What got you interested in boxing?

[chef97]

For me it all started when I was about 10 years old and I'm 55 now... My dad boxed in the Army and we had a speed bag and a heavy bag and a big box full of old boxing gloves in our garage when I was a kid... First my dad taught me how to throw and block punches... Back in the 70's I used to spar w/ other kids in my neighbor hood w/ parent supervision most of the time... Then when I was in 7th & 8th grade I boxed amateur for PAL (Police Athletic League) w/ limited success... All the while my dad and I used to watch boxing on TV together during boxing's glory days and that's where I became a boxing fan for life... What made you a fan of our sport?

[Master]

I never watched boxing but remember Ali v Holmes and Holmes v Cooney because they were huge mainstream type of fights in the UK.

I then watched McGuigan, Bruno, Herol Graham on BBC but it was Mike Tyson that really got me into boxing at a crazy fan level. Read the history of the sport, magazines and boxing tapes from 1986.

[ross]

Id watched boxing for a while with my dad on tv but never really paid a lot of attention.

I remember watching Chris Eubank in the lead up to the Benn rematch then the fight itself and I found it hilarious how he would pose and show off but be hard as nails at the same time.

[Batman]

I can remember watching a few Tyson fights when I was a real nipper but didn't have a clue about the sport, I just liked watching people hit each other

I can remember picking up an insane hatred for Price Naz through my dad, that was when I started to pick up a bit more interest and started to understand the sport a bit more (I remember that when he fought Barrera I stayed up and watched it because I knew he was going to get beat, I must have been about 15 or 16)

It wasn't long after that that Ricky Hatton got his debut on Sky Sports (when it was Friday Fight Night if I remember correctly) that was when I really got into my boxing, I didn't care who was fighting I would always watch it if I wasn't out on the piss.

Out of all of my mates I only managed to get one other one into boxing at around the time of the Hatton v Kostya Tszyu fight, he has stuck with the sport as well and still loves it, although I don't think he follows it quite as much these days he still knows what is going on

[Master]

I think Hatton fought on ITV before sky but am not sure.

[Batman]

I don't think so, I could be wrong but I can remember them on Sky raving about him when he was still unknown, he was just this strange looking pale mancunian who ended up crippling people with body shots every other week

[Dia bando]

With my Dad in the 60s Cooper Clay just went on from there.
My son watched boxing with me and went onto box himself, I am 56 and my son is 25 and we still watch boxing together, weather on TV or we go to watch live .

[Spicoli]

Large draw was the individuality of it. I was a baseball junkie prior right down to at ball game stats and score sheets but once I began catching boxing on the weekend afternoons I was hooked. Weird really as early on to follow the sport was to be a bit of a nomad who had search for it. Unfortunately I have zero boxing-family connection and the only tie with Pop and boxing was me "borrowing" some of his blank vhs tapes to record cards. Right after Douglas ko'd Tyson he walked by and knocked on my bedroom wall shouting "how'd ya like that hahaha" . Sure you had random network availability but much of the time we see only the top layer. The story and career line of watching a fighter rise and fall or vice versa is better than any classic Hollywood could rewrite while on the shitter. You 'live' the moment in boxing and that's what makes it so memorable..your spot and era and favorite. For all its ass shat backroom dealings and corruption of convenience, the international depth and life metaphor playing out is great.