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The ESB British Forum Encyclopedia

Discussion in 'British Boxing Forum' started by Mandanda, Feb 25, 2011.

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Grant1 Boxing Junkie Full Member

11,823

1

Jun 13, 2007

TFFP said: ↑

Thank you Laz for telling us new fans about that obscure character Amir Khan.
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It's absurd isn't it.

Top post Rob.

Grant1, Feb 26, 2011

Grant1, Feb 26, 2011

#91

safc1990 Goodbye Bolo :( Full Member

4,999

0

Feb 16, 2008

Big Dunk said: ↑

Name: Madison Square Garden
Nickname: The Mecca of Boxing
Location: 4 Pennsylvania Plaza (8th Avenue & 33rd Street), Manhattan, New York City, New York 10001, United States
Capacity: 20,789
Opened: May 30th, 1871
First Fight: December 11th 1925,
Paul Berlenbach vs Jack Delaney (World Light Heavyweight Championship)

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Madison Square Garden has hosted literally thousands of fights during its 86 years, and more championship bouts than any ring in history. Many of the greatest fighters of the past eight decades exchanged punches and shed blood inside its ropes. With almost too many memories and historic bouts to list, any selection of some of the greatest episodes in the ring's history is bound to omit some remarkable contests. With that in mind, here's one attempt at a representative sample of notable and controversial evenings at the sport's most storied arena.

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Champion Joe Louis lay on the canvas after being knocked down by Jersey Joe Walcott at Madison Square Garden.

The first fight

Dec. 11, 1925

The Madison Square Garden ring made its debut appearance on Dec. 11, 1925, in a card that was topped by a world light heavyweight contest between defending champion Paul Berlenbach and former and future champ Jack Delaney.

In an exciting battle, Berlenbach -- who had won the belt from Mike McTigue a little under seven months previously (McTigue having lifted the crown from Delaney) -- was knocked down in the third and, according to a ringside report, "punched groggy" in the sixth and seventh, but rallied strongly over the second half to turn back the challenge of Delaney. (The real name of the challenger, who was from Quebec, was Ovila Chapdelaine, but his surname was transliterated by Anglophones into the one he used in the ring).

Delaney won a rematch, and regained the title, at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field the following year.

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The greatest of all time

Aug. 27, 1943

Sugar Ray Robinson and Henry Armstrong were arguably the two greatest fighters pound-for-pound of all time, and they fought in the Garden on 37 occasions between them.

In consecutive fights in 1938, Armstrong, the reigning featherweight champion, added the welterweight and then the lightweight belts, becoming the first and only man to hold titles in three weight divisions simultaneously. Robinson won the first of his six world championships in 1946, recovering from a second-round knockdown to outpoint Tommy Bell and claim the welterweight crown, and went on to contest the welterweight and middleweight titles in the Garden many more times.

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Sugar Ray Robinson, right, plied his trade regularly at the Garden.

The two legends fought just once, two years after Armstrong's last title fight -- a 12th-round TKO defeat to Fritzie Zivic, also at the Garden -- and three years before Robinson's first. And although Armstrong was past his peak and Robinson not yet at his, the fight (which Robinson won over 10 rounds) was surely the greatest combination of talent ever to square off in a boxing ring.

Ends of eras

Oct. 26, 1951; Feb. 9, 1991

Fighters rarely know when to quit, even -- perhaps especially -- the great ones. Joe Louis fought 12 times in the Garden, but it is the image of his final bout there -- indeed the last fight of his career -- that lingers.

Louis had retired from the ring with a record of 61-1 on March 1, 1949, just over eight months after defending his heavyweight title against Jersey Joe Walcott. He returned to the ring in 1950, dropping a decision to Ezzard Charles in a bid to reclaim the title. He won his next eight fights before running into the fast-rising contender Rocky Marciano, who knocked him down with a left hook in the eighth, and then through the ropes for the knockout. Marciano would go on to become champion, but Louis retired again, this time for good.

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Emile Griffith, left, was involved in a tragic bout with Benny Paret

At least he stayed retired. Forty years later, Sugar Ray Leonard, who had already retired from the ring three times, made his Garden debut, and was pummeled by the younger, faster Terry Norris in a shot at the junior middleweight belt. He retired again after that, before making a final, embarrassing comeback attempt against Hector Camacho in 1997.

Death in the ring

March 24, 1962

Boxing is an inherently dangerous business, and as is to be expected of any venue where fights have taken place for over 80 years, the Madison Square Garden ring has seen its fair share of tragedy. No such tragedy was more widely seen, reported on, written about and dissected than the 1962 welterweight championship bout between Emile Griffith and Benny "Kid" Paret.

It was the third meeting between the two: Griffith, behind on points, had knocked out Paret in the 13th round in the first fight to claim the title the year before; and Paret had regained the crown six months later on a controversial split decision. In the buildup to the rubber match, Paret had enraged Griffith by insulting him with a slur that questioned his sexuality, and after suffering a sixth-round knockdown, a relentless Griffith dominated.

In the 12th round, Paret became entangled in the ropes and, unable to extricate himself, took a pounding that would prove fatal. He lapsed immediately into unconsciousness and died 10 days later.

The Fight of the Century

March 8, 1971

On March 4, 1968, one month after the opening of the fourth (and present) Madison Square Garden, Nino Benvenuti beat Emile Griffith for the middleweight championship, and Joe Frazier knocked out Buster Mathis to receive New York State recognition as heavyweight champion of the world.

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Joe Frazier's war with Muhammad Ali, left, was dubbed the "Fight of the Century.

In 1970, Frazier unified the title by defeating WBA champion Jimmy Ellis, also at the Garden. But he could never receive full public recognition as heavyweight champion until he beat Muhammad Ali, who in 1967 had been stripped of the title and banned from boxing for refusing induction into the armed forces. Ali returned to the ring in 1970 with victories against Jerry Quarry and, in the Garden, Oscar Bonavena, setting up the eagerly anticipated clash with Frazier.

It was dubbed the "Fight of the Century," not just for the in-ring potential -- it would be the first time two undefeated heavyweight champions fought for the title -- but for the societal undertones: Ali, the draft-eschewing member of the Nation of Islam; Frazier, adopted as the establishment fighter and derided for that fact by Ali, who incessantly referred to him as an "Uncle Tom."

The unpleasantness of the buildup was mirrored in the fight itself, the two men exchanging hellacious combinations before Frazier finally floored Ali with a left hook in the 15th round en route to securing a unanimous decision victory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyezmRI-7cE
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Fantastic post

safc1990, Feb 26, 2011

safc1990, Feb 26, 2011

#92

GazOC Guest Star for Team Taff Full Member

61,460

38

Jan 7, 2005

safc1990 said: ↑

Fantastic post
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I had to scroll through 200 lines of quoted text to read THAT!!??!!!

GazOC, Feb 26, 2011

GazOC, Feb 26, 2011

#93
Big Dunk Rob Palmer Full Member

13,522

0

Oct 25, 2010

cheers boys....can I do Special Kell now?

Big Dunk, Feb 26, 2011

Big Dunk, Feb 26, 2011

#94

GazOC Guest Star for Team Taff Full Member

61,460

38

Jan 7, 2005

Big Dunk said: ↑

cheers boys....can I do Special Kell now?
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Don't spoil the moment rob....:good

GazOC, Feb 26, 2011

GazOC, Feb 26, 2011

#95
TFFP The Eskimo

45,002

3

Nov 28, 2007

Has anyone done Fighting Harada yet? Someone do him for me. If not you're all gay and stuff.

TFFP, Feb 26, 2011

TFFP, Feb 26, 2011

#96
Vano-Irons Obsessed with Boxing banned

17,581

8

Jan 18, 2010

Big Dunk said: ↑

cheers boys....can I do Special Kell now?
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Just when you worked up some ESB cred

Vano-Irons, Feb 26, 2011

Vano-Irons, Feb 26, 2011

#97

Big Dunk Rob Palmer Full Member

13,522

0

Oct 25, 2010

GazOC said: ↑

Don't spoil the moment rob....:good
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haha.

Literally pissed myself when Laz did Amir Khan. i am waiting for Avid to do Paul Smith.

maybe a few others could try the non boxer. a particular title like the Lonsdale Belt or a trilogy of fights.

Big Dunk, Feb 26, 2011

Big Dunk, Feb 26, 2011

#98
GazOC Guest Star for Team Taff Full Member

61,460

38

Jan 7, 2005

I'm off out for a pint but I'll be doing Eder Jofre sometime over the weekend.

GazOC, Feb 26, 2011

GazOC, Feb 26, 2011

#99
GazOC Guest Star for Team Taff Full Member

61,460

38

Jan 7, 2005

Big Dunk said: ↑

haha.

Literally pissed myself when Laz did Amir Khan. i am waiting for Avid to do Paul Smith.

maybe a few others could try the non boxer. a particular title like the Lonsdale Belt or a trilogy of fights.
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I didn't think Laz would actually do Khan...atsch

GazOC, Feb 26, 2011

GazOC, Feb 26, 2011

#100
LP_1985 JMM beat Pac-Man 3 Times Full Member

30,096

0

Sep 6, 2009

Name: Ruben Olivares
Alias: El Púas
Born: 1947-01-14
Birthplace: Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Nationality: Mexican
Hometown: Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 5′ 5½″ / 166cm
Reach: 67″ / 170cm

won 88 (KO 77) lost 13 (KO 9) drawn 3

LP_1985, Feb 26, 2011

LP_1985, Feb 26, 2011

#101

LP_1985 JMM beat Pac-Man 3 Times Full Member

30,096

0

Sep 6, 2009

Continued.......

LP_1985, Feb 26, 2011

LP_1985, Feb 26, 2011

#102
TFFP The Eskimo

45,002

3

Nov 28, 2007

GazOC said: ↑

I'm off out for a pint but I'll be doing Eder Jofre sometime over the weekend.
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Sober up before you do it. Don't want you spreading misinformation about the Golden Bantam :scaredas:

TFFP, Feb 26, 2011

TFFP, Feb 26, 2011

#103
safc1990 Goodbye Bolo :( Full Member

4,999

0

Feb 16, 2008

GazOC said: ↑

I had to scroll through 200 lines of quoted text to read THAT!!??!!!
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Sorry to disappoint.

safc1990, Feb 26, 2011

safc1990, Feb 26, 2011

#104
Big Dunk Rob Palmer Full Member

13,522

0

Oct 25, 2010

TFFP said: ↑

Has anyone done Fighting Harada yet? Someone do him for me. If not you're all gay and stuff.
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Kosaros is the Brit Forums resident Japanse boxing expert.

Big Dunk, Feb 26, 2011

Big Dunk, Feb 26, 2011

#105

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