Your boxing beginning and the best doc's

So, I started watching boxing in the early nineties. I remember my dad staying up until all hours to watch US Tyson cards. He was never really bothered about any other fights (was an armchair fan only), but he could not miss a Tyson fight. That is the power of a great and exciting HW champ. I came up on Eubank, Naz, had a soft spot for Robin Reid and so on. This was my genesis, but in truth, I really got excited in the sport again around the time of Hatton's rise. My knowledge of the sport e is nowhere near as deep as some of you fine fella's.
 
So, what doc's must I watch? What are the most intriguing, most educating, most interesting boxing doc's ever put to tape?

 
How and when did you get into this brilliant and brutal sport?

Like most my age my start in the sport came with the likes of Eubank and Benn. Hard to explain to folk reared on Sky just how big events these fights were through terrestrial TV coverage. Did seem like figuratively every person you spoke to had an opinion on the fights and was watching in. However the fighter who converted me from a casual fan to an obsessive had to be Naz. He was a local lad so was covered exhaustively in my local press and TV and his rise pretty much coincided with me working and actually having the money to attend fights in person. Guess I was lucky in that he was frequently good to watch and knocked folk out for fun. My patience and frustration with the sport has peaked and troughed since then but still dearly love the sport and its history.

Assault in the Ring is the best.

Frank Bruno v Tim Witherspoon was the first fight I ever watched in 1986. On a little black and white telly at my uncles house.

Grew up watching Benn, Eubank, Naz, Lewis, De La Hoya, Bowe, Holyfield, Tyson etc etc. Great times and a far better era than now.

There is a James J Corbett documentary kicking around that is a fascinating watch. Also caught one on PBS the other week. Think it was called The Fight and was about the second Louis Schmeling fight which was also good to watch.

Painful viewing for a fan but Little Prince Big Fight about the build up to the Naz Barrera fight is worth watching. Could be subtitled "How not to prepare for a big fight" though

For me it was Rocky - saw rocky 3 as a kid, then got a copy and watched is over and over, mainly fast forwarding the story and just watching the fights. After this it was Nigel Benn, randomly was given a copy of his fight against Doug DeWitt on video (probably because of my love of the Rocky films) and was hooked straight away.

Then started watching the big fights on terrestrial and as Rowley stated above they were such incredible events.

Rowley wrote:

Painful viewing for a fan but Little Prince Big Fight about the build up to the Naz Barrera fight is worth watching. Could be subtitled "How not to prepare for a big fight" though

I think having his hairdresser there was important.

Agree Tina, him managing to get the unicorn hair gloves was critical as well.

Tyson did it for me.

Remember ITV used to show his fights very late. I was very young, 9 or 10, married, living with my parents and the only boxing fan in the house.

Tyson v Bruno 1 is a fight I can clearly remember. We were all behind Big Frank alas he got slapped.....







....silly.

You were married at 9 or 10 onetwo?

Rowley wrote:You were married at 9 or 10 onetwo?

Sorry typo don't know how that got in there.

I wish tho....

I like it, it adds to your air of mystique.

Amir Khan at the Athens Olympics first got me in to boxing, the fact his first few professional fights where shown on ITV then helped as well.

Non of my family are in to boxing at all, so it was a nice surprise when they bought me ringside seats to Khan vs Barerra, the chance to see a legend like that up close was great, no matter how much he had faded.

Saw Assault in the Ring. Was good, but the subject matter was depressing.

Not exactly a classic but I watched this on BT sports a couple of nights ago and it was very moving and a fascinating insight into the tough, lower end of the sport we love

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boxing/10395361/Cornered-documentary-is-a-moving-raw-account-of-the-life-of-100-fight-journeyman-Johnny-Greaves.html

always had boxing memories, from tyson, bruno, benn, eubank and later hamed but was never a die hard.

it actually snuck up on me and happened in my mid 20s out of nowhere.
before i knew it I was watching and consuming boxing info every day. my knowledge of boxing before this happened is sketchy at best, i'm slowly tracking back.

best boxing documentary - Gallagher's Gym https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgM-p68_maM selfless promotion...

im half way through the gatti/ward HBO doc. so far it's amazing.

hampo171 wrote:

the chance to see a legend like that up close was great, no matter how much he had faded.

How did Barrera look?

Pretty Much mirrors Rowleys really (without the subsequent historical knowledge to back me up)

All my family were into boxing and grew up with Eubank, Naz etc

Benn McLellan was the first fight i vividly remember, and being allowed to stay up and listen to Lewis - Bruno on the radio, which was quality at the time

Group Cpt Lionel Mandrake wrote:Not exactly a classic but I watched this on BT sports a couple of nights ago and it was very moving and a fascinating insight into the tough, lower end of the sport we love

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boxing/10395361/Cornered-documentary-is-a-moving-raw-account-of-the-life-of-100-fight-journeyman-Johnny-Greaves.html

Been looking for this on YouTube. Any links?

Group Cpt Lionel Mandrake wrote:

hampo171 wrote:

the chance to see a legend like that up close was great, no matter how much he had faded.

How did Barrera look?

A bit bloody after the fight.

My first live fight was Bruno vs McCall at Wembley where he won the title. Was brilliant. Little tv, huddled ok sofa with Dipsticks......

fav documentary has to be Tyson the film

Brilliant insight into the mind of an absolute beast in his prime.

An upsetting documentary, you cant not feel sorry for him.

Losing Cus and signing with Don were two tremendous impacts.

First fight I recall seeing was Hagler/Minter. My main recollections af this are the shower of bottles and cans at the end, Minter complaining that Hagler had butted him all night long ("clunk clunk" I think was the phrase Alan used) and also have this bizarre perception that someone had made Hagler wear a gold crown afterwards.

Also recall watching Ali v Berbick with my dad and him being strangely subdued. He was a big Ali fan and I think it must clearly have hurt him to see that sad spectacle. My recollections of that are the ringbell sounding like a tin can although that may have had more to do with us having a crappy tv.

Must-see documentary would have to be the behind the scenes footage of the creation of "No Ordinary Joe" a compelling thirty two day documentary charting Calzaghe's rise from a boxer who is either great or sh!t to bestselling author and bon vivante.

My earliest boxing memory is the hype around McGuigan and his success. Coming from a Northern Irish catholic family he was popular in my house. Then it was Tyson but I'd say my interest really picked up with the heyday of the British Super Middles, much like most of us. To be honest I was never a Naz fan. Unique talent but I hated his arrogance.

 

hampo171 wrote:Khan vs Barerra, the chance to see a legend like that up close was great, no matter how much he had faded.

Didnt think khan was that far past his sell by in the Barrera fight.

My first boxing memory was watching foreman batter frazier around the ring on world of sport. My second was the rumble.

You lot are sooooo young.

Thanks for all the great input!

I'm no boxing aficionado but I remember watching Barry McGuigan as a lad and being a big fan. Then came Dave McAuley and in my memory (it's slightly vague but I'll wiki when posted) fighting someone and being knocked down several times but going on to win.

I also remember watching Tyson, Lloyd Honneghan, Bomber Graham, Don Curry and being slightly scared of Tommy Hearns until marvellous Marvin beat him. Could never understand where Ray Leonard came from to be rated so I must have missed his early years I guess.

Then came the Benn and Eubank years which I remember watching in the snooker club and having some great nights.

I also remember some great nights as a student having lock ins at a local pub in Stoke (the landlady was a huge Robin Reid fan as he'd been in and had his photo taken) watching Naz.

And of course throughout it all was dear old Frank Bruno. I remember listening on the radio and beating heartbroken when he lost to Bonecrusher Smith and although I remember not being surprised when he lost to Witherspoon it was still upsetting as a young lad.

I remember Frank rocking Tyson in I think the 5th but still going on to get a whupping and I'm sure he was never the same after that.

I was pleased when he won the 'World Title' but it didn't come close to making up for the boyhood disappointments.

I guess real life never does!!

I was born in 1965 so I was lucky enough to see the Ali comeback in the 70s. The first fight I remember watching was with Bonavena. My Dad was a huge boxing fan and was telling me all about this amazing fighter that he called Cassius Clay. I saw Frazier, Norton, Bugner, Foreman, and Riches Dunn :-( to name but a few. Also on the homefront my heroes were John Conteh, John H. Stracey, Jim Watt, Tony Sibson. Also had a fondness for Charlie Magri - great exciting style. Still love the sport but not super knowledgeable like some contributors here. Read this site every day since it is a haven compared to other forums available. This is so much better than the old BBC forum. Thanks Guys!

I vaguely remember watching mcguigan with my dad, but the only fight I remember properly was the Cruz fight in the Vegas carpark. Benn, Eubanks, naz, were part of my teenage viewing, Benn v mccellan I remember as 16 year old underage drinking in local bar, I had a 5 pound bet on with my dad (he wasn't in the pub, or aware of my underage drinking). Uni years coincided with not following boxing, picked it up again about 7/8 years ago, for the first few years immersing myself in catching up, spending time on old timers,that all coincided with a shift work job that facilitated a lot of free time. Last 3/4 years free time has dried up and it's all I can do to stay on top of current fights.

The first fight I remember was the second Benn/Eubank fight in the pub with my dad, he was going berserk as a huge Benn fan when the result was announced. A family friend used to record a lot of the late night american fights so fondly remember the Bowe/Holyfield fights too. As I imagine is true of many on these every Hamed fight was a big event, indian takeaway and excessive drinking (I was on weak shandy) which was made worse when I was old enough to drink properly for the Barrera fight. We were very lucky to have Benn, Eubank, Hamed, Lewis and Bruno involved in big fights during the 90's without whom the likes of Hatton and Calzaghe would have struggled for recognition.

md_fan wrote:I was born in 1965 so I was lucky enough to see the Ali comeback in the 70s.  The first fight I remember watching was with Bonavena.  My Dad was a huge boxing fan and was telling me all about this amazing fighter that he called Cassius Clay.  I saw Frazier, Norton, Bugner, Foreman, and Riches Dunn :-( to name but a few.  Also on the homefront my heroes were John Conteh, John H. Stracey, Jim Watt, Tony Sibson.  Also had a fondness for Charlie Magri - great exciting style.  Still love the sport but not super knowledgeable like some contributors here.  Read this site every day since it is a haven compared to other forums available.  This is so much better than the old BBC forum.  Thanks Guys!

I can see why you don't post much.... Far too civilised for here md!

I'm just a few years younger than you and those are the names I was brought up on too. When our heavyweight scene had the rich pickings of billy aird and John l Gardner. Heady days. Not surprising our heroes came from the lower weights.

The recent Tyson documentary won awards.

The Emile Griffiths documentary wasn't bad. Ring of Fire.

Joe Louis. America's Hero Betrayed. I enjoyed.

I couldn't see past how disturbing that Tyson documentary was, he spoke so calmly about things that made you realise what a psychopath he had become. It was well made but the content wasn't for me.

The Griffith one was a good one especially the end when he meets Parets son.

Been mentioned already but thoroughly enjoyed 'Assault in the ring', the Collins fight destroyed everyone involved except for Panama Lewis who carried on as usual, such a dislikeable human being.

Strongback wrote:The recent Tyson documentary won awards.

The Emile Griffiths documentary wasn't bad.  Ring of Fire.

Joe Louis. America's Hero Betrayed.  I enjoyed.

That's actually the one I meant.

That one's the best I've seen, although I found one I saw on Liston intriguing.

When We Were Kings is fantastic.

Thriller in Manilla is an overrated witch hunt, although as an Ali fan I'm biased.

Expected at least one poster to say watching Rocky.........