Tomorrow's Champions
Encyclopedia
Tomorrow's Champions was a local television program in Louisville, Kentucky
, which featured bouts between local amateur boxers. It aired on NBC
affiliate WAVE
from 1954 to 1966. It was produced by Louisville police officer and boxing trainer Joe Martin
. Future World Heavyweight Champions Muhammad Ali
and Jimmy Ellis
got their starts boxing on the program.
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, which featured bouts between local amateur boxers. It aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate WAVE
WAVE (TV)
WAVE aka "WAVE 3" is the NBC television station in Louisville, Kentucky. Owned by Raycom Media, the station broadcasts from its main studio in downtown Louisville...
from 1954 to 1966. It was produced by Louisville police officer and boxing trainer Joe Martin
Joe E. Martin
Joe Elsby Martin, Sr., was an American boxing coach who trained two world heavyweight champions, Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Ellis, as well as several national Golden Gloves champions.- Early life :...
. Future World Heavyweight Champions Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
and Jimmy Ellis
Jimmy Ellis
James Albert "Jimmy" Ellis is a retired boxer from Louisville, Kentucky. He fought in what some consider to be the greatest heavyweight era of all-time, which included Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Jerry Quarry, Floyd Patterson, Oscar Bonavena, Earnie Shavers and George Chuvalo among...
got their starts boxing on the program.