Liam Happe

Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 6:32 AM

At the heart of Midtown Manhattan lies Madison Square Garden, a fitting location for the heart of global fight sports for over a century.

And fresh blood will pump through the storied venue as of Saturday, when the Ultimate Fighting Championship stages a huge card at MSG after mixed martial arts was finally legalised in New York.

The Garden has seen its New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup in the NHL and its New York Knicks claim the NBA Championship and hosted many of music’s biggest names, it is boxing (and later, the sports-entertainment realm of professional wrestling) that helped cast a magical aura over the intimate 18,200 arena.

And ahead of MMA’s imminent arrival as its third combat sports-themed arm with a main event which could very well see Ireland’s Conor McGregor make UFC history, here’s a nostalgic glance back at some of the other battles - both real and pre-determined - which helped build the legend of MSG to where it stands today.

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BOXING

December 14, 1920: Jack Dempsey vs Bill Brennan

Almost a century ago, one of the greatest heavyweights of any generation made his one and only appearance on the MSG marquee - and, fittingly, he produced one of his finest performances for the occasion. A brutal slugfest was far less comfortable for Dempsey than many predicted, but in the 12th and final round with mere seconds between himself and a potential scorecards defeat, Dempsey dug deep to finish off Brennan with a rally of savage body shots.

October 2, 1942: Sugar Ray Robinson vs Jake LaMotta

Another all-time great began his storied six-fight series against perennial rival and fellow legend LaMotta at MSG, and the two would fight there again in 1945. Robinson won both Garden clashes, boasting a 5-1 record over Jake when all was said and done. But his very first encounter with the ‘Raging Bull’ is considered by some to be his finest performance and his legacy-defining victory.

October 26, 1951: Rocky Marciano vs Joe Louis

Though Robinson’s victory over Henry Armstrong at MSG a year after the first LaMotta bout was considered a ‘passing of the torch’ moment in boxing history, the biggest changing of the guard occurred at the Garden a decade later when the legendary Joe Louis came out of retirement due to financial problems and ultimately became another name on the unblemished record of the one and only Rocky Marciano. Louis gave Rocky a good fight in the early going until the younger, stronger Marciano began to wear his idol down before sending him through the ropes in an emphatic eighth-round KO.

March 8, 1971: Joe Frazier vs Muhammad Ali

The first of three gargantuan battles between Ali and Frazier was billed as ‘The Fight Of The Century’ - and there’s certainly an argument to be made that this was more than a marketing slogan. The two legendary heavyweights came into the Garden for their first collision without a single defeat between them, and the buzz over whose ‘0’ would go was huge. ‘Smokin’ Joe’ would hand Ali his first defeat in a 15-round scorcher, a year removed from Ali’s controversial ban from boxing over the Vietnam War draft. Ali would gain revenge at the Garden in 1974, however, before the ‘Thiller in Manilla’ settled their series in Ali’s favour.

June 26, 1972: Roberto Duran vs Ken Buchanan

MSG has a rich history of controversy as well as greatness. Duran won his first title amidst major controversy after landing what appeared to be a low blow, likely after the bell, in the 13th round. Buchanan went down in a heap and referee Johnny LoBianco ruled him unfit to continue. Duran won by TKO to claim the WBA lightweight title. “Hands of Stone” was dominating the bout up until that bout, but it remains unclear why LoBianco didn’t call a foul.

November 8, 1996: Riddick Bowe vs Andrew Golota

Controversy evolved into chaos at the Garden 20 years ago this week. Golota was disqualified in the seventh for repeated low blows and immediately after the fight was called off, a riot ensued. Bowe’s corner stormed the ring and attacked Golota and his camp. Golota was struck in the forehead with a two-way radio and sustained a cut that required 11 stitches.

March 13, 1999: Evander Holyfield vs Lennox Lewis

Three years later came one of the most controversial decisions in boxing history, as the heavyweight glory days began to die down. Lewis seemed to be ahead of the older Holyfield, but the bout was scored a split draw. Holyfield retained his IBF and WBA titles. Lewis would come back to beat Holyfield by unanimous decision eight months later and finally etch his name into history. The bout was the last big heavyweight fight at MSG and the biggest drawing gate in arena history at $13.5 million.

September 29, 2001: Bernard Hopkins vs Felix Trinidad

The first big event at the Garden after the atrocities of September 11, Hopkins-Trinidad was postponed by a fortnight as a result and was extremely heated in its build-up as Bernard riled up Felix, even going so far as to toss the Puerto Rican flag on the floor during a press conference in San Juan. Hopkins ended up winning by TKO in the 12th to become the first unified middleweight champion since Marvin Hagler.

June 9, 2007: Miguel Cotto vs Zab Judah

For the highest gate for a non-heavyweight fight in the Garden’s storied history, Cotto arrived on the elite scene with an emphatic performance and 11th-round win over Brooklyn’s Judah as MSG, a day after New York’s annual Puerto Rican parade, ended up being overwhelmingly pro-Miguel.

WRESTLING

WWE owner Vince McMahon was the latest in a family line of New York promoters, and while his father and grandfather promoted both legitimate boxing and staged-for-entertainment wrestling events at MSG and elsewhere in the Northeast, it was Vince Junior who turned the lowbrow carny attraction into a global juggernaut.

Many of professional wrestling’s most pivotal moments took place at the Garden, and it was at MSG that the juggernaut took off.

January 23, 1984: Hulkamania is born

Whether you love, hate or can’t quite figure out the appeal of pro wrestling, everyone is familiar with Hulk Hogan. Vince McMahon brought Hogan in from dated and dying promotion the AWA and immediately made him the biggest star in the sport’s history. He won his first world title from the Iron Sheik at MSG and held it for four years, changing the image of his genre from smoky bingo halls to big-time productions on NBC and MTV in the process.

March 31, 1985: Wrestlemania is born

While the appeal of individual performers is finite, the annual ‘Wrestlemania’ show has become professional wrestling’s permanent highlight, comparable in viewing figures, attendances and cultural value to the likes of the Superbowl and the Champions League final. It all began at MSG over thirty years ago, with a main event combining Hulk Hogan with 80s TV star Mr. T, of all people, to face Paul Orndorff and Rowdy Roddy Piper. MSG legend Muhammad Ali was even hired to serve as a ‘referee’!

August 28, 1988: It’s Summerslam!

Not content with just one huge moment on the calendar each year, McMahon made hay while the pay-per-view market shone in 1988 by adding a summer spectacular headlined by Hulk Hogan and ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage - the Mega Powers - against Hogan’s greatest ever rival Andre The Giant and all-time great villain, the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase. To this day, Summerslam is going strong and frequently returns to MSG’s contemporary neighbour, Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

March 20, 1994: A changing of the guard

Steroid scandals had rocked the industry, which was one of the chief beneficiaries of the ‘bigger, faster, stronger’ craze of the 80s. McMahon’s empire was under Federal investigation, and Hogan had fled the sinking ship with his popularity nowhere near what it used to be. At the 10th annual Wrestlemania, Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart opened the show with an all-time classic against his own brother Owen before claiming the world title from gargantuan villain Yokozuna in the main event, which served as somewhat of an ‘apology’ from McMahon for not having faith in the smaller but more likable and believable Hart sooner. The event also saw Shawn Michaels and Scott Hall turn the ‘ladder match’ into one of the genre’s finest spectacles.

September 22, 1997: The new era is a Stunner

Losing the promotional wars to WCW, McMahon’s WWE was in dire straits in the mid-1990s until the emergence of the man who managed to make absolutely everyone pretend they liked wrestling for a few years at least: Stone Cold Steve Austin. At MSG in 1997, during what was supposed to be a routine airing of weekly TV show Raw, Austin attacked McMahon himself in an unprecedented storyline, and laid him out with his Stone Cold Stunner finisher. The crowd erupted - and would continue to do so for Austin until he retired in 2003. The ultimate anti-hero of the 1990s was born, and went on to rival Hogan as an all-time star.

March 14, 2004: Bittersweet memories

Again, Wrestlemania returned to the Garden for a 10-year milestone. Again, it served as a gesture to diehard fans who loved the under-appreciated grafters of the ring, and to those grafters themselves. Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit won the two biggest contests of the show and embraced in the squared circle at the end of the event, each holding one of the two versions of the world title at the time. Just eighteen months later, a history of drug addiction caught up to the by-then-clean Guerrero as he passed away from heart failure. The death of his best friend, far too many concussions and drug abuse of his own sent Benoit over the edge in 2007 and he erased any fond memories of his work by murdering his wife and son before taking his own life.