The fight that gave you boxing fever forever???

Saad-Lopez 2. I got it on VHS from a seller some time in the early/mid 90s.

I couldn’t believe a boxing matching could actually be that incredible.

 

Got introduced to boxing through ODLH and it was his fight against Ike Quartey that got me into the sport of boxing.

 

The first huge boxing memory I have was Nigel Benn v Gerald McClellan. I remember watching it with my Grandad and it was electric. Even sitting at home you could feel it. The crowd was fever pitch and I've never forgotten it. Shame about the terrible ending, but it does however really stick in my memory.

 

I remember it vividly too - tragic ending but an amazing fight and atmosphere.

 

It was pretty awesome, wasn't it.

 

Stays in my mind as one of the best mate.

 

This bout is a classic example of how context can change the perception of a fight. When someone watches the fight for the first time on Youtube you will invariably get a response that says the first round was really good but I don't see what all the fuss is about. However, if you were watching then, with the four months of incredible buildup and the six years of watching those two guys beat up on other fighters and all the other hoopla it makes the fight much more amazing.

It is sort of like Wilder-Fury 3. It was the 2021 Ring Magazine Fight of the Year. The reality is that the fight was a sloppy mess between two awkward fighters who had a high swing and miss ratio. However, because it was the third fight of a trilogy between championship-caliber heavyweights with big personalities and great records the fight becomes a much better experience. Hagler-Hearns is like that but greater.

 

Absolutely pal.
Even tho its so long ago now, I can still remember vividly how exciting the build up was. I never got that from any of the other fab 4 fights going in.
It was just the thought of those two locking horns.

 

Roy Jones vs James Toney…I watched it high school…and it made me a boxing fan forever

 

Ali vs Frazier in Manila was my 1st fight I remember watching.
A rebroadcast on ABC Wide World of Sports in 76-77".
But the fight that truly gave me the bug and love of the
sport, was Benitez vs Leonard also on Wide World of
Sports but live in 1979"
The Leonard / Benitez fight showed me how beautiful
and technical a high level boxing match can be.

 

Muhammad Ali vs Floyd Patterson on November 22 1965.