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mc5aw

mc5aw

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Back before MMA dominated the airwaves, I watched boxing religiously ... on TV and in person (at MSG and the Felt Forum). NYers might remember the Garden shows every other week, the Duva family cards over in NJ in Totowa, and the regular cards down in Philadelphia. One fighter that I always enjoyed seeing was Matthew Saad Muhammad out of Philly. He never stepped backward, and his fights in the light heavy division were legendary. He was what we now call a throwback ... the guy fought like boxers did a generation earlier. A tough man from a tough life. (Courtesy of Fox Sports).

Champion boxer Matthew Saad Muhammad dies at 59 | FOX Sports on MSN
 
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As a kid I always watched Gillette's Friday Night Fights with my Uncle.

Every week, it was a real reality show.;)

Probably around 1953/54 Rocky Marciano pulled up in a convertible in our neighborhood and just sat around talking and joking with all the adults.
 
Back in the NYC days, I met many a pug at the Garden. Scariest fellow I shook hands with was Smokin' Joe Frazier. Sweet man, but not someone I would have wanted to face in the ring. Chuck Wepner was another big scary guy I bumped into. Most every fighter I crossed paths with was a decent man, tough as the day is long, and generally just a working guy trying to put food on the table and money in the bank. Only one pro fighter impressed me as a complete jerk, and I never forgot the experience ... Gerry Cooney ... smug, arrogant, and too busy to sign autographs for kids. I delighted in seeing him get his clock cleaned by George Foreman, and watching his career turn to dust.
 
We are loosing many of the fighters I grew up watching. It is a sad day in boxing history.

Rest in peace

Wingmaster
 
If you lived in flyover country in those days before cable, you would pay good money to watch the big fights on closed-circuit TV. The crowd energy was intense, pretty close to what you'd get in a live arena.

One memory that sticks with me from those days was the TV commercial Joe Frazier did with his mother:

"I just spent $250,000 on a new house for my best gal."
"Have a Muriel, son, but don't get de ashes on de rug."

Cigar commercials; that makes me nostalgic.
 
mc5aw, I remember MSM very well as well as all the other fighters you mentioned. I go back to the days of Joe Louis in the 40s on radio.
Who was the little white fighter that fought Louis 4 or 5 times back then, but could never beat him? Can't remember.
 
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I never had the opportunity to go to a fight, but I was a big boxing fan for many years - at least up until the '90's when my son and I always watched Tuesday night fights (on TNT I think). Finally, though, Don King managed to taint the sport enough to take away my interest - not to mention smarmy windbags like Mayweather, Jr.
 
As a kid I remember watching the fights on Friday night sponsored if I remember right by Gillette or a beer company.

When I (then a senior) went to High School in the 60s our principal (Ben M Becker) was the Olympic boxing coach. One of the many he coached was a fellow named Cassias Clay now know as Muhammad Ali.

Mr. Becker invited him to our school for a program and was escorting him when a serious school incident happened. He had to leave fast and as I was returning from the bathroom he drafted me and told me to escort our guest till he returned. So I spent about 15 minutes showing him around and just talking with him... He was rather pleasant even a little shy most definitely not what his ring persona or public interviews looked/acted like.

Needleless to say I followed his carrier and many others though the ups/downs and weirdness it produced.
 
diamonback68 said:
mc5aw, I remember MSM very well as well as all the other fighters you mentioned. I go back to the days of Joe Lewis in the 40s on radio.
Who was the little white fighter that fought Lewis 4 or 5 times back then, but could never beat him? Can't remember.
Click to expand...

Just remembered and answered my own question...............Billy Conn. He only had 11 loses, mostly to Lewis and his biggest claim to fame was fighting Lewis.
 
Nothing like a fight....

There is nothing like a fight where boxers really BOX instead of other tactics to wear down the opponent. Those tactics can be successful, but it's a lot more fun for me two see to guys mix it up and show their stuff. The lighter weights tend to box more during a bout, but when it comes to the flyweights and the like, I can't see what they are doing they move so fast.:)

PS.... I like moments in sporting events when you spring to your feet by seeing something exciting rather than just 'standing' up. The old 'electricity down the spine' feeling.
 
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diamonback68 said:
Just remembered and answered my own question...............Billy Conn. He only had 11 loses, mostly to Lewis and his biggest claim to fame was fighting Lewis.
Click to expand...

History shows that Conn outboxed Louis most of their 1941 fight, and was headed to a surprising win. Conn got careless in the 13th and decided to slug ... not a wise choice against Louis. The result was Conn getting KOd. That was an instance of the good big man beating the good little man.
 
Old TexMex said:
I was a Duran fan. Saw him and Carlos Palomino as the undercard of the Weaver (frazier??) can't remember...
Hagler was another great. Ali had just retired, Sugar Ray was on his way...that was what '78 or '79...
Click to expand...

I watched that card too. Holmes-Weaver was the main bout. June of '79, and Duran was still a beast. My all time favorite fighter was Hagler.
 
I well remember the original Sugar Ray, who was wonderful to watch. Louis had a left hook that appeared to travel three inches and explode like an artillery shell.

But now I look at Muhammad Ali as he is today (I'm sure I saw him box as a little boy named Cassius Clay, on one of our early local TV shows), and the insanity of UFC and MMA bouts, and I just can't enjoy boxing anymore.

I met a few punch drunk old fighters many years ago, and always was saddened. Red Skelton's "Cauliflower McPug" character never amused me much.

I guess my man card is in jeopardy, but that's how I feel in my old age.
 
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I know what you mean, Shouldazagged. Really, I do. But still... there is something just so magnificent, so uplifting, in watching a couple of fighters give their all. It is moral paradox.
 
I had a couple of friends who trained with Emile Griffith, though they never went anywhere professionally. He used to train often in a gym in the Bronx, around 149th Street.
Later on Griffith helped train middleweight Wilfred Benitez there. Vito Antuofermo may have trained there also.

Couldn't remember the name. Gleason's Gym. Even Clay trained there.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=14&ved=0CHoQFjAN&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gleasonsgym.net%2Fhistoryframe.html&ei=HZaGU_fgI4_voASWjIH4AQ&usg=AFQjCNGlxMUE4itemxwBCrwR5ySSA3fjxw&bvm=bv.67720277,d.cGU&cad=rja
 
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You mean?????

shouldazagged said:
But now I look at Muhammad Ali as he is today (I'm sure I saw him box as a little boy on one of our early local TV shows), and the insanity of UFC and MMA bouts, and I just can't enjoy boxing anymore.
Click to expand...

You mean Cassius Clay? I thought his and Lew Alcindor's were cool names. Young Muhammad Ali.... WHOE! But you are right, he shouldn't have fought those last few years and now....
 
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