What got you into boxing?

[Fr3$h]

I'm not that old (later half of 20s) so I don't go back as far as some of you. I got into a lot of fights as a kid and I wanted to keep doing it without getting in trouble.

The choice was boxing or karate (MMA was still pretty underground - on at 4 am on ESPN2 but no gyms). Tried both, loved boxing, hated karate. Later on, got really into kickboxing/muay thai.

When I started out the big fights that year were Vitali vs Lewis, Gatti vs Ward, Mayorga vs Forrest. DLH and RJJ were both really big stars, Pacquaio coming up the ranks and fought Barrera. It was a pretty good year for a teenager to get into it. K-1 kickboxing was also at its peak, selling out 60,000-70,000 seat stadiums.

[BigTasty]

I was also semi into boxing but Erik Morales put me into full throttle.

[lx!!]

Seen Camacho vs Chavez sr as a kid, then started going to a local gym as kid along with watching fights on weekends with family it was like an event.

[Dean_Razorback]

hammed barrera.
i love barrera

[The Guillotine]

i started watching mma, was a huge fan of cro cop. i guess that made me a fan of fighting in general. and then my friend introduced me to watch de la hoya fight, and the combinations he threw were beautiful, i was hooked.

[Da Machine]

A combination of UFC, FNR4, and RJJ and Tyson highlights.

[KaL-EL]

watching Tyson

[SlySlickSmooth]

I had to write a report in 11th grade related to history, Muhammad Ali came up as an example so I decided I'd just do Ali.

I chose Ali mainly because in the 9th grade I did an English report on Bruce Lee, whom was fascinated by Ali.

By the time I got to watching Ali highlights, vs Frazier & Foreman, and especially vs "Big Cat" Williams.. I just wanted to keep watching boxing.

Then I saw a James Toney highlight video, by then it was a wrap. Me & boxing. Also going to a gym really opens your eyes to the sport and gives you a feel of what it must/could be like in the ring and what the fighters really go through to be at the top of the sport.


Sequence that starts at 3:27 is just amazing

[SlySlickSmooth]

I damn near shed a tear last time I watched one of the Toney-McCallum fights. Boxing at its finest, its damn beautiful to watch two highly skilled boxer-punchers that pack a punch.

i would of killed to of been around to watch fights in the 1940s

[Fr3$h]

i started watching mma, was a huge fan of cro cop. i guess that made me a fan of fighting in general. and then my friend introduced me to watch de la hoya fight, and the combinations he threw were beautiful, i was hooked.

Mirkos old kickboxing days were just aesthetic perfection. that 1-2-3 jab/cross/headkick combo he hit Bernardo with...

(about 0:50)


I wasn't much of a fan of his up and down MMA career for the simple reason that it took him away from K-1 and his kickboxing was so beautiful.