Folks, I found and popped in my tape of Marvis Frazier vs. James Tillis from Reno that was televised on prime-time TV on NBC with Marv Albert and Dr. Ferdie Pacheco calling the action...... I'm sorry to say, but James Tillis is a sorry mother here. Regardless if the nutty Ferdie Pacheco believed that Marvis Frazier was a legit heavyweight coming into this 1985 fight is irrelevant; Tillis was the obvious bigger man fighting in a timid manner against Marvis Frazier....... Why? Hell if I know why.... Bundini Brown who trained Tillis was screaming bloody murder to get a fire lit under Tillis' ass, but it was to no avail..... Tillis merely boxed just enough to keep in the fight but not nearly enough to wanna win the fight... Marvis Frazier won a hard fought 10 rounder against a bigger man who had talent and some skills, but no mental drive or desire to win..... Tillis was a flop / letdown to many....... This was the undercard to "Holmes vs. Carl Williams" bout. This is also the LAST prime-time heavyweight "Title" fight card ever televised by national TV as a live event..... NOTE! Mike Tyson KO'd Buster Mathis in 1995 on KTTV channel 11, but it was NOT a title fight....... :rasta:bbb C'mon back and holler at me....:good MR.BILL:hat
I got "Holmes vs. Carl Williams" rolling right now.... Williams looks lean at 212 pounds at age 25, while Holmes looks slowed and not as tight as usual at age 35 and 220 pounds..... Still, Holmes used his seasoning well against an energetic but green Williams.... Williams hangs tuff, but I gave a puffy Holmes the nod after 15 close rds of good action in Reno, Nev..... MR.BILL
Well, maybe if the championship distance was restored, we'd see live heavyweight title fights broadcast on prime time national television again! (Since this is post #3000 for me, lambasting the gay, *****, pussified and feminized 12 round limit seems as appropriate a target for marking this trivial milestone as any.) If the 12 round limit was so much better for fitting into a confined time slot for commercial purposes, then why have such events disappeared from the networks since Larry was Champion? It seems as though all the substances which should be banned have been banned, except the one which really matters.....estrogen! "Well Duo, if you don't like it, don't watch it!" I don't, haven't in decades, and neither have millions of others who used to follow this once great sport. Make Pac and PBF a 15 rounder, and maybe I'll actually consider checking it out. (Otherwise, let all these jerks posture and grand stand all they want. None of them have ever made a penny off of me, and it doesn't look like that's going to change any time soon, if ever.)
I think you might be WRONG! No offense... I recall reading in KO mag back in the 80s that the "12" rd limit would be more appealing to network TV exec's cuz it fit better into a ONE hour time frame......... Granted, the fans may not have been thrilled, but corp exec's sure liked the idea......... Still, network TV fights vanished cuz they cannot pay the fighters and managers like Cable / PPV can...... Plus, boxing is a business; not a sport... In boxing, nothing gets done if the money isn't there....... MR.BILL:deal
If it was created because of greater appeal to network television executives (and I also read what you refer to in KO), then the disappearance of boxing from the networks has eliminated the main flimsy excuse for imposing the 12 round limit. Those executives are largely responsible for killing boxing's final golden age. Who's more important, a handful of Down's Syndrome executives, or the fans? Anyway, I voted with my wallet, and that's why I define myself as a former fan.
I saw the end of regular network TV fights coming to an end back in the early 80s when Cable TV came knocking on my parents door. I didn't fully understand how PAY TV would affect boxing back then, but I see it now..... Muhammad Ali was the ONLY fighter who could command 1 to 1.5 million dollars while fighting Ron Lyle and Jimmy Young on network TV back in the middle 70s...... I read that George Foreman only grossed $250,000 Grand for his epic war with Ron Lyle on ABC TV in 1976..... That is unheard of today.... Meaning, it is insulting for an ex-champ to face a top contender (Lyle) and merely gross a quarter million dollars from TV.... I care less if it was 1976..... Foreman got ripped there...... BUT! Foreman was no "ALI" in the 70s.... That came later....... Point being, when Cable TV became the norm in my area of Los Angeles by 1983 or '84, I knew that HBO and Showtime would attract fighters and managers since the digits of money were far greater..... By 1990, my guess was becoming more and more realistic..... Now, here in the 21st century, regular network boxing is dead and gone.... All that classic **** is dead and gone..... Wide World of Sports is GONE! And so is NBC Sportsworld.... ALL GONE!! CBS Sports Saturday with Tim Ryan and Gil Clancy is also history........ GONE!! MR.BILL:hat
The twelve round limit was definately made to accomodate network tv schedules. ironic because they dumped most boxing within the next five to ten years.
Remember ONTV, I remember my parents had that in the 70's. You put your tv on one channel and switch this box to ON, it was one friggen channel. Who cares about boxing on network tv, everyone at least had basic cable and it was great on USA Tuesday night fights, but they scrapped that even.
Yeah.... We had ON-TV before Cable................ Cable ruined ON-TV and SELECTV by 1984 or '85........... I am from L.A. by nature..... Now I live in Bum****, North Carolina.... It SUCKS too........... I hate rednecks and hicks, etc............. ****in' lying 'Jesus' freaks and geeks as well......... The South stinks........ Do you remember UHF channel 52 back in the 70s with the Little Rascals, Three Stooges and Speed Racer, etc??????? That was before Cable and ON-TV...... MR.BILL
Hell yeah, also uhf 33 I think it was, Kung Fu theater on friday nights. I was a big karate movie freak in my youth. Dubbed speaking cracks me up thinking back
Pro boxing is SUPPOSE to be international, so why can't other nations RE-INSTATE a 15 round title fight if they so desire? I know many fans want them extra THREE rds brought back into play.... I sure as want to....... MR.BILL:bbb
