How did PPV work in 1966? I know how it worked when it became big in the 90's but don't have a clue about it before that point and time.
It was a trial. I think they set up some sort of box in some people's houses. It was only shown in parts of London, Sheffield and might of been Manchester. I've got the newspaper clippings somewhere with all the details. It was 10 bob fee which was like 50 pence or that would of been a dollar 50 in American money at the time. It doesn't sound much but that was probably more expensive than now in Britain.
Emile Griffith gave Stable a shot at the WW Crown. On the same fight card was the Jose Torres v Willie Pastrano Title bout (Pastrano: "When Torres hit me with that liver body shot, I saw 'yellow spots' "). Looking over the records of the WW's of the 1960-1968 era, you see very good to great fighters fighting each other: Griffith, LRodriguez, Benny Kid, Manny Gonzales, Cokes, Stable, Kitten Hayward, Gypsy Joe Harris, etc, Classic Member experts will add others, and many of the fights were on home TV nationwide. 1965-03-30 : Emile Griffith 146½ lbs beat Jose Stable 146 lbs by UD in round 15 of 15 Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA Referee: Arthur Mercante 11-4 Judge: Al Berl 9-5 Judge: Frank Forbes 8-6 For Griffith's World Welterweight Title. Stable was rocked and out on his feet in the 11th round. Griffith's purse: $70,000; Stable's purse: $10,000 Attendance: 18,112 Gate: $239,956 This card also featured Jose Torres defeating Willie Pastrano for the World Light Heavyweight Title. Source: New York Times "Emile Griffith retained his world welterweight crown Tuesday night by bombing and bulling his way to a unanimous 15 round decision over dogged Jose Stable in the first half of the championship double-header. Griffith, a 13-5 favorite, took command early and wore down the challenger from Cuba with solid left jabs and hooks. Only in the 1st round did Stable give Griffith any trouble. He staggered the champion with a short left hook, but Emile shook off the blow. Then, starting in the 3rd round, Griffith took command, winning the next five by big margins as he showed the young Cuban who was boss with clever counter-punching. Griffith never let up on Stable once he got warmed up, and for the remainder of the fight it was only a question of whether Stable would remain on his feet." - Montana Standard Post Wire Services
Knew about Jose Stable because i followed Emile Griffith career. I met him in Sydney when he was trainer of Juan Laporte who was fighting Kostya Tszyu. Thanks very much for once again posting some hidden gem fights.
My first time watching him--seems like a very exciting fighter. I wonder how his style (swinging for the punches, periodically punching himself out of position or off balance) would have served him against the tighter, more conservative fighters of recent years. Does he overwhelm them with his attacks or do they exploit the way he over-commits to his punches?
Check out my free boxing playlist called Rareboxing. That's all I have on there is obscure stuff. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLn7KeKBMCt9n8HLu6nv8-w
