Closed circuit television

[joseph5620]

For those who lived through this period, what was the quality of this 70's version of PPV? What were the best fights and atmosphere you have experienced on close circuit TV? It seems the 70's and early 80's had some very good fights on closed circuit television from what I have heard.

[Scott9945]

Closed circuit was mostly around in the 1960's-1970's. By the 80's PPV had taken over. I was too young to see them in the 60's, but saw quite a few in the 70's. The picture quality was usually reliable, although after living in the high definition era it may not seem so great now. The sound was usually inaudible though. I saw them in places as small as movie theaters, and as large as the Forum (18,000). The crowds were often animated and it had a live fight feel. I can think of two occasions when the crowd favorite lost and we had to make a hasty exit to avoid a beer shower. The last closed circuit fight I went to was the first DLH-JCC fight, and that required a quick exit as the crowd at the LA Sports Arena was heavily pro Chavez and not happy with the result.

[U_TALKING_2_ME?]

I was a little too young to go to the Closed Circuit fights in the 70's but my father and my uncles on my mothers side (A muscular Black man and three burly ass Mexicans) would go together if the fight was not in Vegas or somewhere close by.

And more often than not they would return tipsy, loud and boisterous talking among themselves about some fight one or all of them had gotten into that night (my father was a lawyer also but an ex boxer first), then I would always be so excited and ask my father when I could go with them and I remember my uncle saying once "You can go when you can weave a hook while you order your beer".

It's funny the one time I did go to a Closed Circuit fight I was in Guam of all places on my way home back from Japan and it happened to be the same fight that Scott was talking about ODH vs JCC.

It was in a disco called The Sand Castle and there was 10 people there and 7 of them were working.

[Ray Corso]

Closed Circuits in the late 70's were supported by "live shows" held at the "colosumns" across the country!!
I was apart of the CC Shows at the Hartford Civic Center for the first Leonard vs Duran live feed! The live show featured 4 bouts usually consisting of two 6 rounders, and a 8 co-feature and a 10 rd main go! Most of the CC shows there featured Marlon "Magic Man" Starling as he was working his way up to international exposure!

The video was good and the audio alright depending on the company supplying the feed! At times the audio could be a split second behind but when your sitting down 15 thousand plus no one minds! The shows were a huge success for everyone involved. Ray.

[TBear]

The closed circuit shows I went to were very poor quality by today's standards. Like a drive in theater. We didn't mind because it was the big fights and the fights weren't being televised. The crowd was similar to a live fight which was cool but the picture and sound was primitive.

[JerseyJoe]

I went to Atlantic City to see Marvin Hagler vs. Ray Leonard for the World Welterweight Championship in 1987 and the live fight was in Ceasars Palace, Las Vegas. It was a well fought tactical fight. Not very action packed though.

[Anthony342]

Pretty cool stories. So apparently, closed circuit lasted from about the '60s to early '90s. I remember when pro wrestling was still trying to sell themselves as legit (I'm more of an old school fan now), they used to do their early pay per views also on closed circuit at different arenas. I remember Chris Jericho talking about watching Savage-Steamboat on closed circuit in 1987.

[Scott9945]

Pretty cool stories. So apparently, closed circuit lasted from about the '60s to early '90s. I remember when pro wrestling was still trying to sell themselves as legit (I'm more of an old school fan now), they used to do their early pay per views also on closed circuit at different arenas. I remember Chris Jericho talking about watching Savage-Steamboat on closed circuit in 1987.

Like I said previously, there were very few closed circuit fights after people discovered the convenience of PPV at home. Duran-Leonard I (1980) was the first major PPV that I can remember. But just recently Golden Boy has put some of their PPV shows in theaters too. Often in Las Vegas there will be CC site opened up for sold out shows.

And I remember watching Savage-Steamboat on my television.

[joseph5620]

Closed circuit was mostly around in the 1960's-1970's. By the 80's PPV had taken over. I was too young to see them in the 60's, but saw quite a few in the 70's. The picture quality was usually reliable, although after living in the high definition era it may not seem so great now. The sound was usually inaudible though. I saw them in places as small as movie theaters, and as large as the Forum (18,000). The crowds were often animated and it had a live fight feel. I can think of two occasions when the crowd favorite lost and we had to make a hasty exit to avoid a beer shower. The last closed circuit fight I went to was the first DLH-JCC fight, and that required a quick exit as the crowd at the LA Sports Arena was heavily pro Chavez and not happy with the result.

Scott, which fights were those?

[Scott9945]

Scott, which fights were those?

We were at the packed Forum for Hearns-Cuevas and it felt like we were the only Gringos there. When Hearns flattened him it let all the air out of the crowd and my friend said that we'd better get going. The other one was the first DLH-JCC fight. Every time they showed Oscar on the screen the boos were deafening. If anyone was cheering for DLH they were smart enough to keep it low key. There was a lot of people drinking hard liquor there so when the fight ended on a cut we literally sprinted out of there.