ESPN to air 11 hours of classic fights Saturday including all 3 Ali-Frazier bouts
For a sport that many want to bury as dead and gone, ESPN is relying heavily on boxing for programming during the coronavirus pandemic.
After a series of classic heavyweight fights did well on ESPN2 last week, ESPN is going to go almost all boxing on Saturday with 11 consecutive hours of classic fights on the flagship network.
It will conclude the block with the consecutive showings of the three Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier bouts. It’s believed to be the first time they’ve ever been shown consecutively on any television network. This will mark the first time that Ali-Frazier I will be broadcast on any ESPN platform and the first time it will be televised in the U.S. since August 1991.
The block will begin at 12 p.m. ET with “The Rumble in the Jungle,” the 1974 classic between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, Africa.
The fights, which will be shown in their entirety, includes five Ali fights, three Mike Tyson fights and two Oscar De La Hoya bouts.
“I think what this shows is that people are very interested in the product,” Top Rank president Todd duBoef said.
The block of fights will open and close with Ali bouts.
This is the order the fights will air (all times ET):
12 p.m.: Ali-Foreman
1 p.m.: Foreman-Evander Holyfield
2 p.m.: De La Hoya-Julio Cesar Chavez I
3 p.m.: De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad
4 p.m.: Marvelous Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns
4:30 p.m.: Tyson-Trevor Berbick
5 p.m.: Tyson-Larry Holmes
5:30 p.m.: Tyson-Michael Spinks
6 p.m.: Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston I
7 p.m.: Ali-Frazier I
9 p.m.: Ali-Frazier II
10 p.m.: Ali-Frazier III
“These are unprecedented times and we’re storytellers at heart,” Matt Kenny, ESPN’s vice president of programming and acquisitions, told Yahoo Sports. “So when the opportunity presented itself to program ESPN for a significant portion of time on Saturday the 18th, it felt like this was a great opportunity for us to look to boxing.”
The fights will air on Saturday, a day before Jason Hehir’s documentary on NBA superstar Michael Jordan, “The Last Dance,” debuts on ESPN on Sunday. Kenny said there is significance in having all of those big names on air in successive nights.
“If we think about the boxing start on ESPN on Saturday and the debut of ‘Last Dance’ on Sunday, when you have an opportunity to bring to the fore incredibly decorated athletes and personalities like Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson and so many others, it’s a healthy reminder of everything sports has meant and means,” Kenny said. “I think Burke Magnus [ESPN’s executive vice president of programming acquisitions and scheduling] said it best: ‘We’re all sports fans, too.’ We miss live sports, but we’re working hard to bring the best content we can at this moment in time.”
This list includes two of what are easily the top five fights of all-time. The epic three-round clash between Hagler and Hearns on April 15, 1985, remains one of the most jaw-droppingly violent bouts in history.
But the third bout between Ali and Frazier, which Ali nicknamed “The Thrilla in Manila,” is a sensational battle between two of the best to ever step into the ring. When you watch that fight, you’ll find yourself wondering what is keeping them up as they fought in the searing heat and humidity and landed huge shots that would have stopped lesser men.
Ranking top fights to watch Saturday on ESPN
This is my ranking of those fights in terms of significance within the sport at the time, the action in the bout and the can’t miss factor.
Ali-Frazier III: Perhaps the most brutal heavyweight fight ever, it featured nonstop action between a pair of legends for the title. It was held in blistering, oppressive heat and tested the will of each man.
Hagler-Hearns: No doubt, the best three rounds in boxing history. The first round was manic as they went at each other ferociously and the momentum shifted back-and-forth. It still takes your breath away to watch 35 years later.
Ali-Frazier I: The most iconic fight of all-time, this pitted two unbeaten fighters, each with a claim to the heavyweight title, against each other while they were in their prime. It was the biggest sporting event of the day and remains one of the most significant of all-time. The fight certainly lived up to the hype.
Ali-Foreman: In 1974, Foreman was heavily favored to defeat Ali. But Ali played the “rope-a-dope” strategy to perfection and let the bigger, slower Foreman pound on him until he punched himself out. When he did, Ali opened up and stopped Foreman in the eighth to become just the second man ever to regain the heavyweight title, following Floyd Patterson.
Foreman-Holyfield: This was Holyfield’s first defense after claiming the title six months earlier by beating Buster Douglas. It’s also widely regarded as the first bout of the pay-per-view era. Foreman had come out of a 10-year retirement and was getting to challenge for the title after four years. It was an action-packed fight that Holyfield managed to win.
Tyson-Berbick: The action was one-sided, but the bout is significant because it marks the official start of the Tyson Era. He knocked out Berbick in the second to become, at 20, the youngest man ever to win the heavyweight title. Berbick went down four times from the same punch.
Clay-Liston: This was Ali’s last fight under his birth name and his first bout for the title. He was acting like a madman before the bout, but he boxed beautifully to win the title, stopping a frustrated Liston.
Tyson-Spinks: This one lasted just 91 seconds, but it was the pinnacle of Tyson’s career. Two unbeaten men who held heavyweight titles met and Tyson just blitzed him and overwhelmed Spinks with his power.
De La Hoya-Trinidad: These were two unbeaten welterweights in their prime, fighting for supremacy in one of boxing’s glamor divisions. The fight is filled with controversy as De La Hoya chose to run the final three rounds instead of engage with Trinidad.
Ali-Frazier II: This was the rematch, but was the only of the three not for the title. Ali got the win which led him to a title shot nine months later against Foreman.
Chavez-De La Hoya: This is the fight that cemented De La Hoya as a star in the eyes of fans. He was fighting in the shadow of the legendary Chavez, whom he freely admitted he had idolized growing up. It was an impressive win for De La Hoya, the 1992 Olympic gold medalist.
Tyson-Holmes: This was a title defense in which Tyson beat on an aging ex-champion, much like Holmes had done to Ali about eight years earlier.
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