry

9/14/1977
Holmes, Norton,Young, and Lyle all won on the same card vs not so great competition.

11/5/1977
Norton-Young
Quarry-Zanon
Holmes and Leonard on the undercard.

6/9/1978
Holmes-Norton
Ocasio-Young

[Rover]

Some other interesting ones from the late 1970s:

5/11/1977
Norton-Bobick
Rossman-Mike Quarry

9/14/1977
Holmes, Norton,Young, and Lyle all won on the same card vs not so great competition.

11/5/1977
Norton-Young
Quarry-Zanon
Holmes and Leonard on the undercard.

6/9/1978
Holmes-Norton
Ocasio-Young

Gotta vote no on those.

[Ambling Alp II]

Certainly not the best ever. However, most of these fights were on live Network TV for free. You certainly would have tuned in and would have seen some interesting fights, and a couple of great ones. Just thought they were worth mentioning.

[Rover]

Certainly not the best ever. However, most of these fights were on live Network TV for free. You certainly would have tuned in and would have seen some interesting fights, and a couple of great ones. Just thought they were worth mentioning.

Yeah, no FNF cards like that.

[pbchron]

Here are some more good ones :

7/17/39-Forbes Field, Pittsburgh. Promoters Art Rooney and Barney McGinley. Att. 21,000.
Teddy Yarosz vs Al Gainer; Sammy Angott vs Petey Sarron; Charley Burley vs Fritzie Zivic.
4 champs (past/future), Yarosz; Angott; Sarron; Zivic. 4 IBHOFers, Angott; Yarosz; Burley; Zivic.

8/6/18-Shibe Park, Philadelphia. Promoters Herman Taylor & Bobby Gunnis.
Jack Britton vs Soldier Bartfield; Harry Greb vs Battling Levinsky; Sam Langford vs Jack Thompson; Irish Patsy Cline vs Harry Pierce.
4 IBHOFers : Britton; Greb; Levinsky; Langford.

7/14/19-Shibe Park, Philadelphia. Prom. Taylor and Gunnis. Att. 18,000.
Ted Kid Lewis vs Steve Latzo; Geo. KO Chaney vs Joe Tiplitz; Harry Greb vs Battling Levinsky; Lew Tendler vs Joe Welling.
4 IBHOFers: Lewis; Greb; Levinsky; Tendler. Chaney was a RING Mag. HOFer.

[Rover]

Here are some more good ones :

7/17/39-Forbes Field, Pittsburgh. Promoters Art Rooney and Barney McGinley. Att. 21,000.
Teddy Yarosz vs Al Gainer; Sammy Angott vs Petey Sarron; Charley Burley vs Fritzie Zivic.
4 champs (past/future), Yarosz; Angott; Sarron; Zivic. 4 IBHOFers, Angott; Yarosz; Burley; Zivic.

8/6/18-Shibe Park, Philadelphia. Promoters Herman Taylor & Bobby Gunnis.
Jack Britton vs Soldier Bartfield; Harry Greb vs Battling Levinsky; Sam Langford vs Jack Thompson; Irish Patsy Cline vs Harry Pierce.
4 IBHOFers : Britton; Greb; Levinsky; Langford.

7/14/19-Shibe Park, Philadelphia. Prom. Taylor and Gunnis. Att. 18,000.
Ted Kid Lewis vs Steve Latzo; Geo. KO Chaney vs Joe Tiplitz; Harry Greb vs Battling Levinsky; Lew Tendler vs Joe Welling.
4 IBHOFers: Lewis; Greb; Levinsky; Tendler. Chaney was a RING Mag. HOFer.

Some good finds there.

[Ambling Alp II]

Some other interesting ones from the late 1970s:

5/11/1977
Norton-Bobick
Rossman-Mike Quarry

9/14/1977
Holmes, Norton,Young, and Lyle all won on the same card vs not so great competition.

11/5/1977
Norton-Young
Quarry-Zanon
Holmes and Leonard on the undercard.

6/9/1978
Holmes-Norton
Ocasio-Young

Somehting worth mentioning is the interest for some of these fights. Norton-Bobick and Norton-Shavers were first round stoppages. However, probably at least 5x as many people watched these fights as a typical HBO telecast in the last several years.

[Rover]

Some other interesting ones from the late 1970s:

5/11/1977
Norton-Bobick
Rossman-Mike Quarry

9/14/1977
Holmes, Norton,Young, and Lyle all won on the same card vs not so great competition.

11/5/1977
Norton-Young
Quarry-Zanon
Holmes and Leonard on the undercard.

6/9/1978
Holmes-Norton
Ocasio-Young

Somehting worth mentioning is the interest for some of these fights. Norton-Bobick and Norton-Shavers were first round stoppages. However, probably at least 5x as many people watched these fights as a typical HBO telecast in the last several years.

That's depressing to read.

[SenorPipino]

The Ocasio-Young bouts certainly didn't help make for memorable cards.
Both fights, as I recall, were sleep-inducing.
The encounter on the Norton-Holmes undercard was notable, however, for being a sizeable upset. Young had just come off a very disputed title decision loss to Norton some months earlier. Ocasio was fairly inexperienced.
It marked the end of Young's career as a true championship contender.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Some other interesting ones from the late 1970s:

5/11/1977
Norton-Bobick
Rossman-Mike Quarry

9/14/1977
Holmes, Norton,Young, and Lyle all won on the same card vs not so great competition.

11/5/1977
Norton-Young
Quarry-Zanon
Holmes and Leonard on the undercard.

6/9/1978
Holmes-Norton
Ocasio-Young

Somehting worth mentioning is the interest for some of these fights. Norton-Bobick and Norton-Shavers were first round stoppages. However, probably at least 5x as many people watched these fights as a typical HBO telecast in the last several years.

I'll bet it was way more than that. 5 times more people watched Boza Edwards on Saturday afternoons, I'll bet those prime time cards easily had 10 million + viewers.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

The Ocasio-Young bouts certainly didn't help make for memorable cards.
Both fights, as I recall, were sleep-inducing.
The encounter on the Norton-Holmes undercard was notable, however, for being a sizeable upset. Young had just come off a very disputed title decision loss to Norton some months earlier. Ocasio was fairly inexperienced.
It marked the end of Young's career as a true championship contender.

Norton/Young wasn't a title fight, but they were hoping for Jimmy to face the winner.

I remember one from a Monday night from split sites, not the greatest card but very solid.

Mustafa Muhammad/M Johnson
Tate/Weaver
Leonard/Green
Holmes/Jones