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by David P. Greisman - Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier battled for the heavyweight championship in 1921, four rounds fought in Jersey City, heard in Hoboken. Brian Minto and Donnell Holmes are two heavyweights who have never challenged for a world title. They met in 2009 in Butler, Pa., a small town outside of Pittsburgh with a population of about 15,000.
Minto-Holmes was seen by fans as far away as Germany and the Philippines.
Before cable television and hundreds of channels, before computers and video games and iPods and the Internet, there was the radio. The first match to be aired was held in April 1921, at Pittsburgh’s Motor Square Garden, Johnny Dundee against Johnny Ray, according to the Handbook of Sports and Media (edited by Arthur A. Raney and Jennings Bryant).
A few months later, Dempsey-Carpentier, the first championship match aired, saw one radio station link its transmission with another, networking that eventually helped bring the Sweet Science into a golden era.
In the 1920s, it was tower to tower. In the 21st century, it is server to server.
The advance of technology has taken boxing from radio to television, from network broadcasts to closed-circuit events, from gatherings at theaters and arenas to pay-per-view purchases at bars and homes.
The sport is far removed from its golden era. In the United States, its popularity does not even approach what it was in decades past, when Olympians were national stars and professional prizefighting was seen on network television.
But fans, fighters and promoters have taken to the Internet to make boxing international. The World Wide Web is exactly what its name describes.
Fans can turn on their computers and catch action as it happens in countries halfway across the globe. Fighters can reach audiences that otherwise might never have seen them in the ring. And promoters can get publicity for their pugilists and bolster their bottom lines. [details]
Minto-Holmes was seen by fans as far away as Germany and the Philippines.
Before cable television and hundreds of channels, before computers and video games and iPods and the Internet, there was the radio. The first match to be aired was held in April 1921, at Pittsburgh’s Motor Square Garden, Johnny Dundee against Johnny Ray, according to the Handbook of Sports and Media (edited by Arthur A. Raney and Jennings Bryant).
A few months later, Dempsey-Carpentier, the first championship match aired, saw one radio station link its transmission with another, networking that eventually helped bring the Sweet Science into a golden era.
In the 1920s, it was tower to tower. In the 21st century, it is server to server.
The advance of technology has taken boxing from radio to television, from network broadcasts to closed-circuit events, from gatherings at theaters and arenas to pay-per-view purchases at bars and homes.
The sport is far removed from its golden era. In the United States, its popularity does not even approach what it was in decades past, when Olympians were national stars and professional prizefighting was seen on network television.
But fans, fighters and promoters have taken to the Internet to make boxing international. The World Wide Web is exactly what its name describes.
Fans can turn on their computers and catch action as it happens in countries halfway across the globe. Fighters can reach audiences that otherwise might never have seen them in the ring. And promoters can get publicity for their pugilists and bolster their bottom lines. [details]