Customer Reviews for
45 Fantastic Fights of the Century
Not quite up to scratch, but worth the price.
Because it's hard to find anything on the older fighters, this DVD does fill a kind of boxing black hole; among the fighters on this compilation are ones that you rarely get to see at all.
For instance, you get the Will of the Wisp against rough-housing Sandy Saddler; it was the first time I'd ever seen Pep fight, and he's simply mesmerizing (watch him and you'll see where Orlando Canizales picked up his style). Jersey Joe Walcott's on this DVD too - he does the herky-jerky, slips and slides and shuffles his way past Joe Louis (though Louis gets the nod - go figure!). And the amazing Kid Chocolate's on the menu as well.
One of the truly great fights though, the 1909 Clash of the Titans between Stanley Ketchel and Jack Johnson, - a vicious middleweight against a skilful heavyweight - is extremely disappointing. After several minutes of the fight, suddenly, magically, inexplicably, we see Johnson down and then Ketchel on his back - without seeing the punches that did the damage! Additionally, the Walcott-Louis fight included here needs redoing - Walcott's torso disappears into the dark background of the crowd so that Louis appears to be fighting just a pair of boxing trunks with legs attached! This DVD also gives you the Tunney-Dempsey fights twice - why? No man can say!
All in all, it's worth buying to have some of the old-time greats on your DVD shelf, but don't expect too much from either the film quality or the footage.
45 Fantastic Fights of the Century
ONE OF A KIND
I did not realize such DVD's existed and found it by accident. It provides footage of fighters not seen in fifty years or more. DVD actually has footage of a Jim Corbett fight from early 1900s. It is not the best quality but neither was Corbett, who was at the end of his career. However, it provided a view of Corbett's boxing style and why it was so successful at the turn of the century.
There are several Joe Louis matches which allows viewer to see strengths and weaknesses in his boxing ability. It was surprising to see the number of times Louis was knocked down by different fighters and what allowed him to win so many fights: the power of his right hand.
It does not have many fights after 1950 but those matches are not as rare. Any boxing fan will love this DVD. I purchased a second copy for a friend because he is a big fight fan.45 Fantastic Fights of the Century
The Roar of the Crowd
Emma and I sat on the couch watching the DVD of the 45 Fantastic Fights of the Century. She bought it for me for Christmas, thinking that I would be pleased. I appreciated the sentiment, but I had not been following boxing for some time. Yet, Emma was young and believed in love and fairytales (which she would never admit), and had for years found an odd-fascination with my first husband, Rocco, a man that died before she was born, before I met her father, and before I decided that I hated sports of any kind. This statement is not entirely true, and I continue to long for the afternoons I can spend at the baseball park, hearing the crack of the ball, and eating popcorn and peanuts. But boxing is different. Boxing was my first love. Watching the video brought back many memories. Some fights lasted for, what felt like hours, others mere minutes. The men were strong and powerful, and vicious. That is what Rocco lacked. The last time he was scheduled to fight he swore to me that he would win. He ached to be like Jack Johnson and Max Baer. What happened next crushed him.
Prior to the fight, the promoters demanded that all new welterweight boxers report to the training center. The gossips said that the National Hall was only going to hold heavyweight fights. The rest of the men would have to find a new venue. Phone calls were made, someone put an ad in the Chronicle, and some of the fighters even made their own rings in backyards and empty lots. But Rocco needed the shine of the lights and the roar of the crowd. It didn't matter much that they rooted against him.
45 Fantastic Fights of the Century
GOOD OVERALL DVD
I BOUGHT THIS BECAUSE ME AND MY 7 YEAR OLD SON LOVE BOXING. I WANTED HIM TO SEE SOME OLD FIGHTS AND I ALSO WANTED TO SEE SOME THAT I HAD NEVER SEEN. THIS DVD WAS ALL THAT I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AND MORE. WE LOVED IT AND GIVE IT TWO THUMBS UP AND FIVE STARS.45 Fantastic Fights of the Century
Complete History?
I've searched, and so far, I have not come across a boxing (mainly Heavyweight) DVD, with more footage from the early years 1900-1950,
than this one. The only one that comes close is the DVD "The Kings of the Ring".
I realize, the earlier you go back, the footage will be horrible, limited camera views, but, its part of Boxing history, so, show it.
In VHS, you can probably find a few good ones with older fights,
if you look long enough.
The footage is fair to good quality on most of them. Lots of fights on here too, from 1909 to the 1950s, maybe one from the early 60's.
Going back to Jack Johnson, Jess Willard(Not fighting Johnson), James Braddock, Max Baer, Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey and many more.
More DVD's like this, need to be released. I wouldn't call this the best, I'd call this one, the only one, with a more complete history of the early fights. Some of these might be considered rare fights, that you might not find on other DVDs.
I say its worth the 10 dollars.
Buy it.
45 Fantastic Fights of the Century
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