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July 1998
Each month we bring you a selection of articles from the current and past issues of BOXING MONTHLY. To buy the magazine, see our subscription or back issues pages, or use our world distribution map to find a news-stand copy. Why not use our Interactive Forum to express your own boxing comments and opinions!
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TUESDAY NIGHT'S ALL RIGHT FOR ...
After a 17-year run, the USA network's 'Tuesday Night Fights' series comes to an end in August. STEVE FARHOOD considers his options for the future and takes a look back at the series that has become a legend |
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PRESENTERS Sean O'Grady and Al Albert; soon to be sadly missed
- Get Big Pic I'm projecting now: we're talking the dawning of the new millennium, and of the
following I am certain: One year from now I'll be working on my acceptance speech for the
Nobel Prize for literature. (I'll be the first boxing writer to be so honoured, unless you
count Hemingway, who was too stuck up to sit through undercards.) The
"what-are-you-doing-tonight-Stevie-boy?" phone calls from the supermodels are
beginning to annoy my wife, but she's been spending most of her time exploring the 27
bathrooms in the $27-million Connecticut mansion we bought from Mike Tyson, so no harm, no
foul. An against-all-odds winning ticket in the Powerball Lottery has provided financial
security, and on my tax returns, I list my occupation as journalist/philanthropist. The
paparazzi can be intrusive, especially when I'm playing tennis with the governor, but
things have been worse. By the way, did I mention the supermodels? Now for the uncertain, which weighs quite heavily: What am I going to do from nine to
11 p.m. on Tuesday nights? For the past 17 years, I've been a devoted viewer of boxing on cable-television's USA
Network. For the last 10 years, the show has been broadcast about 45 times a year as
"Tuesday Night Fights". TNF is the only regularly scheduled boxing show on
American television, and earlier this year, as Graham Houston reported, the recently-sold
network announced it will pull the plug in August. Ouch! According to network spokeswoman Jayne Wallace, USA's decision is related to
demographics, not ratings. "That's really what's behind this," Wallace told the
New York Post. "There's been a long-term evaluation here as to the demographics on
boxing, and as the network tries moving toward younger viewers... the determination was
made that [boxing] was not going to fit. "[Boxing] skews toward an older, male demographic, and while it sometimes has a
very healthy rating, there aren't enough people watching. It's really who's watching. This
was a raw business decision; we need to move toward younger viewers over the long
haul." Translation: If you're over 35, why bother to get out of bed in the morning? The ramifications of the cancellation will be plentiful, with none more significant
than the huge gap in my mid-week schedule. Let's see: As I flipped through the 26 May
listings in my local edition of "TV Guide", these were some of my current
options for the nine p.m. time slot that Tuesday: Channel 7: Home Improvement:
"Strange behavior from Tim precedes his surprise for
the family, which he springs on them at their vacation site in northern Michigan: he wants
to move there permanently." I can handle a split decision, but I'm afraid this would be too much for the old
ticker. Channel 11: Buffy The Vampire Slayer:
"As Angel's thirst to destroy Buffy grows,
he begins to target those closest to her, including her unsuspecting mother. But his
bloodlust may be quenched when Jenny finds a spell that could restore him to his better
ways before he can kill again." Ah, something the whole family can watch. Channel 12: My Very Best Friend (movie, 1996):
"Jaclyn Smith plays a disturbed Jezebel who murders her wealthy spouse then moves
in on the husband of a childhood chum." And to think, they didn't pay my wife a dime for stealing her life story. Channel 13: Frontline (documentary):
"The World's Most Wanted Man profiles former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic
and examines, director Kevin Sim says, 'what the pattern of his life tells us about
why the war broke out'. Interviewees include Karadzic's mother, Jovanka Karadzic." Hey, I like to keep up with world events as much as the next guy, but at the risk of
being politically incorrect, doesn't this seem like cruel and unusual viewing punishment? Channel 23: Regarding Henry (movie, 1991):
"Harrison Ford as a lawyer recovering from a shooting that's left him brain-damaged." Come to think of it, boxing may be the least violent programming on television. Channel 44: Godzilla vs. Hedora (movie, Japanese, 1971):
"The monster battles a beast made of pollution." And Don King is rumoured to have options on both.
But enough about my tuning out on Tuesday nights. As for the remainder of the industry,
the cancellation of TNF is a devastating blow that affects fighters, promoters, and larger
TV networks like HBO. "I've been doing shows on USA for 12 years, and they've been critical to my bottom
line," said Russell Peltz, who promotes at the legendary Blue Horizon in
Philadelphia. "It's very important to have a steady televised show. The Blue Horizon
without television? It's not even worth discussing. You can't do the shows without
television. I haven't done a Blue Horizon show without TV in nine years. But I think I'll
be able to come up with an alternative. It'll take a while to get it to the level of USA,
but some [other network] will pick up the slack." "This hurts everybody," said Kery Davis, HBO's director of sports
programming. "We loved USA because it gave younger fighters opportunities to showcase
themselves. We couldn't put on those fighters because we didn't have the time or space.
Now we'll be forced to put fighters on HBO sooner rather than later." And just who are some of those fighters? Take your pound-for-pound pick: Roy Jones and
Oscar De La Hoya developed at least partly on TNF, as did Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis,
Riddick Bowe, and Pernell Whitaker. Here are a few more names, most of whom appeared on
TNF in their formative years: Wayne McCullough, Bernard Hopkins, Mark Johnson, Michael
Carbajal, Marco Antonio Barrera, Andrew Golota, Kostya Tszyu, Shane Mosley, Kevin Kelley,
Vinny Pazienza, Junior Jones, Virgil Hill, James Toney, Mike McCallum, Marlon Starling,
Simon Brown, Orlando Canizales, and Ray Mancini. In other words, just about everybody and
anybody who became somebody. Foreign-born world champions like Vuyani Bungu and Gerry Penalosa, who don't have a
prayer of securing fights on networks like HBO and Showtime, have defended on TNF. Heavily
hyped beginners like Omar Sheika have fought their initial four-rounders on the show. And
old-timers and retreads like George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Roberto Duran, and Hector
Camacho have utilised TNF as a springboard for lucrative comebacks. In the early-'90s,
hard-core fans winced when Foreman and Holmes began hand-picking and hammering
ridiculously overmatched opponents like Mike Jameson, Terry Anderson, Rocky Pepeli, and
Ken Lakusta. But USA's ratings would increase by as much as 100%, and young and relatively
unknown up-and-comers would ultimately benefit by securing national television exposure in
subsequent shows. "USA revived and resuscitated a lot of careers," said Bruce Trampler, a
matchmaker for Top Rank, which promoted many of Foreman's comeback bouts. "With
George it was very helpful because he had a chance to work regularly and regain his skills
while gaining exposure. Remember, he had hibernated for 10 years. It was a mutually
beneficial relationship because he did ratings for them. But at that point, I'd say George
needed USA more than USA needed George." If every story that developed on TNF resulted in the world title and untold riches
secured by Foreman, there would have been no drama. When TNF is reduced to mere memories -
that last show is scheduled for 25 August - I'll look back at some of the failures, and
not just the triumphs. The first horizontal fighter who comes to mind is California
heavyweight Alex Garcia, who in the early-'90s was being touted as a possible future
champion. The interest in the tattooed tough guy, who had done five years in the state's
most notorious prisons, grew with each TNF-televised victory until he was stretched in two
rounds by journeyman Mike Dixon. He never contended again, a reminder that for each
Holyfield or Lewis, there are a dozen broken dreams. There have been plenty of sad stories, too. Lamar Parks fought on TNF, then virtually
disappeared after being diagnosed as HIV-positive. Jesse James Hughes, a good-'ol-boy with
a big 'ol fighting heart, developed a cult following after defeating Adrian Stone, Nick
Rupa, and Anthony Stephens. In August 1995, one month after Hughes's win over Rupa, his
decomposed body was fished out of a remote marshland area near his home in Mobile,
Alabama. At the time of the murder, Hughes was negotiating for a shot at welterweight
champion Felix Trinidad. The great fights haven't come every week, but thanks to matchmaker Brad Jacobs, they've
materialised often enough to erase the occasional (and inevitable) 10-round stinker. You'd
think it would be impossible to choose one bout as the best of them all, but it's easy for
me: Kevin Kelley's decision over Troy Dorsey (1992), which featured 2,806 punches. I sat
ringside at Madison Square Garden for that one, then rushed home so I could watch a tape
and count the blows. For 12 rounds, announcers Al Albert and Sean O'Grady didn't dare take
a breath. Unforgettable, too, will be the bizarre moments that made TNF must-see TV: unbeaten
lightweight contender Rafael Ruelas, seemingly unaffected by a flash knockdown, confusedly
taking the full 10-count after being dropped by Mauro Gutierrez; musclebound trialhorse
Louis Monaco blasting out the comebacking Buster Douglas a full second after the bell
ending round one; the faded Bert Cooper responding to rumours that he was going to take a
dive by knocking out previously undefeated prospect Richie Melito in the first round;
Bazooka Limon pulling down Sharmba Mitchell's trunks during a clinch; Rock Newman shoving
fellow manager Marc Roberts during the postfight interview of Riddick Bowe's KO of Phil
Brown; Hector Camacho and his son, Hector Jr., fighting on the same card; Andrew Golota
biting Samson Po'uha on the neck; Butterbean accidentally knocking down referee Terry
Woods during the hefty heavyweight's win over Pat Jackson. And if TNF were to have a poster boy? I'd split the honours between Charles Brewer, who
overcame back-to-back televised KO losses to Lonny Beasley and Rafael Williams en route to
winning the IBF super middleweight title, and light-heavyweight/cruiserweight Rocky
Gannon, who punched and bled his way into the hearts of the TNF viewing audience, though
not necessarily in that order. All considered, it's been a helluva ride, and an extraordinarily long one at that,
especially by prime time television's standards. There's a rumour that ESPN2 will soon
fill the void by airing a weekly Friday night show that will include liberal use of Bill
Cayton's fight film library, which was recently purchased by ESPN. That sounds promising,
but regardless, TNF will be sorely missed. Seventeen years turns a habit into an
addiction, and Albert and O'Grady have become family to a generation of fight fans. A couple of weeks ago, I was splitting my attention between the TNF main event, Wayne
McCullough's split decision victory over Juan Polo-Perez, and a baseball game between my
beloved New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles. I happened to be tuned in to the
latter when, one pitch after surrendering a three-run homerun, Orioles pitcher Armando
Benitez drilled Yankees batter Tino Martinez in the back with a 96-miles-per-hour
fastball. The beanball precipitated a 10-minute battle royale during which several punches
were thrown, and one or two were even landed (an unusual occurrence during a baseball
brawl). This is the sad and sorry state I share with my fellow Tuesday night viewers: Beginning
in September, we'll be reliant on baseball for our fight action. You know what? I'd probably trade the Nobel Prize, the bodacious babes, and the
millionaire status for another few years of Tuesday Night Fights. But since the show is
going to be over and out in a couple of months, there's no point telling Cindy, Claudia,
and Naomi I said that, okay? |
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