Since I was about 9 years old I remember especially when it involved a fighter who I or someone close to me really liked and there was a good chance that fighter would get really hurt due to who they were facing. Case in point: in 1973 when I had already watched a dozen fights on TV or so, I knew my mother was a really big fan of Smokin' Joe. She had become a really big fan when he defeated The Mouth in March of '71 at MSG. In fact our whole neighborhood was buzzing for nearly 2 years after that fight about Smokin' Joe.
So anyway, we couldnt watch it live in January of '73 but we were all stunned the following day to hear that Big George had executed Joe. So ABC channel 7 a few days later broadcaast the Howard Cosell commentary of the fight, and I remember the people all around the TV in total shock and almost nausea as Frazier got knocked around like a rag doll from pillar to post, the damage, the punishment, the carnage, and at 9 years old I felt like I was going to throw up, my mother's friend actually was crying, etc. Point is, IT WAS THIS FIGHT FOR SURE at the impressionable age of 9 that solidified my tendency to feel EXTREME NAUSEA AND NERVOUSNESS before a big fight starts, I remember feeling that same nausea right before the Holmes/Cooney and Holmes/Tyson fights, also right before the ffirst Tyson/Holyfield fight. In all 3 cases it was the anticipation that those huge punchers like Cooney and Tyson would really hurt IF NOT KILL Holmes who I happened to really like.