The most watched match in boxing history

.

Boxing has always been a sport that attracts a huge mass of people captivated by the fight between two fists. Nowadays it is extremely rare for a fight to be attended by over 100 thousand people, but in the past there were a few such cases. It is with the attendance that one of the records in boxing is connected, which is unlikely to ever fall.

On August 16, 1941, Tony Zale and Billy Pryor faced each other in the ring. A seemingly unequal clash in which Tony is the absolute favorite should not cause serious interest, but everyone wants to watch Man of Steel. At the time, Zale was the champion in his weight class and perhaps the biggest name not only in boxing, but in the world of sports.

At the same time, the match is at the beginning of a festival in Milwaukee, and the sponsor decides that he will let people in without an admission fee. Thus, thanks to the company's decision, the festival is flooded with boxing fans wanting to see Tony Zale in action. Thanks to all these prerequisites, 135,132 people are present at Juneau Park in Milwaukee - an absolute record for the audience of a boxing match.

The fight itself begins at a slow pace, until Freddie Sadie, president of the Wisconsin Boxing Commission, tells both fighters to pick up the pace. Tony Zale takes Sadie's vows literally, knocking his opponent down in the 3rd round. However, this was only the beginning of the horror for Pryor, who was sent to the floor 7 more times before Zale finally knocked him out in the 9th round with a heavy right hand hook - a knockout and a definite triumph for the legendary boxer.

The event itself passes without any problems. Only 132 police officers guarded the event, during which the only problem that arose was the loss of a child, who was quickly found by the police.