NYC widow searching for new home for late husband's collection of boxing tapes, DVDs
HAMILTON HEIGHTS, Manhattan (WABC) -- A woman who built a collection of thousands of tapes and DVDs with her late husband is ready to find a new home for the astonishing display.
Elizabeth Szilagyi teaches piano in her Hamilton heights apartment where she is surrounded by plenty of albums and scores.
But step into her hallway and the recordings are entirely different -- they're all boxing matches.
Her husband, Bela Szilagyi, was a professional musician with a passion for the ring and he made his first recording in 1979.
Together they ran a business, making dubs of the fights, including one of Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas in 1990.
"Networks, boxing promoters and fighters themselves and trainers were all interested in getting hold of tapes of particular fights," Szilagyi said.
Bela didn't just record the fights -- he reviewed them in detail. And he kept a catalogue of every boxer because to him, boxing wasn't so different than playing the piano.
"The timing, the excitement, the feeling of being on stage and feeling the crowd, I'm sure the fighters feel that excitement too," Szilagyi said.
Bela died in 2012, but the recordings didn't end there. Elizabeth continues the tradition but opts for DVDs now.
But six months ago, Szilagyi actively began looking for a new home for the collection -- its final round has come. At least in her apartment.
"I have to get on with my life and there's a time for everything and this time is up," Szilagyi said.
She hopes a library or museum will want the collection of 8,000 VHS tapes and 5,000 DVDs -- an archive of the heart.
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