By Cliff Rold
In 2003, HBO debuted the acclaimed series “Legendary Nights,” twelve thirty minute documentaries looking back on the best of HBO’s first thirty years in the boxing business. A decade later, they added an additional ‘round’ with a feature length look at the Arturo Gatti-Mickey Ward series.
The series had it all. In-depth interviews, commentary, context…it was everything but the actual fights. The missing ingredient always stood out. As great as it was to hear the story of something like Larry Holmes-Gerry Cooney, getting to see the original broadcast in tandem with the documentary would have put the cherry on the sundae.
Throughout 2016, it is Showtime’s turn to celebrate their 30 years in boxing. They are taking the opposite approach in displaying their own ‘legendary nights.’ Host Steve Farhood gives a brief intro to set the stage and then it’s into the time machine we go.
The series started off in January with a series of Evander Holyfield fights from Cruiserweight to Heavyweight including his wins over Mike Tyson and lasting classic with Michael Dokes.
In February, the focus is on rivalries and fans get some dandies. There are three fights of the year this month. The first, already re-aired, was 1999’s first battle between Johnny Tapia and Paulie Ayala. Later, they will show three chapters of what might have been the most thrilling series of the 21st century. Two of three contests between Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez won fight of the year and it’s a rare rivalry that got better in each of its three significant chapters.
They’re skipping their fourth fight. That’s for the best.
It would be great to see in-depth storytelling along the lines of the HBO product. Showtime is offering some chances for additional coverage but much of it requires looking for it on Internet platforms. It’s not quite the same.
Given a choice, the chance to see original broadcasts has its advantages. Watching people talking about a fight is never quite the same as seeing it unfold. Sure, much of what will be found can be easily found on YouTube, but this is a chance to see it in HD and never have to worry about a freeze.
A press release in January promised “Other themes to be assigned to the months that follow include “Mike Tyson,” “Fights of the Year,” “Julio Cesar Chavez,” “Puerto Rican Stars,” “Upsets,” and “Floyd Mayweather,” and that’s not enough for twelve months. There will be more.
What might we hope to see among the known and the unknown?
Here is a five-fight wish list of bouts that in some cases haven’t been seen in full on US TV in decades.
Marvin Hagler vs. John Mugabi: The main event that ruined Mugabi in a night and launched the Showtime franchise. Hagler was coming off a long layoff after his “War” with Thomas Hearns. Mugabi was a murderous puncher in both the Jr. middleweight and middleweight division. They plundered each other with leather in what would be Hagler’s last successful middleweight title defense. One Ray Leonard was in the audience that night and thought he saw something. No retrospective of Showtime boxing would be complete without this trip to the beginning.
Donald Curry-Lloyd Honeyghan: Time, and the later struggles of Curry, has taken away from what a monster upset this fight was. Curry was the heir apparent to Hagler as the best fighter in the world. Honeyghan was an unsung battler who derailed Curry’s assumed path to greatness and took his welterweight crown. Curry, despite several years of dominance, has been unable to muster support for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. This was the beginning of that detour.
Mike Tyson-Razor Ruddock: Either of their fights will do and readers can excuse the cheat from five to six fights on this wish list. Show them both. This was the last of the pre-prison Tyson and featured two mammoth punchers lighting each other up. Tyson got the better of both fights but the controversial ending of the first sparked a riot in the ring. It resulted in a heavy-handed distance return. Let’s add bonus points for Showtime if they plug in the classic first bout between Jeff Fenech and Azumah Nelson. The verdict is still infuriating but what a fight.
Pernell Whitaker-Julio Cesar Chavez: Whitaker got a great “Ringside” special on the old ESPN series with several of his finest hours on display. Conspicuously missing: his ‘draw’ with Chavez. Arguably the greatest fighter since the prime of Leonard, Whitaker’s master class needs to come out of the archives. Listening to the original broadcast will remind fans of how long it took the Showtime announce crew to really grasp what they were seeing. It was Whitaker’s finest hour no matter the awful verdict. Fans deserve a chance to see it with fresh eyes.
Nigel Benn-Gerald McClellan: There is a hell of an argument that McClellan knocked Benn out in the first round. Benn got every benefit of the doubt and grinded his way into what Ring Magazine once named the greatest fight in the history of the super middleweight division. Twenty years later, it still is. The tragic outcome of the fight left McClellan unable to care for himself and stained the magic of the battle. Boxing’s ugly side need no always be hidden. Benn and McClellan gave of themselves as few ever have. It’s due for a return to the air.
That’s just one wish list. An archive that has some of the best of Kostya Tyszu, Ricardo Lopez, Andre Ward, Joe Calzaghe, and Felix Trinidad won’t be short on possibilities.
And there is sure to be yet another replay of Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo I. They’ve never stopped showing that one.
We’ve never stopped watching.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
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