The First Instant Replay Was on the Patterson Johanssen Fight by Jay Merkle

Self generated Hollywood folklore says that Tony Verna 'invented' the Instant Replay on an Army Navy telecast in 1963. In reality, the first instant replay was done in 1961 by TelePrompTer, a New York based cable company that was telecasting the Patterson Johansson fight. TelePrompTer honcho Jay Merkle - who later founded the Sports Channel cable network (Now Fox Sports) and his staff came up with a way to use the newly introduced video tape in such a fashion that a play could be 'instantly' replayed.

The world was never the same, as sports fans from that day on could revisit the big plays right away.

Gillette Friday Night Fights on TVS Boxing.Net Include Marciano Walcott Championship

It was indeed rare to have a world championship heavyweight fight on network TV, but the Gillette Safety Razor Company scored a coup when it presented the Marciano Walcott championship on NBC. This can now be watched , as can many other Gillette Friday Night Fights, on the Boxing Channel of TV4U.Com - a 48 channel IPTV Network.

Boxing was a staple of TV in the early network days. NBC had the Friday Night Fights from Gillette, CBS had the Wednesday Night Fights from Pabst Brewing Company, and the Dumont Network had several nights of boxing, primarily from the St. Nicholas Arena. Later ABC joined the fray with Sunday night fights from Muriel Cigars.

All can now be seen on TVS Boxing.Net. Enjoy the action!

Boxing Movies on TVS Boxing.Net a Knockout With Viewers

Every boxing fan takes great delight when they stumble across an old boxing movie - often in black and white - on their TV. Now, they get the chance to watch one of these cool movies whenever they feel like it thanks to TVS Boxing.Net. Besides the great TV fights from the past 60 years, the TVS Television Network execs felt that boxing fans would like these movies on the channel as well. And right they wereas they are as popular as an Ali or a Pabst Blue Ribbon fight.
Which one do you like best?

Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston Was One For The Ages

The year was 1964. The country was embroiled in the Viet Nam War. Racial tension in America was a powder keg. Network TV was only 17 years old, and most TV programming was still in black & white. President Kennedy had been assasinated only months before. The world was in transition. It was with this background that a brazen heavyweight, an Olympic Gold Medal Champion a mere four years prior, dared to take on the odious Sonny Liston. The scene was Miami Beach. Two black men were about to fight in a city that only a few scant years prior, had banned interracial boxing matches.

It was drama, action, power, speed, and intensity...all played out to a sellout crowd and a national closed circuit TV audience. The fight was one thing. Clay scored the upset. The social implications began the very next morning when Clay announced that he was now Muhammad Ali, a Black Muslim, having discarded his 'slave name' as he had his gold medal in a river in his hometown of Louisville a few years before. The world was never the same.

Chris Schenkel, Dumont Boxing, Dick Bailey, Howard Hughes, St. Nicholas Arena

Old Timers may remember that there was a fourth TV network when commercial TV first started in 1947. In fact, it was the long forgotten Dumont Network that actually first began transmitting commercial TV in 1947, a full year before NBC, ABC, and CBS began regular schedules. Dumont had little production resources, so they relied on boxing, wrestling, roller derby, and studio shows - all produced in New York. Their boxing was produced by a forgotten icon of early television -Dick Bailey. Dick worked for ABC but figured out a way to utilize the onerous video telephone cables that were monopolized by the big threewhen they weren't using them. This led to the remote sports for Dumont, then led to Sports Network, Inc. becoming the first independent TV network upon the demise of Dumont in 1957. He signed up horseracing, hockey, basketball, golf, and NFL football's Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears (this was BEFORE the historic NFL CBS contract in the late 1950's). SNI would have been a mere footnote in broadcasting history except for the fact that Howard Hughes - furious in his inability to buy ABC in 1963- had Dick Bailey summoned to his hideout at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas where he bought SNI lock, stock, and barrel for $37 million cash and renamed it the Hughes Network! Note that the Dumont boxing announcer is a young Chris Schenkel. Also note that the fight is from the historic St. Nicholas boxing club, a rare video look at this long gone boxing mecca in New York.

Pabst Blue Ribbon Fights on TVS Boxing.Net

When you go on TV4U.Com and press the Boxing Icon, you come to the TVS Boxing.Net IPTV video on demand channel. Here you can watch hundreds of classic fights for free. What's more you can download and collect your favorites, or even buy a custom DVD for your collection of those fights you enjoy most. One such collection that proves to be very popular is the Pabst Blue Ribbon Fights that were seen on Wednesday Nights on CBS throughout the 1950's. These fights featured the very best fighters of the era in many major - and even championship- fights. Joe Loiuis, Rocky Marciano, Jersey Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, and Willie Pep were just a few of the champions who graced this series. Even the announcers were iconic- Ted Husing, followed by Jack Drees, and finally Russ Hodges---- Hall of Famers all.

Boxing Illustrated Championships From N Dakota

The Boxing Illustrated Magazine has returned both as an E Magazine ( boxingillustrated.net ) and as a print magazine. They are also now sponsoring Boxing Illustrated Championships, and crowned their first when Kevin Kelley won the Lightweight title at the Las Vegas Hilton last July. The magazine will also promote Showcase Events for boxers with less than 12 pro fights and Sterling Gloves events for boxers with 5 or fewer pro fights. The championship scene shifts to N Dakota this September when the next Boxing Illustrated Championship Fight is held. It will be televised right here on TVS Boxing.Net.