It was arguably the greatest era in the history of boxing

Got to give Ray Leonard credit for bringing attention and dollars to the lighter weight classes. He was an absolute superstar.

That was painful to type for me.

 

My earliest memory is Ali-Spinks 2. So, then throughout the 80’s is my favorite time period. When Tyson went to jail, the life went out of the sport to me until the 2000’s.

 

Hi Mark.
Not so sure about your assertion that Minter avoided Hagler, moreover Hagler was the avoided one, in fact after his contractual return against Antourfermo , the Minter camp ( unwisely ) chose Hagler as their next defence, while we are at it, Minter wasn't noted for overwhelming his opponents as such ,his style was yes, aggressive ( when needed ) but overall he was a boxer, who carried a heavy dig, hope you don't see me as being too perdantick , just felt you were slightly out of kilter, and my observations were just a friendly steer. stay safe buddy, chat soon.

 

there are several of his earlier fights on Youtube. Seems to me that he liked to rumble and put the pressure on and it was this attitude that came out in the Hagler fight and got him in trouble.

Knowing that you are a Hagler fan like myself, here is a video that might interest you

This content is protected

This content is protected

 

overall, he was a boxer. he had to be but I have seen a few of his earlier fights in which he liked to put the heat on, such as the Jacopucci fight, and tkos over Seales & Licata. His attack was especially viscous in the Licata fight. we dont see many knockouts on his record b/c he lacked real power

 

Well made points , all of which I am on board with, FYI went to Vegas to see him beat Vito for the title. stay safe buddy.

 

Thanks Mike.

I always wanted to see Marvin live.

Had the chance in 85, like everyone else.

would have been an event to brag about

but wasnt fast enough to grab a ticket

 

I was at that fight ,several people were introduced to the impact of a plastic bottle filled with lager launched from the balconies hitting them in the back of the head.

 

From a technical, depth standpoint it very well might have been.

However in terms of physically, modern day fighters are better, the science improves year in year. Which can have its consequences in itself

 

It was truly a great era. I fell in love with the sport after watching Leonard vs Benitez fight in 79". That fight showed me the true artistry of the sport . I had watched the sport for years prior, but thought the sport was more brutal and in my own ignorance, saw nothing of value in two men punching each other in the head for 15rds.
I had no idea of how technical the sport actually was until actually sparring with a local top ranked Ametuer boxer.
But the 80's were such a great era. CBS, NBC, and ABC, generally had a great fight on every Weekend between the 3 networks... All for FREE!!
Not just the big name fighters of the time, but many generally unknown fighters that gave their all for the sport.
Fighters like Jimmy Paul, Tony Baltazar, Harry Arroyo, Robin Blake, Howard Davis Jr. McCallum, Frank Fletcher, Saad Muhammad, John Mugabi, and many , many others all were Weekend staples and gave hours of entertainment during the era.
Personally for me, from about 1978, through the mid-late 90's were the best times.... Especially for non- heavyweights.

 

By far for me but then I wasn’t old enough to enjoy the 70s or alive to enjoy each of the 00s to 60s.

And boxing has gradually died since. So yeah, so, yeah it is.

It’s a never ending conveyor belt: Meldrick, Breland, Benitez, Evander, Tyson, Larry, Spinks Jinx, Ray, Tommy, Marv, Pryor, Fenech, Chavez, Salvador Sanchez, Nunn, McCallum, McCrory, Curry, Pedroza, Nelson, Qawi, Frank Tate, Tony Tucker, Minter, Barkley et al

 

Looks like it's in your formative years, or maybe when first started your love affair with Boxing, so mine was around 1970, then peaked in the mid 70s, was still fairly keen in the early 80s, then I became less interested in current fighters, and favoured the old timers, so 1900s through to the mid to late 20s, the 30s aside from Louis winning the title, was not that exciting on balance, 40s very good, 50s very good, 60s Ali of course, but to me it was the 70s that enthralled me, Flash has posted some good names, but these names will live on in my memory ;
Ali
Foster
Monzon
Napoles
Duran
Olivares
Zarate
Cervantes
Arguello
Gomez
Briscoe
Valdez
De Jesus
Muniz
Chacon
Hafey
Canto
Herrera
Borkhorsor
Marcel
Ohba
I mean not a bad bunch...
stay safe guys.

 

Agree. The 70s also had some great names but I wasn't around for it. The 80s had such great names at all tiers of the sport, though, and most importantly we got to see so many of them without paying through the nose while they were prime ie in their 20s rather than late 30s/early 40s as has been the case for years now.