Big Fights that were never televised

[Caractacus]

Before Television of course(pre 1950's)
I'm mostly thinking of big fights people were looking forward to
in the late 1960's,1970, and 1980's.
Fights that weren't even recorded for tape delayed broadcast.
what were the reason(s) that anticipated fights were not shown on TV
(i'm guessing money disputes).

[gilgamesh]

2 of the HUGE examples that first come to mind are Zale vs Graziano 1 and 2.

[Caractacus]

you would have thought one of the TV Networks (ABC,CBS or NBC),would have wanted to have shown this one or ,even HBO.

[elmersalsa]

you would have thought one of the TV Networks (ABC,CBS or NBC),would have wanted to have shown this one or ,even HBO.

Which fight was that?

[sweetsci]

Which fight was that?

I'm assuming the You Tube link didn't show up on your screen....
He posted Lyle-Shavers.

[littlepug]

Bugner v Frazier wasn’t as far as I’m aware

[Ambling Alp II]

Bugner-Frazier was broadcast on "CBS Spectacular", which was sort of like ABC's Wide World of Sports.

[Caractacus]

yeah,Ron Lyle vrs Earnie Shavers-Two Fistic Monsters colliding !
Who the f*ck wouldn't have wanted to watch that on the Telly back in 1975 ?
especially since there was an "Energy Crisis" going on and people stayed at home more.
The winner was guarenteed to fight Big George Foreman ! (which was televised of course).
and It was after this fight that Earnie Shavers started his trade-mark of shaving his head to Bald-headed because he had developed a noticable big hole in his "NaturaL"

[APerno]

you would have thought one of the TV Networks (ABC,CBS or NBC),would have wanted to have shown this one or ,even HBO.

Boy that was a bouncy canvas with loose ropes; The Denver Coliseum, Denver.

That venue had six fight between 1972 and 1975 and then a 25 year lay-off until 2000; four more fights till 2006. For a total of ten fights over 50 years; I suspect that's why the ring looked wanting; not much of a fight venue.

I guess come the '80s and cable TV that fight would have made it to ESPN or USA, but in 1975 it wasn't big enough for the networks and certainly not big enough for CC.

I always wonder why in the 1960s and 1970s the independents (WPIX, WOR, WNEW in New York) never tried to pick up some of the smaller fights.

WPIX (11) and WOR (9) had the Yankees and the Mets back then, and even from time to time would air wrestling matches during prime time (Bruno Sammartino and Gorrilla Monsoon)*** but never tried their hand at boxing (as far as I know).

*** Only the big names made it to the evening broadcasts, otherwise wrestling like roller derby was delegated to Saturday mornings only.

P.S. It looked more like Shavers went down more from fatigued than punches.

[APerno]

Benvenuti-Monzon (I) wasn't televised in the States (I think).

[Dart340]

I think the OP was thinking major title fights, but the ones I'm thinking of are the next level down at least.

None of Elisha Obed's title fights were televised. The only footage of Obed's prime available is his title defense against Tony Gardner that I got from Tony and loaded onto YouTube.

Saad Muhammad defending against Pergaud?

Tony Chiaverini stopping Edgar "Mad Dog" Ross in a title elimination match in '79. Not even a photo.

Slammin' Sammy NeSmith stopping #1 Middleweight contender Ronnie Harris in an NABF Title fight. (I heard in on local radio and saw the dramatic finish on the local news"

I'm sure there are bigger ones we can find.

[elmersalsa]

Carlos Ortiz vs Ismael Laguna II

[Ambling Alp II]

Timing is part of why some fights were not broadcast. The networks have other sports to cover. For example, in the fall, the NFL took priority on Sunday afternoons.

[APerno]

Timing is part of why some fights were not broadcast. The networks have other sports to cover. For example, in the fall, the NFL took priority on Sunday afternoons.

True, but remember ABC was cut out of the NFL (save for Monday Night Football and that wasn't until the fall 1970) so from time to time, but not often ABC (Wide World of Sports) was willing to take on the NFL, but NOT often. The NFL by the 1970s had become, on TV, an 800 pound gorilla and certainly drove many fights off the tube during the fall months.

There was a time when they would stage fights on week days just to try and avoid the NFL or other weekend sport shows.

Ali-Frazier I (Monday)
Ali-Ellis (Monday)
Ali-Quarry (II) (Tuesday)
Ali-Patterson (II) (Wednesday)
Ali-Frazier (II) (Monday)
Ali-Foreman (Wednesday)
Ali-Frazier (III) (Wednesday)

It was pretty common for big fights to avoid the weekends in the the 1970s.

[Caractacus]

Timing is part of why some fights were not broadcast. The networks have other sports to cover. For example, in the fall, the NFL took priority on Sunday afternoons.

yeah, most of the Big HW title fights were held in June back in the 1920's.1930's,1940,1950's etc
as not to coincide with the Baseball season.

[Ambling Alp II]

If it was a really huge fight, they would hold it in a baseball stadium during the summer. If it big fight but not a huge fight that would draw 30,000 +, enough for that, they was often held during the winter.

[Ambling Alp II]

Timing is part of why some fights were not broadcast. The networks have other sports to cover. For example, in the fall, the NFL took priority on Sunday afternoons.

True, but remember ABC was cut out of the NFL (save for Monday Night Football and that wasn't until the fall 1970) so from time to time, but not often ABC (Wide World of Sports) was willing to take on the NFL, but NOT often. The NFL by the 1970s had become, on TV, an 800 pound gorilla and certainly drove many fights off the tube during the fall months.

There was a time when they would stage fights on week days just to try and avoid the NFL or other weekend sport shows.

Ali-Frazier I (Monday)
Ali-Ellis (Monday)
Ali-Quarry (II) (Tuesday)
Ali-Patterson (II) (Wednesday)
Ali-Frazier (II) (Monday)
Ali-Foreman (Wednesday)
Ali-Frazier (III) (Wednesday)

It was pretty common for big fights to avoid the weekends in the the 1970s.

Of course that was Ali. And these fights were closed circuit, not on on network TV, though sometimes on network TV a few days or weeks later.

In the 1970s and 1980s,there would be network primetime fights a few times a year, usually on Friday nights. Usually a heavyweight title fight was at stake.
Most of the time they were on weekend afternoon. ABC covered all kinds of other sports, (tennis, golf, auto racing, skating etc.) CBS and NBC as well. They didn't always have room for boxing.

There were a lot of fairly important fights on TV in the 1970s and early 1980s, but not all of them.

Still there were a lot more boxing matches between the 3 networks than on HBO and Showtime (which most people don't even subscribe to.)

[littlepug]

Bugner-Frazier was broadcast on "CBS Spectacular", which was sort of like ABC's Wide World of Sports.

Didn’t know that, it wasn’t broadcast in uk though even though it was fought over here.

[bennie]

Leotis Martin against Thad Spencer famously slipped the net here. They say it was a classic.

[sweetsci]

Seems like Denver was the place to box if you didn't want your fight televised. Liston-Folley and Lyle-Bonavena come to mind, in addition to others already mentioned, as bouts that weren't televised.