Boxing Was Once Huge

[Ambling Alp]

looking forward i dont think boxing will ever be able to capture the glory and attention it once had in the past.

Unfortunately, I think you are right.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

You said the major fights were usually carried live on network TV up until Holmes/Spinks. That was false, no need to drag it out. If you didn't mean to say it, fine. I really can't be bothered to carry on for 2 pages with you over another inane topic because you can't admit that what you said was incorrect.

It wasn't false. I like anyone else make mistakes. I didn't here. I am not just talking about super fights fights (With Leonard, Hearns, Duran etc.) I was also talking about some other very good fights. When I get a chance sometime I will compile of list of fights that I can remember watching on CBS, NBC, ABC during the early-mid 1980s. You might be suprised how interesting fights were still carried by the networks.

I wouldn't be surprised at all, I remember that era like I remember my name. I can tell you where just about any fight was televised off the top of my head. But the majority of the major fights definitely weren't live on network TV. You're still dead wrong and you're still alping all over the place. I really should know better than to bother with you. You're the most stubborn poster I've ever encountered, perhaps we don't get along because it's a trait I share with you. But in any event, compile your list, continue to change what you said, whatever helps you sleep at night. In a rare turn of events, I'm going to let one go and I doubt I'll read anymore from you on any topic.

[Ambling Alp]

I have not changed my story. Maybe stubborness is part of why we disagree so much. I think it also has to do with which fighters we like and don't like. We also have different personalities. I can be civil to people; it comes naturally to me. Obviously it does not to you. I also explain my reasoning and don't hide behind the as a counter point.

I will make a list of big fights televised on the networks in the early 1980s. There were more than on HBO. If you rmemember the era as well as you think you would remember a lot of fights with relatively high-profile fighters. I remember the era quite well becasue I watched as many as I could. I have already thought of quite a few.

[Ric]

How about this photo that supposedly is of a crowd gathered for Dempsey or for a Dempsey bout. If so, would this be the 1920 Bill Brennan bout at Madison Square Garden? Or somewhere else?

[klompton]

How about this photo that supposedly is of a crowd gathered for Dempsey or for a Dempsey bout. If so, would this be the 1920 Bill Brennan bout at Madison Square Garden? Or somewhere else?

Actually, what makes this photo more impressive is that (if Im not mistaken) this is a photo of a crowd gathered outside of a newspaper office getting round by round announcements of the Dempsey-Carpentier fight. So yeah, all those people showed up just to HEAR a newspaper employee announcing the results that he got via telegraph round by round. Amazing.

Whats even more amazing is that this wasnt an isolated occurence. You can check papers all over the country the following day and almost every city or major town experienced that.

[Ric]

That would make sense, as this would have been before radio broadcasts of bouts a few years later.

[klompton]

Dempsey-Carpentier was broadcast by radio but it had a limited transmission area.

[wvboxer]

I remember one week in the early 90's where I watched a fight on USA, one on espn, ABC & CBS both had fights on Saturday, Tyson fought on hbo that night, & there was a fight on NBC on Sunday!! That was heaven for me!

[Caractacus]

This was the last heavyweight championship fight held at Yankee Stadium
(which is in Bronx,a borough of New York City )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wn0YclbKR0

PS then would you believe it was the next to last heavyweight championship
fight held at (the old)Yankee Stadium.
The last heavyweight championship fight at the former Yankee Stadium was in 1976
Muhammad Ali vs Ken Norton III,but Yankee Stadium
had had a 100 million dollar renovation by that time in 1975-1975.
No more wooden seats,(*you sat in a plastic seat).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AAuGMMuDQU

[Caractacus]

How about this photo that supposedly is of a crowd gathered for Dempsey or for a Dempsey bout. If so, would this be the 1920 Bill Brennan bout at Madison Square Garden? Or somewhere else?

Actually, what makes this photo more impressive is that (if Im not mistaken) this is a photo of a crowd gathered outside of a newspaper office getting round by round announcements of the Dempsey-Carpentier fight. So yeah, all those people showed up just to HEAR a newspaper employee announcing the results that he got via telegraph round by round. Amazing.

Whats even more amazing is that this wasnt an isolated occurence. You can check papers all over the country the following day and almost every city or major town experienced that.

So what happened to the photograph ?

[klompton]

Im sure you will come up with some moronic conspiracy theory.

[Ric]

How about this photo that supposedly is of a crowd gathered for Dempsey or for a Dempsey bout. If so, would this be the 1920 Bill Brennan bout at Madison Square Garden? Or somewhere else?

Actually, what makes this photo more impressive is that (if Im not mistaken) this is a photo of a crowd gathered outside of a newspaper office getting round by round announcements of the Dempsey-Carpentier fight. So yeah, all those people showed up just to HEAR a newspaper employee announcing the results that he got via telegraph round by round. Amazing.

Whats even more amazing is that this wasnt an isolated occurence. You can check papers all over the country the following day and almost every city or major town experienced that.

So what happened to the photograph ?

[orbtastic]

That's a lot of hats.

[Caractacus]

On this week 40 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc6hj1mQ4TM

[Kalan]

Take a look at that crowd in the picture. There was probably at least 50,000 people there. This was a fight between two fighters who were not in the top 10. You just don't see that kind of thing anymore (between 2 non-premier fighters) and haven't for a long time.

The New York Times reports 63,000 attended this Milk Fund charity show, which cost $130,000 to put on, according to Rickard. This was Willard's first bout since losing the title to Dempsey four years earlier. The card also included Luis Angel Firpo, Jack McAuliffe II, Jack Renault, Fred Fulton, Al Reich, Jim Herman, Harry Drake and Joe McCann.

We have bigger crowds today.. 87,000 attended Froch-Groves II in Wembley Stadium for instance... And they didn't let anybody in for free like they did to see 41-year-old Willard and Johnson for a charity donation of their choice.. 51,000 paid to see Canelo fight a nobody named Liam Smith in Cowboy Stadium and another 290,000 paid a fat PPV tab to see the fight which was replayed the following week to cable subscribers.

If Tyson Fury kept his head on straight you'd have to wonder what a Fury-Joshua fight would draw worldwide... If Joshua-Wilder is held in a major Football Stadium you have to wonder how many people it would draw and what the PPV would be... What will Kovalev-Ward pull??? ... What would Golovkin-Canelo pull??? ... What would Beterbiev-Chickenson pull in Montreal??? ... What would Russell-Frampton pull??? ... What would Joshua-Haye pull??? ... What would Ortiz-Wilder pull??? ... What would Golovkin pull against Eubank in Wembley or Jacobs in Yankee Stadium??? ... What would Pacquiao-Thurman pull??? ... Mayweather-Pacquiao pulled the biggest PPV of all time last year -- and the PPV record has been broken 4 times so far in the 21st Century... We just have to put the fights together that Boxing fans worldwide want to see... All promoters have to do is the obvious -- because the talent is out there -- so what's stopping them?

Willard didn't defend his Heavyweight Title for 4 years before he fought Dempsey... If Boxing were so big back in that day, he would have been more active don't you think??? ... Today is not a day or a time when a tired, slow, awkward, inept, and stumbling ex-champion slogs around the ring for the Milk Wagon Fund... I would have no desire to watch that gawd awful Jess Willard-Floyd Johnson fight -- but there are plenty of attractive Heavyweight Title Fights waiting to happen TODAY!!! ... Joshua-Parker might be the 1st one if Parker doesn't wimp out.. and there are many other good ones behind that one.. Dempsey defended the title only 5 times successfully in 7 years, and 2 of his challengers were Light Heavyweights ... Such a golden time, right???