When did the sport of boxing begin

Watching Tyson come to the UK twice followed by a lot of reading on past champions.

 

But that was in 1960.:yep

For me, I suppose it was the Rumble in the Jungle in '74. But the fight that really hooked me was the Leonard-Hearns fight in 1981

 

I can't pinpoint a moment, I always watched boxing.

 

when tito decapitated Vargas.

 

Easy. Frank Bruno vs Mike Tyson I, in '89.

Frank was adored over here, the build-up for that one was so big that so many newbies to boxing got caught up in it, including me. I stuck around after that. I remember seeing stuff live like Benn-Eubank I, Lewis-Mason, Holyfield-Bowe II, all that kinda stuff.

Harry Carpenter openly cheerleading for Frank was very funny.

 

Watching ALI fight on ABC television Wide World of Sport's with my dad when i was like 6 years old in the 70's that was my first taste of boxing and it was imprinted in my brain i still remember those times.

 

5 years old watching Chavez/Taylor 1.

 

Livingstone Bramble tko 14 Ray Mancini

 

When i first saw Lewis - Vitali, it was like a revelation for me.

 

ali beating spinks in rematch to become the first man to win the heavyweight title 3 times

 

Remeber watching Tyson as a young child back in the mid-80's, but didn't get serious until I was a teenager in the 90's. Definetly my favorite sport right next to hockey and MMA.

 

For me the 1st Ali vs Frazier was huge in it's day. I was only in 1st grade but it was the talk of the Nation at the time. I've been a fan ever since :good

 

I started watching it more and more after I saw Clay beat Liston.

 

damn, we have a lot of young/new fans of the sport on ESB :good

for me, i honestly can't remember a time when i wasn't a die-hard fan or at least watch and follow this great sport

it helped that i was brought up on it

 

Hearns/Leonard I, 1981, 11 years old. I didn't even see the fight! I grew up near Detroit and the hype around the fight and the uproar over the ending convinced me it was something I needed to know more about. As a small but athletic guy, the idea of weight classes seemed pretty damn cool, too.