Sugar Ray Leonard had been the darling of the 1976 Olympic games in Montreal, and captured a gold medal in the light welterweight division. He had originally wanted to go to the University of Maryland and retire from boxing, but his father’s illness and medical bills forced him to turn pro. His first fight was […]
The only fight on the calendar year of 1976 for HBO was the June 19th fight between Alexis Arguello and Salvador Torres. The Nicaraguan champion was making his mark as one of the greats in the sport. However he was far from a household name in America. HBO decided to tap into the pool of
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After it’s inaugural year of covering boxing, HBO had only one fight on the calendar in 1974. It was the ‘Rumble in Jungle’ on October 30, 1974 between Muhammad Ali and champ George Foreman. Ali shocked the world and regained his title by knocking out the favored Foreman in the 8th round in Zaire, South
The very first fight that HBO broadcast was the heavyweight championship bout between Joe Frazier and George Foreman on January 22, 1973. The belt changed hands that night in Kingston, Jamaica when the young challenger knocked down Frazier 6 times enroute to a second round stoppage, Their next show was on June 18, 1973 at
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Archie Moore would get his first shot at the light heavyweight championship on December 17, 1952 in St, Louis, Missouri against veteran Joey Maxim. The 39 year old grizzled fighter did not disappoint his hometown at the arena, and defeated Maxim via a 15 round decision. After sixteen long years, he had finally achieved his
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Archie Moore was born Archibald Lee Wright on December 13, 1913. He began his boxing career as middleweight after being a thief landed him in reform school for 2 years in Missouri. He then joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, and worked on his physical fitness and learning to become a boxer. He started his career
Sugar Ray Robinson was enjoying his reign as welterweight champion of the world in the summer of 1946, when he signed to fight L.A. fighter Jimmy Doyle. Training was nothing out of norm for Ray, with a morning 5 mile run followed by an afternoon of bag work, sparring and jumping rope. But something extraordinary
Sugar Ray Robinson was born Walker Smith on May 21, 1989 in Ailey, Georgia. His family later moved to Detroit, Michigan and began perhaps the most successful amateur career in boxing history. His record is a reported 89-0, although some say he actually lost 2 bouts. He captured 2 golden gloves championships in 1939 and
Howard Cosell was born on March 25th, 1918 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. He graduated law school and practiced it before becoming a sports writer and television reporter in New York City. He covered all sports, but his claim to fame began when he met Muhammad Ali. Ali and Cosell were an odd couple from
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Dr. Ferdie Pacheco was born as Fernando Pacheco Jimenez on December 8, 1927 in Tampa, Florida. Although he was a cut doctor for other fighters, he came to fame by being assistant cornerman to Angelo Dundee in Muhammad Ali’s career. Ali’s home base for training was the 5th street gym in Miami Beach from the
