The first time I saw them fight...

[sweetviolenturge]

In no particular order & at random:

LARRY HOLMES - The first time that I saw him fight was on a CBS primetime special called "The Night of the Heavyweights" in September of 1977 that was basically to showcase Ken Norton & Jimmy Young in tune-up bouts before their meeting that November. And on the undercard, I got my first look at Holmes who undraped against Young Sanford aka Fred Houpe. Holmes dominated with his jab over the course of the fight, swelling Houpe's eye shut & stopping him in 7 rounds.

RAY LEONARD - I saw him in his pro debut against Luis "The Bull" Vega on ABC. Up until that point, my 14-year-old self was only interested in the heavyweights. Leonard was the fighter who got me interested in all weight classes.

BERNARD HOPKINS - In May of 1990 I was scheduled to fight on the undercard of a Charles "The Natural" Murray fight in his hometown of Rochester, NY against Bill Robinson but at the last minute the NYSAC refused to allow him to fight because he'd suffered too many losses in a row. So, instead of being in the ring that night I watched from ringside as a 3-1 prelim fighter by the name of Berard Hopkins KO'd one Jouvin Mercado. Now what's makes this even more interesting ( to me anyhow ) is that for about a minute at the weigh-ins I was considered as an opponent for Hopkins when Mercado came in over the agreed upon weight. But, I'd only weighed in at 156 & Hopkins was 168 so that idea was nixed & they went with Mercado anyhow. But, had Hopkins weighed in just a wee bit lighter I could have fought him.

GERRY COONEY - I remember watching him fight a couple of prelims on CBS & being anything but impressed with him. In the first one he KO'd a guy comically smaller than him in veteran Gary Bates whom he struggled to put away in four rounds & then ( against another cruiserweight ) he won via DQ over future champion ST Gordon in an appallingly bad fight in which Gordon just circled the ring & Cooney ineffectually followed him not able to land a thing.

MARVIN HAGLER - I saw him on his first network-televised fight on CBS in an undercard fight beneath the Bruce Curry - Monroe Brooks contest in early 1978. He fought a tricky, slick vet in Doug Demmings who did well against him in the early rounds but who Hagler chopped down in the eighth. I remember being excited because I'd read a lot about him in the boxing magazines of the day & I finally got the chance to see him.

MIKE TYSON - In his fifth pro fight in July of '85, Tyson fought "Big" John Alderson on ESPN's Top Rank Boxing underneath a Mike Tinley vs Ray Ray Gray main event. I don't remember being particularly impressed by him in that first viewing as he beat up & dropped Alderson in round two before the ringside physician waved things off after the round ended. It wasn't until the following October when I saw him obliterate Donnie Long in one round that I was sure that I'd seen something special.

[sweetviolenturge]

MUHAMMAD ALI - Back in May of 1975 when I was 13 I over at a friend's house waiting for his mom to take us to the movies. While waiting I sat down in their living room where his dad had a couple of friends over to watch the Ali - Ron Lyle fight. Up until that point I'd had no exposure or interest in boxing whatsoever but I became interested in pre-fight interviews & build up & before I knew it I wanted to stay & watch the fight. Unfortunately, before the bell for the first round rang it was time to go see the movie. Which, I can't even remember the title of now because while I was watching it all I could think of was the fight. So, I made it a point to watch the next time that Ali fought on network television which was the following February when he fought "The Lion of Flanders" Jean Pierre Coopman. It was, in fact, the first boxing match that I ever saw.

KEN NORTON - I wasn't overly impressed by Ali in the Coopman fight but I was interested enough by him to make sure to watch the next time that he fought which was against Jimmy Young on ABC a couple of months later. And in the preliminary bout I watched Ken Norton butcher Ron Stander for five rounds & for some reason I was captivated by it & Norton became my favorite fighter. After which, I never missed another fight of his & he remained my favorite heavyweight right up until his final fight with Gerry Cooney in 1980.

GEORGE FOREMAN - By January of 1977 I knew all about Foreman from all the books & magazines that I'd read over the previous several months of being a boxing fan but I'd never seen him fight. Not until his bout vs Pedro Agosto whom Foreman turned into a human basketball by dropping him seemingly every time he hit him over the course of the three & a half rounds that Agosto managed to last.

LEON SPINKS - The next time that I saw Agosto was in May of '77 when he was facing the 3-0 Spinks who I was getting my first look at on CBS. I was very impressed when Leon hit Pedro with a left hook that not only dropped him but kept him down for the full count in the very first round. I couldn't believe that he was actually more impressive in beating Agosto than George Foreman was. Of course, back then, I had no clue about the fact that Foreman had probably "softened him up" for Spinks when he KO'd him in his previous fight.

[sweetviolenturge]

I can go on & on with my recollections of the first time that I saw fighters fight, but while I'm at it feel free to add your own memories & such.

[wouter]

The first fight I watched of both Tyson and Holmes was their fight in 1988. It was supposed to be shown live on German TV at around 4.30 in the morning and was to follow the ladies' final of the Australian Open. However, the tennis match was interrupted by rain and messed up the schedule. While the tennis match was still going on, its commentor said the fight was already over but would be shown as soon as the tennis match was over. Becaus of the time at which this comment was made, I knew there was no way that the fight had lasted long and probably ended in an early knockout (for Tyson).

[sweetviolenturge]

EARNIE SHAVERS - In April of '77 I tuned into an episode of CBS Sports Spectacular to watch Shavers pummel Howard "KO" Smith into a second-round defeat. I remember that the winner was said to be guaranteed a title shot vs Ali & being convinced afterward that Shavers was going to knock out Ali. And, damn, if he didn't come pretty close to doing so in the second round of that contest.

LIVINGSTONE BRAMBLE - I'd been following an 11-0-1 unbeaten lightweight puncher by the name of Kenny "Bang Bang" Bogner whom I'd seen fight on ESPN a couple of times & figured that his bout against a 6-0 fighter that I'd never heard of named Livingstone Bramble would be just another opponent for him in the scheduled 8 round affair. Unfortunately for Bogner however, Bramble used him as a showcase opponent that night thoroughly outboxing & outpunching him into a bloody seventh-round TKO defeat. Flash-forward a little over two years later to May of '84 & I found myself as a young welterweight who hadn't even turned pro yet being hired on as a sparring partner for Bramble & Johnny Bumphis. Who'd both come to my native Buffalo, NY to fight. Bumphis to defend his WBA light-welterweight title against Gene "Mad Dog" Hatcher & Bramble to challenge Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini for his WBA lightweight title. It was my first time ( of many, many opportunities ) ever being paid to spar. An occupation that would see me spend the majority of my pro career in the gym & in training camps with some of the best in the world.

JESSE BURNETT - I'd followed his career via the magazines but had never seen him until his KO6 over the dangerous puncher Lonnie Bennett in November of '77. A fight in which he dropped his opponent repeatedly until the fight-ending right hand not only dropped him but opened a bad cut over his eye forcing the stoppage. Burnett became one of my favorite fighters after this fight.

RON LYLE - After almost seeing him fight Ali for the title in May of '75 I finally got to see Lyle fight in early '77 against Joe Bugner whom he beat via a split decision that most saw as a close fight but which I saw as a decisive victory for Lyle who was the aggressor throughout & basically made the fight.

STAN WARD - The next time that I saw Lyle fight was the following September when he fought on the undercard of "The Night of the Heavyweights" against the then- 8-0-2 Stan Ward. Who, despite only having had ten pro fights had already met three contenders in Johnny Boudreaux, Jeff "Candy Slim" Merritt & Mac Foster beating the latter two after drawing with Boudreaux in just his third pro fight. Against Lyle, he boxed effectively & I thought that he did enough to win over the ten rounds but the judges gave it to Lyle via a majority decision.

[Tony1244]

Very interesting thread.

I saw Gerry Cooney as an amateur on TV against a Russian. Can't remember who won but he was tall and lanky.

An article in People magazine was my first awareness of Sugar Ray Leonard.

My brother who went to Univ. of Denver told me about Ron Lyle.

Remember Michael Moorer as an amateur LH.

[sweetviolenturge]

JAMES TONEY - I first saw Toney fight as a prelim fighter in September of '89 on a Top Rank Boxing program on ESPN vs Joe Summers. I'd seen Summers fight before on television & he seemed like a good, capable fighter but Toney breezed right through him via a second-round KO.