It wasn't a fight for me, it was hearing of the death of Rocky Marciano. Although I was only a young kid it really had an influence on me, hearing of the legendary Rock, hearing of his hard fights and overcoming adversity to win and his "0". The first fight that I took an interest on was the FOTC, March 8, 1971. I remember being the only kid in my class who wanted Frazier to win...boy, was I happy at school the next day...
My interest in boxing occurred after FOTC I think the first fight I remember vividly was the Rumble in the Jungle, but it was the Thrilla in Manilla that really caught my attention. Later on it was Hager who grabbed my attention, it wasn't just one fight it was his whole persona.
Tyson, JCC then all the 90's legends. I loved Tapia and ODLH then Jones and Toney. Benn was my boy though. Loved him with a passion.
In reading about world war II and the 1930s, I came across Joe Louis and Max Schmeling. I guess the apple never falls far from the tree!
I got interested in boxing in 1995, when one of my friends who was a fan convinced me to watch Benn-McClellan with him. All I knew at the time was that McClellan was supposed to crush Benn, and my friend promised me a short fight that would end in a brutal knockout. I was so excited by the upset and the brutal nature of the fight, that I decided to start following boxing more closely, although I would later feel disturbed when I learned how serious McClellan's injuries were. I casually followed the sport for a couple years after that, before I stumbled across an article about the first Ali-Liston fight while reading about the culture of the 60's, and after that I started following the sport a lot more seriously.
My boxing story goes something like this.......Watched boxing when I saw it on TV growing up and with my Father and Grandfather. I remember vividly being 10 years old and watching Lewis vs Tyson and watching guys like Winky Wright, Mayweather, Gatti and Mike Tyson specials etc. But when I really fell in love with the sport was in high school. I became a big MMA fan and began watching every UFC and even thought about starting to train for MMA. Eventually started gaming fight night round 4 with my buddies which reminded me of how awesome boxing was. One day thinking back to talks I had with my father and grand father about Ali and how great his fights with Frazier were I decided to youtube Ali vs Frazier and see if there was footage. First thing that popped up was there first fight so I decided to watch it. I remember about half way into thinking ............ "this is the best fight I've ever seen......" After I became a huge fan not to long after I started boxing myself. Now boxing is my passion, I spend most of time either training or watching it and most of my energy and thought is directed towards it...
No one particular fight for me either. Instead it was the aura of Ali in 1976 or so. My earliest boxing memory is my dad tuning in to watch Ali-Lyle on free TV in May 1975. I was mad because I couldn't watch Sanford & Son because of the 'stupid fight'. Later that year I recall my grandma showing me color pictures from (I'm guessing) Life magazine of "the fight" - Ali-Frazier III. From there it was Ali's 76 run vs. Coopman, Young, and Dunn. I became a Ken Norton fan when he fought on the undercard of Ali-Young and was rooting for him to beat Ali that September. After that the memories become more concrete - in 77 watching Young-Foreman, Norton-Bobick, the Night of the Heavyweights, Ali-Shavers, and Norton-Young. I've always been a fan of the ebbs and flows of the heavyweights.
Watching a sweaty, shirtless Felix Sturm fight has always turned me on. I'm sorry. What was your question?
F, you picked a great fight as a starter watching boxing. I and a buddy had great seats for that eventful bout held at the old Polo Grounds in NY in 1951. We were seated about 12 rows in back of Gen. Douglas MacArthur and his entourage, and I can never forget the great ending in the 10th rd. when the badly cut Ray Robinson, in a magnificent do or die flurry stopped the sturdy and brave Randy Turpin. What a night, what a fight !...
Gosh darn - missed that one. But I was at the match where Epeius felled Euryalus during the Trojan war. That really made me a huge boxing fan.