How long have you been following the sport?

They probably think they can sell it to a new generation who haven't seen the (superior) originals. As long as they can make $$$, they don't care about ruining older, superior product.

 

I was eleven years old when I watched the second Muhammad Ali-Henry Cooper fight in 1966. It all started for me then.

 

1980 for me , I was 10 ... I'm pissed I missed the 70's ... Don't really know what's going on today in boxing, I live in the past with the Fab 4 and watch pre 80's boxing that I missed... I like the lighter weights over the heavies

 

When i was a kid My uncle had the thrilla in manila and rumble in the jungle on tape, he kind of introduced it to me before he overdosed on heroin. But I didn' really get into it until 2 years ago when I was a security guard with a whole lot of free time I started watching boxing everyday off youtube, the fight that really got me hooked into this sport was when Dempsey rag dolled Jess wilard.

 

I only saw the first one. It was pretty mediocre - two stars, in my opinion.

 

Lol, I listened to it on the radio....I was barely comfortable when I heard "Liston is on his knees".....

 

I'm 41 and I'd say I was exposed to boxing from about the age of 5 through my ex boxer grandad (Big Ali fan) who was very keen for a boxer in the family.

I'd say I really got into it as soon as I was old enough to have a clue. Which would be around 83-84 in the midst of the fab 4 and a couple of years before Tyson exploded on the scene.

 

50 now. Started following in early '76 with the series of Ali defenses - Coopman, Young, Dunn - on free TV. I recall watching Foreman-LeDoux and Foreman-Denis on free TV. I've read that real memory starts at about age 10, and that's when, 1977, I really started paying attention to boxing. Watched a lot of great cards on free TV that year - Young-Foreman, Norton-Bobick, Ali-Evangelista, Night of the Champions, Night of the Heavyweights, Ali-Shavers, and Norton-Young. Like Saad, I pretty much stopped following the sport 10 years ago, though recently I've paid a little more attention.

 

This thread has made me wonder--how many people in this forum actually still watch a decent amount of current boxing?? (tuning in for the occasional widely-anticipated megafight between top p4p stars doesn't count)

 

Yeah my interest as definitely waned a lot in the last decade. My reasons for this aren't different from most I'd imagine. Too many belts, fights not happening, corruption and cheating, lack of talent etc. I know it's been like that for a long time but i just felt jaded by it eventually. The sport no matter what anyone says is definitely the worst it's ever been in terms of talent, skill and characters.

I keep my eye on the big names and fights and watch them, but not always, it has to be said. The fact my youngest brother is a boxer keeps my eye in too. Plus I still do enjoy watching a good prospect develop.

I would say I was a hardcore fan for 25 years, now I'm a borderline casual lol. Saying that I've still been to a number of shows (some big ones too) in this decade.

I'd also add that it pains me that a glorified tough man contest like the UFC as ousted boxing as the main combat sport in the US. I'm not from the US but I realise boxing is a far better sport worldwide when it's healthy over there. Sadly its far from healthy stateside.

I'll always have an eye on boxing...always, and still watch fairly regularly when I think about it. But my hardcore passion is unlikely to return. If you said that to me 10-15 years ago I would have laughed at you.

 

i started with a documentary of ali. I was born in 1984 so i watched on tv the famous fight of the ear evander vs tyson 2