I have vague memories of my dad watching Ali fights when I was young, but the first I remember watching in its entirety, was this one, which didn't take long....
My Dad took me to the Gateway Theater in Ft. Lauderdale to see a live broadcast of Sonny Liston vs. Floyd Patterson in 1962. It was a big deal to see a live championship fight like that since they had to set it up in a movie theater. I had just turned 10 and that was the first time I'd been to a real "man's" event. They sold beer and of course smoking was allowed everywhere so I remember the smells about as much as anything, plus I heard a lot of words I wasn't supposed to say. The tickets cost a lot of money for 1962 - all for a fight that lasted less than one round.
They had boxing matches on TV long before that, I used to watch the Gillette Friday Night Fights but that was the first "big" fight I ever saw.
Can't say I honestly remember, but I've watched a lot of fights....It's been ruined by dirty politics and money, just like everything else. Don King was probably the first POS to take advantage of fighters and the sanctioned organizations, today there isn't enough scraps to fight over.
Ali vs somone I don't remember...I was too young but remember how dominate Ali was.....great time with the good heavyweights..I really thought Foreman would kill Ali....it will never be so entertaining in the HW decision as tha late 60-early 70s
Interesting thing about boxing, back when USA used to have their "Tuesday Night Fights", I attended a couple in San Jose. I was then able to drive home and watch the fights again on the later viewing on USA. I was really surprised at how you can view a fight live, and come away with an impression, then watch the same fight on TV and come away with a totally different impression. A lot of punches you think that land watching live, you see miss their mark when you watch on TV. On the other hand you can hear the punches better live if you have good seats, then you can on TV. Might be why so many fights are seen by viewers at home, and seen differently by the judges at ringside...