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''USA Tuesday Night Fights'' (formerly ''Friday Night Boxing'', ''Wednesday Night Fights'', ''Thursday Night Fights'') is a television
boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
show. It aired from October 1, 1982, through August 25, 1998 on the
USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
; at one time it was the longest continually-running boxing show on television. The show debuted on October 1, 1982, as ''Friday Night Boxing'' (1982-1984), and then, ''Wednesday Night Fights'' (1984-1986), and later, ''Thursday Night Fights'' (1986-1990). ''USA Tuesday Night Fights'' was hosted by Al Albert, who provided the blow-by-blow commentary,
Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
trainer
Angelo Dundee Angelo is an Italian masculine given name and surname meaning "angel", or "messenger". People People with the given name *Angelo Accattino (born 1966), Italian prelate of the Catholic Church *Angelo Acciaioli (bishop) (1298–1357), Italian Rom ...
from 1982 to 1984, and then, Randy Gordon from 1984 to 1987, and finally, former lightweight champion Sean O'Grady, who served as the analyst from 1987 until the show's ending in 1998.
Bill Macatee Bill Macatee (born November 17, 1955) is an American sports broadcaster for CBS Sports and Tennis Channel. Early life and career Macatee was born in Rome, New York, and grew up in El Paso, Texas. He graduated from Burges High School in El Paso. ...
was often a substitute commentator for Albert. The show did not employ a regular ring announcer, but several high-profile announcers such as HBO's
Michael Buffer Michael Buffer (born November 2, 1944) is an American ring announcer (or " MC") for boxing, professional wrestling, and National Football League matches. He is known for his trademarked catchphrase: "Let's get ready to rumble!" Early life Bu ...
, Showtime's Jimmy Lennon, Jr., Philadelphia boxing staple Ed Derian, and future ''
BattleBots ''BattleBots'' (logo: Bꓭ)In season 10, the 2020-2021 TV season, the show introduced the "Bꓭ" logo is an American robot combat television series. The show was an adaptation of the British show '' Robot Wars'', in which competitors design and o ...
'' announcer Mark Beiro were featured with Derian and Beiro featured more frequently as the years went on. The program, for most of its time on air, was sponsored by
Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. ''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrela ...
, and often referred to on air as ''Budweiser Presents Tuesday Night Fights''.
Pabst Blue Ribbon Pabst Blue Ribbon, commonly abbreviated PBR, is an American lager beer sold by Pabst Brewing Company, established in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1844 and currently based in San Antonio. Originally called Best Select, and then Pabst Select, the cu ...
was also a frequent sponsor of the program, continuing a tradition of the Pabst company sponsoring televised boxing matches. Like some of its similar fellow boxing programs, ''Tuesday Night Fights'' did not always emanate from large arenas. Instead, cards usually took place in smaller venues, such as
The Blue Horizon The Blue Horizon is a historic 1,346-seat former boxing venue in Philadelphia. ''The Ring'' magazine voted it the number-one boxing venue in the world, and ''Sports Illustrated'' noted it as the last great boxing venue in the country. The Blue ...
in Philadelphia, the Felt Forum/Paramount Theater at
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
in New York, or the ballroom of Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. ''Tuesday Night Fights'' would also not limit itself to American venues, as they traveled to
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, and other places to televise shows. One show even took place aboard an aircraft carrier.


Notable fights

Few world title fights were presented in this show, one of the notable ones being when
Vinny Pazienza Vinny Paz (born Vincenzo Edward Pazienza, December 16, 1962), formerly Vinny Pazienza, is an American former professional boxer who held world titles at lightweight and light middleweight. The 2016 film ''Bleed for This'' is based on his comebac ...
, a former world Lightweight champion, moved up in weight and captured the WBA world Jr. Middleweight championship with an eleventh-round knockout of Gilbert Dele. Pazienza would ultimately relinquish the title following a car accident the following year. Written off from boxing by doctors after the accident, Pazienza would return to the ring with a win over Luis Santana, a fight which also aired on ''Tuesday Night Fights''. Another title fight aired by USA was the 1988
IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...
title bout between defending champion
Calvin Grove Calvin Grove (born August 5, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who was the Featherweight champion of the world. Professional career Grove turned pro in 1982 and in 1988 captured the IBF featherweight title with a TKO over Antonio R ...
and contender
Jorge Paez Jorge is a Spanish Language, Spanish and Portuguese Language, Portuguese given name. It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios'') via Latin ''Georgius''; the former is derived from (''georgos''), meaning "farmer" or "earth ...
that took place in
Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to 1,000, ...
,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. The fight was significant in that it was the last ever title match scheduled for 15 rounds. The fight went the distance, with Paez earning a majority decision. On March 19, 1996, USA featured a bout between Jeremy Williams and Arthur Weathers as the headline of their show broadcast from the Spruce Goose Dome in Williams' home of Long Beach, California. Williams, at the time a rising heavyweight contender, dropped Weathers with an uppercut almost immediately after the bell rang to start the contest and referee
Marty Denkin Marty may refer to: Names * Marty (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters, also includes stage names * Marty (surname), a list of people Places in the United States * Marty, California, a former settlement * Marty, Min ...
called a halt to the contest after ten seconds, which was erroneously referred to as a world record for quickest knockout (although it remains one of the fastest ever). On March 18, 1997, USA saw what is officially the world's quickest knockout. The bout between heavyweights
Jimmy Thunder Ti'a James Senio Peau (3 February 1966 – 13 February 2020), known professionally as Jimmy Thunder, was a Samoan-born New Zealand professional boxer who held the IBO heavyweight title from 1994 to 1995. He held multiple regional heavyweight ti ...
and
Crawford Grimsley Crawford Grimsley (born October 1, 1967) is a retired professional heavyweight boxer and kickboxer, who fought several significant fighters of his era. He challenged once for the lineal, WBU and vacant IBA heavyweight titles in 1996, and onc ...
lasted only 1.5 seconds after Thunder caught Grimsley with a right hook to the head that sent him to the canvas. Both
George Foreman George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champio ...
and
Larry Holmes Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 2002 and was world heavyweight champion from 1978 until 1985. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which led to his boxing nickname of the "Eas ...
were frequently featured on ''Tuesday Night Fights'' as they began to return after their initial retirements. Both fighters' comeback fights were aired on USA, and Holmes fought on a semi-regular basis on the program until he declared, on air, in 1996 that he would not likely fight again unless he could secure a title match. A future opponent of Holmes, Butterbean, received some of his earliest exposure as a professional fighter by fighting several four rounders on ''Tuesday Night Fights''.
Roberto Durán Roberto Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, as wel ...
was another fixture on ''Tuesday Night Fights'' later in his career, and his 100th professional bout was carried by USA. ''Tuesday Night Fights'' also showcased the bizarre from time to time. Among these was a fight from former pro football star
Mark Gastineau Marcus Dell Gastineau (born November 20, 1956) is an American former football player who was a defensive end for the New York Jets from 1979 to 1988. A five-time Pro Bowler, he was one of the quickest and most feared pass rushers of his generatio ...
's controversial boxing career which saw him lose to a journeyman fighter,
Andrew Golota Andrzej Jan Gołota (; born 5 January 1968), best known as Andrew Golota, is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2013. He challenged four times for a heavyweight world title (by all four major sanctioning bodies), and as ...
's infamous fight against
Samson Po'uha Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution ...
in 1995 which saw the Polish fighter, who appeared frequently on ''Tuesday Night Fights'', bite the neck of his opponent, a fight between
Riddick Bowe Riddick Lamont Bowe (born August 10, 1967) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1989 and 2008. He reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion in 1992, and as an amateur he won a silver medal in the super heavyw ...
and Elijah Tillery where Tillery was disqualified for kicking the future world champion and Bowe responded by knocking him out of the ring, and a bizarre fight between
Sharmba Mitchell Sharmba David Mitchell ( ; born August 27, 1970) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2006. He held the WBA light welterweight title from 1998 to 2001, and the IBF interim light welterweight title in 2004. Profe ...
and Bazooka Limon where the former champion Limon pulled Mitchell's trunks down during the action.


Other world champions to fight on the show

Many other world champions fought on this show, whether as prospects or later in their careers. This included names such as
Oscar de La Hoya Oscar De La Hoya ( , ; born on February 4, 1973) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008. His accolades include winning 11 world titles in six weight classes, including the lineal championshi ...
,
Floyd Mayweather Jr. Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (''né'' Sinclair; February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer. He currently owns a team in the NASCAR Cup Series named The Money Team Racing. As a professional boxer he competed b ...
,
Roy Jones Jr. Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American former professional boxer who holds dual American and Russian citizenship. He competed in boxing from 1989 to 2018, and held multiple world championships in four weight classes, inc ...
,
Arturo Gatti Arturo Gatti (April 15, 1972 – July 11, 2009) was an Italian-Canadian professional boxer who competed from 1991 to 2007. A world champion in two weight classes, Gatti held the IBF junior lightweight title from 1995 to 1998, and the WBC super ...
,
Fernando Vargas Fernando Javier Vargas (born December 7, 1977) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2007. He was a two-time light middleweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 1998 to 2000, and the WBA title from 200 ...
,
Hector Camacho In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...
,
Tony Tubbs Tony Tubbs (born February 15, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2006, and held the WBA heavyweight title from 1985 to 1986. Amateur career As an amateur, Tony Tubbs competed in 253 bouts, compiling a reco ...
and
Antonio Tarver Antonio Deon Tarver (born November 21, 1968) is an American former professional boxer and boxing commentator. In boxing he competed from 1997 to 2015, and held multiple light heavyweight world championships, including the WBA (Unified), WBC, IBF ...
.
Pay Per View Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
bouts were also rebroadcast on the show such as
Julio César Chávez Julio César Chávez González (; born July 12, 1962), also known as Julio César Chávez Sr., is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2005. A multiple-time world champion in three weight divisions, Chávez was liste ...
's eighth-round knockout win over
Joey Gamache Joseph Gamache (born May 20, 1966) is an American boxing trainer and former professional boxer. He is the second boxer from Maine to capture a world boxing title, as he won the WBA super featherweight title in 1991 and the WBA lightweight titl ...
, which was televised by the show, but as a Pay Per View feature only.


Cancellation

On April 9, 1998, USA Network founder
Kay Koplovitz Kay Koplovitz (nee Smith, born April 11, 1945) is an American businesswoman, best known as the founder of the cable television channel USA Network, for which she served as chairwoman and CEO from its founding in 1977 until 1998 when it was sold fo ...
, who served as head of the USA Network since 1977 and who was instrumental in the USA Network's programming structure, left the network, with new overall USA Network owner
Barry Diller Barry Charles Diller (born February 2, 1942) is an American businessman. He is Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC and Expedia Group and founded the Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting. Diller was inducted into the Television Hall of ...
taking her positions as chairman and CEO. After taking Koplovitiz's CEO position, Diller made plans to cut at least $40 million from the USA Network's massive budget, which had been criticized for overspending on content which was not deemed feasible. In August 1998, USA Tuesday Night Fights was cancelled after programming changes were made and budget cuts reduced the ability to broadcast fights.


Rebroadcasts

In June 2006
CSI Sports
through it
FIGHT SPORTS
division, began airing a compilation of some of the best knockouts from the ''Tuesday Night Fights'' series titled ''USA Tuesday Night Fights: Knockouts!'' on pay-per-view. Narrated by current
Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
play-by-play man Larry Michael, the sixty-minute series featured various fights from throughout the years. Common features were "In Case You Missed It...", featuring some memorable moments from ''Tuesday Night Fights'', "KO Time", which featured very quick knockouts, and "Who Won This One?", which was the last fight of the program and was promoted several times during the broadcast with viewers encouraged to pick which of the two men won the bout. Reruns of this series air across the country on various sports channels, including
MSG Plus MSG Sportsnet (visually branded on-air as MSGSN) is an American regional sports network owned by MSG Entertainment; it operates as a sister channel to MSG Network. The network serves the New York City metropolitan area, whose reach expands to co ...
. The ''Tuesday Night Fights: Knockouts!'' series was also released on DVD in a two-volume box set. CSI later came out with a series called ''Wide World of Fights'', which has a much broader scope and includes
mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
,
kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...
, and other
combat sports A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the oppo ...
footage in addition to some of the fights that were originally part of the ''Tuesday Night Fights'' compilation series. This series also airs on many of the same stations that carry ''Tuesday Night Fights: Knockouts!''. CSI also airs old episodes of ''Tuesday Night Fights'' as part of its ''Fight Sports World Championship Boxing'' series, which rebroadcasts fights from the past.


See also

* ''
Friday Night Fights The cable television network ESPN has occasionally broadcast boxing events over the majority of its history, as part of several arrangements, including contracts with specific promotions and consortiums such as Golden Boy Promotions, Premier Box ...
'' (a television boxing show airing on
ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...
from 1998–present)


References


External links

*
Purchase ''USA Tuesday Night Fights'' DVDs on Amazon
{{Boxing on television American sports television series Boxing television series 1982 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings Tuesday Night Fights