Maybe not the best ever, but it wouldn't be a crime to call Leonard-Hearns I the greatest fight of all time, it was just that good.
It was probably about 1972-ish with my dad, was a weekend afternoon network TV fight. Two heavyweights, pretty sure both were white. I don’t remember who they were. It was stopped pretty early due to either cuts or a DQ. My pop was upset they stopped it. That’s all I got. My pop would later take me to local amateur shows and some pro fights (including Holyfield-Qawi I and Tyson-Spinks) and we have watched dozens of fights together over the years. So which fight it was really isn’t important. What is important was it was the start of something a father and son have shared for a lifetime.
Was an Ali fight, I'm pretty sure it was the third Norton but was only about 7 at the time, so very hazy!.
Like I have posted countless times, Muhammad Ali vs Floyd Patterson on Nov 22 1965, Closed Circuit Television, with my Dad and Uncle. The crowd primarily older fans were sentimentally for Floyd, they were despondent when they saw corner man Al Silvani (Rocky 1 and II fame) squeezing Patterson's back. Those in the audience were referring to Muhammad Ali as Clay still. Ali was toying with Floyd in the early rounds, making a loud sound every time that he landed a punch on Floyd. After the the bout was over, many were saying that Ali carried Patterson to torture him for calling him, Cassius Clay. Many said that he could have ended it in the 6th round knockdown. To me, Floyd took a knee to avoid the onslaught of punches. The crowd went mad after the fight was stopped. I remember on the radio before the fight was broadcast, they were playing, Do You Believe In Magic, by The Lovin Spoonful, A Lovers Concerto by The Toys, and Baby I am Yours, By Barbara Lewis. I continued to later watch Ali vs Henry Cooper, May 21 1966, televised live on ABC's Wide World Of Sports, all of Ali's European Tour, Cleveland Williams thru Zora Folley, the WBA Tournament. And from then on, televised fights on TV.
Hard to say exactly what my very first fight was @William Walker but it was definitely Tyson. The first one I remember seeing was Tyson-Berbick but that was delayed coverage watching the next day. Same with all his other fights through to the Tyson-Bruno fight, which was huge. People in the UK genuinely thought Frank had a chance - and then he caught Tyson with that hook ('Go on Frank!' was Harry Carpenter's impartial call) - watched that on delayed coverage too. I distinctly remember watching Eubank-Watson 1 and then listening to Eubank-Watson 2 on the radio on the way back from an evening in London with the family, getting back to see the 11th round and Watson dropping Eubank, going in for the finish and boom - Eubank dropping him with that uppercut.
Ya, my and dad and I have that tradition now ourselves. Ever since the Rumble, we watch a fight every Friday. Haven't done it in months tho cuz we've been so busy.
I always liked Carpenter cuz he seemed so patriotic, but then he was man enough to admit the Hagler-Minter aftermath was "disgraceful".