HBO World Championship Boxing
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| HBO World Championship Boxing | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sports/Boxing |
| Presenter(s) | Jim Lampley Larry Merchant |
| Starring | Various |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English (occasional interpreters) |
| No. of seasons | 33 |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | Various |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | HBO |
| Picture format | HDTV 1080i |
| Audio format | Surround sound |
| Original run | January 1974 – Present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Boxing After Dark |
HBO World Championship Boxing is a sports television series, premiering in January of 1974 that has shown a number of significant boxing events in the last three decades.
WCB's first event was fought in Kingston, Jamaica in January of 1974, where George Foreman defeated Joe Frazier in 2 rounds to win the world Heavyweight title.
Contents |
[edit] Memorable events
Some other boxing events covered in the series include:
- The Rumble in the Jungle, where Muhammad Ali beat Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire
- Thrilla In Manila, where Ali beat Frazier in the third installment of their trilogy
- Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney, for the heavyweight championship
- The Battle of The Champions, where Aaron Pryor beat Alexis Arguello in the 80's fight of the decade
- Carnival of Champions, where Wilfredo Gómez beat Lupe Pintor, and Thomas Hearns beat Wilfredo Benitez
- Marvin Hagler- Thomas Hearns fight, billed as The War
- Thunder Meets Lightning, where Julio César Chávez beat Meldrick Taylor with 2 seconds to go in the twelfth round;
- The biggest upset in boxing history, where James Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson for the world heavyweight title in Tokyo, Japan
- Fight of the Millennium, where Félix Trinidad beat Oscar de la Hoya to unify the world Welterweight title
World Championship Boxing has also had two spin-off series, Boxing After Dark and KO Nation.
Additionally, a video game carrying the brand name HBO Boxing was produced for the Sony PlayStation.
[edit] Commentators past and present
- Emanuel Steward (current)
- Barry Tompkins
- Fran Charles
- George Foreman
- Gil Clancy
- Harold Lederman
- Howard Cosell
- Jim Lampley (current)
- Larry Merchant (current)
- Lennox Lewis (current; replacement for Steward)
- Max Kellerman
- Roy Jones, Jr.
- Sugar Ray Leonard
For pay-per-view fights, Bob Costas and James Brown have been called in on occasion to oversee the telecast while Lampley calls the fight.
[edit] See also
- ESPN Tuesday Night Fights (a television boxing program airing on ESPN2 from 1998-present)
- Boxing After Dark
- KO Nation
- ShoBox: The New Generation (a television boxing program airing on Showtime from 2001-present)
