In case you didn’t get enough fighting around the dinner table with your family this holiday season, Showtime combined highlights of the best knockouts in Showtime’s Championship boxing history in to one glorious compilation.
Boxing has become quite the niche sport in terms of fandom, with only the occasional fight able to crack the mainstream consciousness to get front-page billing these days. There are plenty of reasons for that like advances in the science of concussions and the rise of mixed martial arts. But this collection goes all the way back to the mid ’80s and shows a ton of highlights, reminding you that boxing used to be a national past time.
Some particular standouts include a 1990 Evander Holyfield knockout of Buster Douglas, Mike Tyson taking down Francois Botha in 1999 and Kostya Tszyu knocking out previously undefeated Zab Judah. Judah looks like a dang newborn giraffe trying to stand up and stay in the fight.
In a world where MMA has taken over the mainstream fighting scene, these highlights can be a nice remember that fighting used to be more of an elegant dance than an ugly ground scrap. It may not ever get back to being the top billing Pay Per View event it used to be, but in the meantime Showtime is willing to keep showing you the best it has to offer.
