This content is protected It got quite a bit. I remember the local sports news reports talking about it leading up to it and how the reporter said he was rooting for the old guy. Definitely more than the shitty coverage nowadays.
Holyfield vs Foreman was HUGE,, and this was during a time when boxing had basically already declined... Most of the people who I went to highschool with back in 1991, were in no way shape or form interested in boxing, but they all knew that an ancient champion had risen from the dead to take on the current king of the sport... It was an even bigger deal when that mummy took him the distance... As an avid boxing fan, I watched both Foreman and Holyfield's ascent materialize, as they were both on a fast track towards Tyson around 1989-1990. Somehow I knew they would cross paths at some point, and frankly, I believe that many others did as well.
It was a big fight with a pre and post fight buzz. The under card was very good too. I remember watching in in my college days with a room full of guys, and keg of cold beer.
I am not so sure i would agree that it was huge! From my memory: Tyson fights were always huge. And then when Douglas upset Tyson, that was huge. Douglas Holyfield was seen as a blatant duck of Tyson but the World Champion, did still earn plenty of money and garner interest. Foreman got some good interest and was popular, but everyone seen it as an easy fight and no one expected much of a fight. Tyson was always the no 1 contender and the fight that was to be seen. Foreman was just a name and money spinner in the public's eyes. Holmes was seen as the same. Tyson Holyfield was what everyone wanted to see and would have been a far bigger media event than Holy-foreman. Saying that, Foreman surprised everyone with his performance.
Not so big in Britain though. The general theory was if Holyfield won by easy KO, so what? If Foreman got lucky, the fight was fixed. Holyfield winning by decision by running away from a 42 year old in the final round was brilliant for boxing and would in due course go a long way to giving us a (thankfully short lived) sit-com and a mean clean grilling machine which I think everyone on the planet has.
Right on! The fight was heavily promoted and was seen by most people (I think) as more of a novelty fight, pure entertainment. Most boxing people and knowledgable fight aficionados didn't expect Foreman to have much of a chance; it was viewed as an easy payday fight for HOlyfield. It was very popular in a freak show/nostalgic type of way, an old heavyweight from the glory days of the 70's trying to recapture his throne.......
There was decent buzz around it but it wasn't huge. There was great nostalgia factor as you had fathers and sons watching and comparing eras. My grandfather passed just before this fight unfortuneatly but we were both looking forward to it greatly. He would have won our bet, because as a young punk, I was certain this dinosaur couldnt last 3 rounds. But hell, just thinking about it makes me wish it was 15, 20 years ago again. 1 HW champ. That was nice, knowing who The Man was. George proved by hanging in there against Holy's accurate barrages and landing some pretty stiff lumber of his own that his comeback was for real. Good times.