What is the best way for a new viewer to get into boxing and its history?

Pick one fighter and watch all his fights. As you go through his fights, you will learn about his opponents and you may become a fan of one of them. Then watch the opponents fights. Then continue that process and before you know it, you will have seen tons of fight footage and have a list of favorites. Do that across several divisions. That way you learn about who was ranked where, what styles gave which fighter problems, who held what title, who the players were at the time, etc etc THIS... My real introduction to boxing was when I did this with Thomas Hearns. Before that I had just seen my dad watching the fights and grown up watching Tyson.

History section on this forum......use search function then to search for whatever you wanna know about Where's the history section? :boxing:

The best fights to watch, probably, are the FOTYs. If you Wikipedia Ring Magazine Fights of the Year you can see the whole list. Youtube has most of these fights in their entirety(starting from the early eighties). That's the easiest way to watch fights. Some fights will only have a round posted. Others fights will have more. Someone earlier said watch Duran, Hagler, Hearns and Leonard. They're the fighters that nobody really disagrees on(Duran is, probably, the greatest pressure fighter, Sugar Ray Leonard is, probably, the greatest boxer. Hagler and Hearns are two of the best punchers.) So, watch Duran vs. Leonard 1, Hagler vs. Hearns. And, really, any fight that any of those fighters were in. Most people on NSB talk constantly about either Manny or Floyd. It's a bit of a dated topic as they're both pushing forty now. They should've fought five years ago. That being said, they're still the two most famous fighters in the world. If you're interested in Manny, watch his fights with Morales, Barrera, and Marquez. Floyd... watch his earlier fights. If you want to learn more about where Floyd learned how to fight, watch his Dad or Uncle fight. They were both great fighters. If you haven't watched Corrales vs Castillo or Ward vs Gatti. Those two fights are a lot of people's favorite fight. And for good reason- they're both really amazing fights.

Pick one fighter and watch all his fights. As you go through his fights, you will learn about his opponents and you may become a fan of one of them. Then watch the opponents fights. Then continue that process and before you know it, you will have seen tons of fight footage and have a list of favorites. Do that across several divisions. That way you learn about who was ranked where, what styles gave which fighter problems, who held what title, who the players were at the time, etc etc

What would you recommend a person who has seen extremely little boxing but is interested in becoming a fan and educated about the sport from a spectator standpoint? I'd like to get into the sport and know about the history and the legends of the sport, but I'm not sure where to start. For example, I don't even know who the last two guys are at the top of the website. All I've really seen are Tyson, Ali, Pacquiao, James Toney, and De La Hoya highlights, but I'd like to be able to discuss current events in boxing as well as it's history but I'm all new to everything. Thanks for any help :D Find a more knowledgable boxin forum to post on would be my first port of call. Too many fans on here talk about boxing as if it's WWE "No way my favourite fighter is waaaay better than yours!" Not even kidding. Get out while you can.

Books books and more books.

Spend a lot of time in the video trading block watching fights of the past and visit the history section occasionally. It is a good start.

Watch Klitschko-Haye.

Avoid Mayweather fights than he too will be duped into this BET crap when it's been nothing more than great cherry pick'n avoid the threats, retire let everyone beat each other up than fight than when they are shop worn or old. Accuse threats of being on steroids and fooling the low IQ into believing this crap. You want him instead watching the new up in comers and watching old fights of the past so he gets a good history lesson not some fairy tell

To grab new fans i think they would need to watch all the sports century set along with the legendary nights set.Basically all boxing documentaries. Sh*t like 24/7,all access and fight camp 360 helps aswell.

Thanks for the replies guys I appreciate it and will check out these fights/docs

Learn about the legend that is Chris John.

Stay away from NSB, this place will suck the enthusiasm for the sport right out of you.

What would you recommend a person who has seen extremely little boxing but is interested in becoming a fan and educated about the sport from a spectator standpoint? I'd like to get into the sport and know about the history and the legends of the sport, but I'm not sure where to start. For example, I don't even know who the last two guys are at the top of the website. All I've really seen are Tyson, Ali, Pacquiao, James Toney, and De La Hoya highlights, but I'd like to be able to discuss current events in boxing as well as it's history but I'm all new to everything. Thanks for any help :D Read the book "Fighting Words" by David P. Greisman. :D

I would recommend that the newbie watch the key fights for themselves with an open mind, not drawing any conclusions and DEFINITELY not listen to media sensationalism and the ravings of decrepit old men and their disciples. LOL

History section on this forum......use search function then to search for whatever you wanna know about

I found that watching HBO's Legendary Nights series gave me more appreciation for boxing's history. All 11 episodes are on youtube still as far as I know. Start off with the Chavez-Taylor one, that's my favourite. agree with this, legendary nights is awesome series. very good for beginner who want to know the sports. check the youtube, all the videos are there. also recommend Muhammad Ali docs, particularly this: Facing Ali by HakaVelli Facing Ali by HakaVelli

I found that watching HBO's Legendary Nights series gave me more appreciation for boxing's history. All 11 episodes are on youtube still as far as I know. Start off with the Chavez-Taylor one, that's my favourite.

http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=636478&highlight=Fighter+documentaries Fighter doco's.

What would you recommend a person who has seen extremely little boxing but is interested in becoming a fan and educated about the sport from a spectator standpoint? I'd like to get into the sport and know about the history and the legends of the sport, but I'm not sure where to start. For example, I don't even know who the last two guys are at the top of the website. All I've really seen are Tyson, Ali, Pacquiao, James Toney, and De La Hoya highlights, but I'd like to be able to discuss current events in boxing as well as it's history but I'm all new to everything. Thanks for any help :D check out michael carbajal vs humberto chiquita gonzalez also check out some ricardo el finito lopez fights the m,an was a master bruce lee of boxing