My Journey Book II

TELEPHONE INTERVIEW WITH BOB SHERIDAN AKA “THE COLONEL” The Greatest Play by Play Announcer in Boxing SEPTEMBER 6, 2006 REGGIE: Colonel, how is everything? COLONEL: Going very well and how is everything with you? REGGIE: Well I’m working hard on this book so the readers will know who’s who in the people’s lives I have crossed paths with. We crossed paths and it has been a pleasure. COLONEL: Well I appreciate that and the same goes for me as you know. REGGIE: Please give the readers a breakdown of your career. COLONEL: Well I started calling fights after getting out of the University of Miami in 1966 or 1967 for the Dundee Brothers. I got a lot of experience calling fights. They used to do eight to ten fights for quite a few years. Then by 1968, I called my first world championship fight which was the Jimmy Ellis-Jerry Quarry heavyweight title fight in Oakland, California. After that my career sort of took off. I have a lot of firsts in my career. I anchored the first world feed of a live heavyweight championship fight out of Africa which was the Ali-Foreman fight in Zaire in 1974. That was at the time one of the largest audiences for television in the history of the media. It went to over a billion people live. Then I commented on the first title fight out of the Philippines in 1974 when Ali fought Frazier in the “Thrilla in Manila” that was voted by Ring Magazine as the “Fight of the Century”. And then I also did the first live heavyweight title fight out of Japan when Buster Douglas upset Mike Tyson which was I guess considered by Ring Magazine as the “Upset of the Century”. I did the first live telecast out of China on Showtime in 2000 when Laila Ali headlined the card with Andrew Golata. I had the thrill of anchoring the world feed at the fight with the largest live crowd in the history of boxing which was Julio Cesar Chavez versus Greg Haugan in Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. There were over 135,000 people, the announced gate there. I did the first all women main event on pay per view between Laila Ali and Jackie Frazier. I did the first pay per view of a main event involving 50 year old champion, Roberto Duran and Hector Camacho back in 2001. I have been in boxing calling fights for King Vision and many other promoters for the better part of five different decades now. I have called over 800 world title fights. I supposed the biggest thrill I have gotten in my life is when I was inducted in the World Boxing Hall of Fame in Los Angeles in 2004 and later that year in December 2004, I was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in Ontario, Canada. I also received the Undisputed Champion of Dignity Award from the Retired Boxing Foundation which was presented at the Playboy Mansion in July 2002 and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 by the World Boxing Council at the WBC convention in Mexico City, and the Boxing Writer’s Association of America, Boxing Broadcaster of the Year, the Sam Daub Award in 1998. So those are some of the highlights of my career Reggie.