Fox Television's Celebrity Boxing Debut Was A Real Hit

Celebrity Boxing 1 • Celebrity Boxing 2

The moments leading up to the opening bout between Danny Bonaduce (TV's Danny Partridge) vs. Barry Williams (TV's Greg Brady) were very exiting for viewers anxiously awaiting these two memories from the 1960's to collide. Barry showed up and for a brief moment was in a brawl when he got lucky and landed one good shot on Danny during the opening minute of the fight... but that was it. Bonaduce repeatedly hit Williams with punches, some of which landed squarely, but it really wasn't necessary as The Brady didn't have a Bunch of balance to work with as Barry went down to the canvas almost every time Danny's glove waved past his head. It was over after 2-1/2 rounds and a dozen or so knock-downs. For a freak show... and as lop-sided as it had been, all of the match-ups on this Celebrity Boxing card proved for a better show than many professional bouts.

The second fight on the card featured Todd Bridges (Different Strokes) and Robert Van Winkle (Vanilla Ice). Even though the two have similarly checkered reputations, this ended up being another example of the "Great White Hope" scenario in which some langy white guy takes a beating from a physically fit and properly trained black athlete. Much to my surprise this "Ice Baby" was very good at taking a punch and this made the 3 round fight enjoyable to watch. Although they were both winded by the end... these ex-stars proved to be worthy to watch in this modern-day gladiator spectacle. Celebrity Boxing 2 airing in May on Fox should be an absolute "dont miss" riot.

In the finale... Paula Jones stepped in at the last moment to replace Amy Fisher against the notorious Tonya Harding who has a grudge against just about anybody who is willing to stand in front of her. This was most enjoyable in its comparison to Bill Clinton's prior encounter with this famous Molestee. By the third round Jones was just standing in the corner shaking her head "no" and then... like Mr. Clinton... Tonya moved right in on the helpless waif and nailed her. The fight was called a T.K.O. but Harding was nearly disqualified for hammering on the defenseless quitter. The referee should be reprimanded for not calling "standing eight" counts earlier in the first round when Jones turned her head and tried to run away. So she now has another claim to fame. It was frighteneing as Paula's corner men clearly could have thrown in the towel before Harding took those last 4 or 5 steps in towards Jones to finish her off. Paula Jones was brave to get in the ring with this opponent and got hit hard, many times by the only real athlete in the bunch. Tonya Harding was interviewed afterwards mentioning that she always felt better after hitting someone.

The purse was $35,000 plus $10,000 if youe were lucky enough to endorse an online casino via a temporary tattoo on your back. I'm looking for the likes of Monica Lewinsky, O.J. Simpson , Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman or Anna Nicole Smith to show up here eventually. Reality Television is now just one step away from The Running Man