|
''USA Tuesday Night Fights'' is a television boxing show. It aired from October 1, 1982 through August 25, 1998 on the USA Network; at one time it was the longest continually-running boxing show on television. ''USA Tuesday Night Fights'' was hosted by Al Albert, who provided the blow-by-blow commentary, and former lightweight champion Sean O'Grady, who served as the analyst. Bill Macatee was often a substitute announcer for Albert. The show did not employ a regular ring announcer, but several high profile announcers such as HBO's Michael Buffer, Showtime's Jimmy Lennon, Jr., Philadelphia boxing staple Ed Derian, and future ''BattleBots'' announcer Mark Beiro were featured with Derian and Beiro featured more frequently as the years went on. The program, for most of its time on air, was sponsored by Budweiser, and often referred to on air as ''Budweiser Presents Tuesday Night Fights''. Pabst Blue Ribbon was also a frequent sponsor of the program, continuing a tradition of the Pabst company sponsoring televised boxing matches. Like some of its similar fellow boxing programs, ''Tuesday Night Fights'' did not always emanate from large arenas. Instead, cards usually took place in smaller venues, such as The Blue Horizon in Philadelphia, the Felt Forum/Paramount Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, or the ballroom of Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.''Tuesday Night Fights'' would also not limit itself to American venues, as they traveled to England, Mexico, and other places to televise shows. One show even took place aboard an aircraft carrier. ==Notable fights== Few world title fights were presented in this show, one of the notable ones being when Vinny Pazienza, a former world Lightweight champion, moved up in weight and captured the WBA world Jr. Middleweight championship with an eleventh round knockout of Gilbert Dele. Pazienza would ultimately relinquish the title following a car accident the following year. Written off from boxing by doctors after the accident, Pazienza would return to the ring with a win over Luis Santana, a fight which also aired on ''Tuesday Night Fights''. Another title fight aired by USA was the 1988 IBF featherweight title bout between defending champion Calvin Grove and contender Jorge Paez that took place in Mexicali, Mexico. The fight was significant in that it was the last ever title match scheduled for 15 rounds. The fight went the distance, with Paez earning a majority decision. On March 19, 1996, USA featured a bout between Jeremy Williams and Arthur Weathers as the headline of their show broadcast from the Spruce Goose Dome in Williams' home of Long Beach, California. Williams, at the time a rising heavyweight contender, dropped Weathers with an uppercut almost immediately after the bell rang to start the contest and referee Marty Denkin called a halt to the contest after ten seconds, which was erroneously referred to as a world record for quickest knockout (although it remains one of the fastest ever). On March 18, 1997, USA saw what is officially the world's quickest knockout. The bout between heavyweights Jimmy Thunder and Crawford Grimsley lasted only 1.5 seconds after Thunder caught Grimsley with a right hook to the head that sent him to the canvas. Both George Foreman and Larry Holmes were frequently featured on ''Tuesday Night Fights'' as they began to return after their initial retirements. Both fighters' comeback fights were aired on USA, and Holmes fought on a semi-regular basis on the program until he declared, on air, in 1996 that he would not likely fight again unless he could secure a title match. A future opponent of Holmes, Butterbean, received some of his earliest exposure as a professional fighter by fighting several four rounders on ''Tuesday Night Fights''. Roberto Duran was another fixture on ''Tuesday Night Fights'' later in his career, and his 100th professional bout was carried by USA. ''Tuesday Night Fights'' also showcased the bizarre from time to time. Among these was a fight from former pro football star Mark Gastineau's controversial boxing career which saw him lose to a journeyman fighter, Andrew Golota's infamous fight against Samson Po'uha in 1995 which saw the Polish fighter, who appeared frequently on ''Tuesday Night Fights'', bite the neck of his opponent, a fight between Riddick Bowe and Elijah Tillery where Tillery was disqualified for kicking the future world champion and Bowe responded by knocking him out of the ring, and a bizarre fight between Sharmba Mitchell and Bazooka Limon where the former champion Limon pulled Mitchell's trunks down during the action. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USA Tuesday Night Fights」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|