Bio:
Andy Parsons was born in Long Beach, California, U.S.A. on September 14th, 1970. He grew up in Southern California and graduated from Canyon High School in Anaheim, Ca. He went on the attend California State University in the city of Fullerton. He majored in Business Administration and has worked in various industries in the business world. He is the youngest of two brothers and currently resides in Fort Worth, Texas.

Favorite Fight of All Time:
Leonard-Hearns I -September16th, 1981
On September 16th, 1981, I had just turned eleven years old. I was at an age where sports was everything to me - mostly playing baseball, basketball, and soccer. I loved watching all different kinds sports on television. Back then, in my household, we only had local television -channels two through thirteen- with a bonus channel -PBS-public broadcasting system. I knew from an early age that I had an innate love for boxing. I had seen some of the live Muhammad Ali fights between Leon Spinks on network television and some occasional highlights on Wide World of Sports. I only saw them when my dad decided he wanted to watch them. Of course, being my father and head of the house, he controlled the television set.
Boxing was coming off one of the most explosive and exciting decades- the 1970’s. That decade is known as one of the most entertaining decades in the heavyweight division. There was Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton, Jerry Quarry, Ron Lyle, Oscar Bonavena, Earnie Shavers, and a young Larry Holmes. By September of ’81, Muhammad Ali was just a few months away from the final fight of his career. Alluring and electric as Ali was, he was beaten so badly in his previous fight against Larry Holmes that the Ali legend was just that, legend and mystique. Ali was the face of boxing, but, be that as it may, Ali’s time was up.
The new face of boxing was Sugar Ray Leonard. Leonard, the personification of Ali in the welterweight division, had been the successor, or heir apparent, to Ali. A gold medal winner at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Leonard had it all. Speed, power, flash, dedication, a subtle cockiness, charisma, and he was a household name. His boxing talent not withstanding, I was aware of Leonard based on mostly how he was marketed. The 7-Up commercials with his son, Ray Jr. The promotional commercials from the first and second Duran fight. The Olympic gold medal. In addition, he was handsome and well spoken with a million dollar smile.
I knew who Sugar Ray Leonard was, I saw him on television, I knew he was a good fighter and perhaps a potential great fighter who was in the prime of his career. The problem was, I had never seen him fight an entire fight. I had only seen highlights. As I look back on it now, I was so lucky to have seen the first fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns - my favorite fight of all time. Furthermore, it was the first pay-per view I had ever seen on live television. What a fight!! It was the first time I had ever seen Leonard or Hearns fight for that matter. I don’t have to tell 95% of you that this fight was an all time classic. One for the ages. I have been hooked on boxing ever since.
My family was always on a tight budget. We never had cable television, nor did we have extravagant things. However, I never wanted for anything. I didn’t complain. I was a good kid. Deep down, I really wanted to see this fight. The only way to see it was to watch it on closed circuit television, or on pay per view.
In September of 1981, pay per view in southern California was available through ON Television or SELECT TV. These channels were available if you had a descrambler box, which of course cost a monthly fee very similar to what we have today. The fight of course, cost extra for the pay per view event. Fortunately for me, my neighbor’s parents had ordered the fight. I had a chance to watch it. I was elated.
My childhood friend and neighbor, who was a year older than I, invited my dad and I over to watch the fight. I asked my dad, and he said yes. My dad was a casual boxing fan at best, but he knew I wanted to see the fight. So off we went to my friends living room to watch the fight. There were about a dozen people there, and I sat on the floor. It was great. The energy in the house was palpable. The anticipation, the ring walk for each fighter, the national anthem, the introduction of each fighter, the referee instructions and the stare down - it was the greatest thing ever for me at the time, and I still get that feeling today approaching the minutes before a big fight. The bell rang, the fight was on.
Leonard was very tactical in the first few rounds, using constant foot speed, moving side to side, circling, jabbing to the body, and keeping a high guard to avoid that piston like jab that Hearns possessed, and the bazooka right hand that was Hearn’s weapon of mass destruction. The bout was intriguing and a bit of a chess match for the first few rounds. Hearns would start to control the fight slightly through the first five rounds with the jab and keeping Leonard at bay. Leonard was tentative and cautious of Hearn’s power. Then, the plot thickened. Leonard would rock Hearns with a left hook in the sixth round, opening the door for Leonard to take chances and throw multiple combinations and bombs while Hearns was wobbled badly. Although Hearns escaped the sixth round, the seventh round he was rocked hard by a right uppercut and left hook. Leonard followed with a multitude of booming body shots, left hooks and overhand rights. Hearns barely survived the round, with Leonard clearly in charge. It appeared the fight was Leonard’s, it was just a matter of time.
Hearns would show great resilience and fortitude. He came to fight and he came to win. Hearn’s showed that he had the ability to adjust. He had never been hurt before and surely didn’t expect to be in the position he was in . He got on his bicycle and started to box. Circling, jabbing, lunging with punches, in and out, controlling the fight, and staying out of harms way. Meanwhile, Leonard had completely shifted from fleet footed, cautious boxer to an all out attacker. He was looking for an opening to land a hard shot and end the fight by knockout. As a result, he was out pointed and out boxed from rounds eight through twelve. Leonard just couldn’t get inside with Hearns on his bicycle. He had lost some of the early rounds and he had arguably lost the last four or five rounds. Surprisingly, he was behind on points going into the thirteenth round. It was then, in between rounds 12 and 13, the infamous words were spoken from Angelo Dundee, his legendary trainer, “you only got nine minutes….you’ll blowin’ it son….you’re blowin’ it’….. “you gotta go in there, and you gotta take it away from him”.
Leonard did just that!! He went out and rocked Tommy in the thirteenth and stopped him in the fourteenth. Great fight! Great night. Leonard was the undisputed welterweight champion of the world.
To this day, this is my favorite fight of all time. It was my first pay per view, and it set the stage for my true love of boxing. Along the way, over the last twenty eight years, I may been seen better fights. Fights like Holyfield-Bowe I, Corrales-Castillo I, Gatti-Ward I, Chavez-Taylor I, and Hagler-Hearns. The aforementioned fights could get the edge in terms of excitement, but not by much.
Leonard-Hearns I has always been my favorite, and most likely always will be.
　
　
Most Memorable Fight Seen Live:
Oscar De La Hoya vs. Lamar Williams
November 23, 1992
　
The first fight I attended was at the Great Western Forum on November 23rd, 1992. It was Oscar De La Hoya’s professional debut against one Lamar Williams, who came into the fight with a 5-1-1 record with only 1 KO. De La Hoya promptly dispatched of Williams in the first round.
Although I have seen other fights live and in person such as De La Hoya-Mosley I, Barrera-Morales II, Mosley-Wright II, and Margarito-Cintron I - my first fight was the most memorable. De La Hoya was just coming off a gold medal win at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He had captured the American public and had become a household name. The inspirational story of his mother’s passing just prior to the games - the promise he made to her that he would win a gold medal. Oscar would succeed in his quest for Olympic gold, and he was ready to cash in by turning professional and dedicating himself to becoming a great prize fighter.
I wanted in on it. I was twenty two years old. I had money to blow, and energy to burn. The fight was not memorable because of the outcome. It was a one round blow out. The significance of the fight for me, was much more than that. Heck, it was only a marquee fighter’s first fight at the professional level. A six rounder. This event brought me into the arena of attending prize fights. It brought me closer to the sport that I loved. It had a star attraction in De La Hoya, and I enjoyed every minute of it. For these reasons, it is my most memorable live fight experience.
　
　
Favorite all Time Fighters:
(1) Sugar Ray Leonard
(2) Muhammad Ali
(3) Evander Holyfield
(4) Pernell Whitaker
(5) Meldrick Taylor
(6) Oscar De La Hoya
(7) Marvin Hagler
(8) Thomas Hearns
(9) Roy Jones Jr.
(10) Sugar Ray Robinson
(11) Joe Louis
(12) Joe Frazier
(13) Julio Cesar Chavez
(14) Marco Antonio Barerra
(15) Mike Tyson
　
Favorite Current Fighters
(1) Floyd Mayweather Jr.
(2) Manny Pacquiao
(3) Miguel Cotto
(4) Juan Diaz
(5) Juan Manual Marquez
(6) Shane Mosely
(7) Glen Johnson
(8) Israel Vasquez
(9) Yuriorkis Gamboa
(10) Rafael Marquez
(11) Cristobal Arreola
(12) Wladimir Klitschko
(13) Erislandy Lara
(14) James Kirkland
(15) Bernard Hopkins
Favorite Movies:
The Godfather , The Godfather Part II, Good Will Hunting, Sideways, Rocky, Pulp Fiction, A Few Good Men, Wall Street, Glengarry -Glen Ross, Network, Kill Bill Volume II, Reservoir Dogs, GoodFellas, First Blood, The Shawshank Redemption, There’s Something About Mary
　
　
　
Favorite Books:
Blood Season by Phil Berger, King of the World by David Remick, And The Sea Will Tell by Vincent Bugliosi, Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, The Godfather by Mario Puzo