Classic Willie Pep interview

[burt bienstock]

Originally Posted by AlFrancis

Did you see many of those other heroes in the flesh Burt? I bet you made sure you were in front of the tv if not.

I saw just about everyone of those fighters in person at least once. Before television broadcasted boxing on our 10" screen, I with my dad,who saw Greb, Tunney, Leonard{Benny],Mickey Walker,Would go to at least,to one card a week, [New York had boxing EVERY NIGHT of the week sans Sunday].
But when Tv became available, the smaller clubs folded up,fighters fought less, learned less, and the calibre of top fighters,who learned their craft,
certainly diminished. And I saw the majority of fights on Friday Night fights
sponsered by Gillette.I started to "look sharp", but saw less and less live bouts, except the Ali/Frazer fight in MSG in 1971. But Willie Pep was the second best fighter I saw. Sugar Ray was #1...Cheers Al