Today in History: First ever televised boxing match
I am a big fan of fighting sports, primarily UFC and boxing and really look forward to the Sunday morning UFC sessions at my local pub (it's morning for us because the events are evening in USA.)
I can imagine it was pretty special back in 1933 when fight fans, or even people were unfamiliar with what boxing actually is, got to see the first ever broadcast. Of course very few people owned a television set in 1933 so perhaps not so many got to see it afterall.
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The match was between Archie Sexton and Lauri Raiteri and for me these names mean nothing. The match was a 6-round exhibition match and it took place in London.
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I did find out that Sexton lost sight in his left eye during a later match in 1936 and this forced him to retire. In an ironic twist of fate he was later awarded a medal for rescuing people from an eye hospital later in life.
If you could go back in time and tell BBC (the people who did the first broadcast) that later in time that individual broadcasts of top-tier boxing matches would be worth tens of millions of dollars each, I'm certain they wouldn't believe ya!
The things that happen around us are always used to believing them to be static. It is hard to believe that they can change.
Our memory is short, we forget all the changes that have happened in time and that in this moment also a change is happening.
Did you see the first UFC Tournament? It was so hard to look they didnt have rules. You could hit somebody even in the nuts and so on.
Its still on youtube if you didnt see it. It is worth it.
I've always wanted to go to a UFC fight in Vegas the past couple of times that I have been there. It has never worked out though. The one time we went for a bachelor party and I thought sure that would be the prime opportunity. Oh well. This was a great history lesson on televised boxing. I remember watching it with my dad when I was a kid. Not this match of course!
Nice post learned something . History is intriguing!
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