My son was asking me about different era's and how the present compares to the past ? I said "no comment" on the last decade or so, but when talking era's/decades i had no problem with the 60's ( Patterson/Liston/Mostly Ali / rise of Frazier. 70's Ali/Frazier/Norton, rise and decline of Foreman pt1, Ali again ,then the rise of Holmes. A fabulous era. 80's Early dominance of Holmes followed by decline/then mix of Alphabet mediocrity/ remarkable rise of Tyson. 90's so much harder to define. I seem to recall Tyson was the dominant name, yet for me he was never the dominant fighter ? Lewis evolved to be in my view the best of this era/ decade and yet when living through it, it somehow never felt that way ? He was just getting universal approval then the McCall defeat.He then had to work his way back and he never had a defining fight during this time in my view. Bowe/ Holyfield with their trilogy dominated a chunk of the time but Bowe's possibly defining fight (Lewis) never happened. A great bunch of fighters Tyson/Lewis/Bowe/Holyfield sounds to someone now like a list of fighters that shouldve rivalled the Ali/Frazier/Foreman/Norton/ era, but somehow it never did in my view. Hard to explain to someone younger how the 90's somehow wasn't an era that was as good as it sounds like it should've been and even harder (boxing politics and all ) to explain why.
Lots of potential good matches but very seldom had both guys signing a contract. And with so many world title bouts to select from, promoters and managers do not have to their moneymaker live in shark infested waters.
In terms of just raw talent and great individual fighters it was one of the strongest heavyweight eras. In terms of how the scene actually played out and the overall climate? It wasn't as good as the 70's and even a few other eras. You had too many good match ups that were either never made or simply made too late.. You had three of the biggest upsets of all time with Douglas beating Tyson, McCall beating Lewis and old Foreman beating Moorer. You had a light heavyweight and a cruiseweight who both took lineage over the heavyweight title and one of them even being deemed as just about the greatest of the decade. You had one of the division's best participants ( Mike Tyson ) who was absent for half the 90's. You had guys like Bruce Seldon, Frank Bruno, Oliver McCall, Frans Botha holding fractions of the title. You had two 40+ year old former greats on the comeback trail, both of whom breached the ratings and one of whom even became lineal champ... Overall very good talent and some decent matches but also a very messy scene from a lot of standpoints.
Gordon, You have to watch the fights. Check out you tube, it's free. The 1990's had excellent and memorable matches. The decided kicked off with a bang in 1990. Tyson vs Douglas. You know where you were when you saw it! Other 1990's great ones: Morrison vs Mercer. Mercer absorbs bombs and delivers one of the most brutal filmed knockouts Foreman upsets Moorer. It happened. Morrison vs Ruddock. Bombs exchanged! Fantastic pier 6 brawl. Tua vs Ibeabuchi. They combined to throw 1,730 punches, which set the compubox record for punches thrown in a heavyweight fight. And it was close. Bowe vs Holy 1. Round 10 was epic. Top level fight. Bowe vs Holy II, very close on the cards, and a theater of the unexpected as the fan man parachutes down into the ring. But let's not confine it to heavies. Take it from me, this decade had good talent and good fights! Taken from the web: Julio Cesar Chavez stops Meldrick Taylor, behind on all cards and with only two seconds left in the 12th round, Las Vegas, to unify WBC/IBF jr. welter titles. Michael Carbajal KOs Muangchai Kittkasem, seven rounds, Phoenix, to win IBF jr. fly title. Mike Tyson stops Razor Ruddock, seven rounds, Las Vegas, a free for all in the ring follows the bout. Michael Moorer becomes boxing's first southpaw champion, defeating Evander Holyfield, 12 rounds, Las Vegas, winning WBA/IBF heavyweight titles. Holy was cut. Arturo Gatti defeats Tracy Patterson, 12 rounds, New York, to win IBF jr. lightweight title. In of the greatest comebacks in boxing history, Arturo Gatti, down, battered and with both eyes almost swollen shut, comes back to KO Wilson Rodriguez, six rounds, New York, to retain IBF jr. lightweight title. Riddick Bowe wins by DQ over Ander Golota, seven rounds, Madison Square Garden. Afterwards, riots ensue in the arena between the camps of both fighters and fans. Evander Holyfield stuns the boxing world by stopping Mike Tyson, 11 rounds, Las Vegas, to regain WBA heavyweight title (Tyson stripped of WBC title for facing Holyfield). Holyfield, becoming the first fighter since Muhammad Ali to win heavyweight title three times. WBC strawweight champion Ricardo Lopez and WBA strawweight champ Rosendo Alvarez fight to a seven round technical draw, Lopez down for the only time in his unbeaten career, Mexico City.
I remember the 90's on reflection for different reasons. The decline of boxing as a household sport and the decline of boxing as household names and the period which fighters started to turn promoters . If you go ahead to the next decade the rise of the UFC and the rise of internet at the expense of print media. Seriously i have a life long collection of boxing magazines but i haven't bought one in years.
I had a whole chest full of Ring, KO magazine, and boxing illustrated. They sat at my mom's house for years after I moved out and then one day she finally threw them all away.
