I've very recently come back to watch the sport and I just gotta say I love it... Consider me a new fan again because everything just feels so fresh. Every punch, every knockdown, every fight, just great- But as I was going from fight to fight on YT I had to wonder how everyone else picks what to watch. I usually pick some fight that I was going to watch the day before (I watch fights for 2-3 hours before I sleep) or something I used to enjoy, and then after I'm done with that, I go down a little bit of a rabbit hole through the recommended section on the right. Example: Mugabi Vs Fletcher -> Mayweather Vs Bramble -> Bramble Vs Brazier (mentioned in the previous one, Bramble took him out in TWO!!) -> Hagler Vs Mugabi -> Hagler Vs Minter -> Sibson Vs Minter -> Sibson Vs Collins -> McCallum Vs Graham -> Cooper Vs Bodell I -> Sibson Vs Lucas -> Hagler Vs Sibson -> Jones Vs Laing II, etc. Young fight fans, old fight fans, how do YOU pick fights to watch? Do you typically stick to classics or try to look around for stuff you haven't seen before? I personally think there's a lot of enjoyment to find in fights that aren't household names. Also: Drop some of the best fights you've seen recently if you'd like to.
How I used to pick, back when I started getting into classic boxing, was to simply browse here. If someone mentioned a fighter, I would search for other, older threads on them, looking up any bouts mentioned. Of course once you do that you can then look up the opponents bouts on youtube, search names on the forum again etc. Boxrec is also very good but doesn't have the contextual explanations that posts on here do. This place was a goldmine for me when I first joined 10 years ago since it was nowhere near as easy to find films online as nowadays, especially when you were into lower weight fighters, where most of the time you didn't even know what to look for unless told. Other than that, I would just browse through certain channel uploads on youtube. Shout outs to @McGrain , @Flea Man , @Xplosive , ragingb()ll , mydeauxsense and others I'm unfortunately forgetting who went out of their way to acquire and share certain bouts and make them publicly available. Nowadays I just note down any fighters or fights that catch my eye, or have been recommended to me on here, into a text document and (eventually) check them out.
I usually have a certain fighter in mind when I go to YouTube to find something, though not necessarily a specific fight. Or, the “What Fight Did You Watch Today” thread always serves as inspiration.
My method is all over the place. Sometimes someone will mention a fight or a fighter and that will start my journey to find something to watch. Or I’ll have a fighter in mind and search YouTube. Or I will just get it in mind to watch a specific fight I haven’t seen or revisit one I have. I also look at what’s on the Vintage Boxing channel because the owner of that channel has converted a bunch of stuff to high-def so it’s always a clean watch. Just pick something there. BUT, lately I have been inspired by a thread I started where I invited our many experts to recommend fights … and sorted them by length (number of rounds). Because sometimes I don’t have the time or the inclination to sit for a full 12 or 15 rounds and want something shorter, or something in a more medium range. Here’s that thread (please suggest any fights you don’t see and I will update). The updated list is in two posts on Page 6 (I updated the OP until it hit the word limit so had to split it in two). Enjoy the wisdom and suggestions of our cognoscenti as the knowing coves have weighed in (choice of language here is a nod to AJ Liebling and Pierce Egan, if you didn’t know): https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...-to-15-rounds-ultimate-viewer’s-guide.743997/
The answer is very simple. In which fights is it important for you to see what happened, and form your opinion accordingly?
