In mid-January 1996, HBO announced a new series called “Boxing After Dark,” aimed at building up lesser-known fighters through competitive matchups on fight cards airing during later hours than the typical premium fights on HBO’s “World Championship Boxing” flagship. As usual, most opinion-havers in boxing loved the idea on paper but were skeptical about its success.

A handful of U.S. Olympic stars have managed to parlay their success into a boon for the sport. Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard were the most obvious examples at this point, but a brand new superstar was emerging in Oscar de la Hoya. It was as if the idea that the Olympics, its own institution, could still produce stars, then the sport could still deserve novel developments.

There was also the practicality of having an outlet like “Boxing After Dark” as network television closed its doors on The Sweet Science. Not every fight merited the high costs of a normal HBO or Showtime broadcast, and some fighters simply weren’t recognizable enough to make Pay-Per-View an option.

“You may not know all of the fighters [on Boxing After Dark], but you will,” said Lou DiBella, then one of HBO Sports’ executives.

The press release heralding Boxing After Dark revealed that Marco Antonio Barrera and Kennedy McKinney would headline the program’s first card on February 3. At 40-0, Barrera was coming off an excellent 1995 that saw him capture the WBO junior featherweight title and defend it four times against legitimate contenders. His progress earned him a top-5 spot on The Ring’s “Who’s Hot in Boxing?” list.

In a bit of a twist, this time the Olympian wasn’t the A-side but the opponent, troubled 1988 Olympic gold medalist Kennedy McKinney.

Shortly after winning gold in Seoul, McKinney’s life spiraled out of control thanks to drug-fueled issues and arrests. He fought through his demons just enough to win a world title at junior featherweight, only to lose it in a winnable fight and succumb to inactivity. McKinney, 28-1-1, had only fought once in about 18 months heading into the clash with Barrera.

The Mexican champion carried an extra advantage into the fight, which took place at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, a city in greater Los Angeles. Barrera was a veteran of the venue, having fought there eight times as a pro. On the other hand, McKinney, who was originally from Mississippi, had fought at more Las Vegas casinos than anything else and had no real homebase or hometown following.

If all that weren’t enough, Barrera drew first blood at the final pre-fight press conference held at the “Forum Club.” As McKinney trashed what he called Barrera’s lack of accomplishments, Barrera stepped up and rapped McKinney in the mouth at the same podium that saw heavyweight champ Riddick Bowe punch Larry Donald two years earlier under similar circumstances.

The opening bout of the broadcast between Johnny Tapia and Giovanni Andrade was uncompetitive and ended in two rounds after Tapia scored a quick stoppage, placing extra pressure on Barrera and McKinney to deliver the action. The fortunate crowd of about 7,900 reaped the benefit as they witnessed a “Fight of the Year”-level clash.

McKinney’s range and jab troubled Barrera at times early on in the fight, and the champion often found his range by leaping in with hooks to both head and body. In round three, Barrera almost appeared to save his energy at times, and round four revealed why as the fighters planted their feet and traded big shots at the bell. “This is about as good as it gets,” HBO commentator Larry Merchant happily gushed following the round.

As the fight developed and moved into the middle rounds, Barrera settled down and began to establish his own jab from range before working McKinney over to the body with some truly eviscerating work. McKinney stretched his output to match Barrera’s and wasn’t that far behind, though the exertion earned him a swollen left eye and bloody mouth at different points.

In round eight, McKinney showed signs of being unable to keep up the pace as Barrera worked his jab. Barrera struck out with a combination that dropped McKinney with a minute remaining in the round. McKinney pulled himself up and tried to weather the onslaught before falling into the ropes for what should have been a knockdown. The action was allowed to go on, however, and Barrera simply punched more and knocked McKinney down again officially.

McKinney moved his head and punched just enough to get through the rest of the eighth round. His face then swelled more in round nine as he moved with more urgency before hitting the canvas again after another combination. With McKinney’s career potentially in the balance, he hurt Barrera against the ropes in round 10 and a terrific exchange unfolded throughout the rest of the round.

The pace again slowed as the fighters jabbed at one another in the 11th, which seemed to favor Barrera. A sudden decision to exchange right hands halfway through the round made Barrera experience the first knockdown of his pro career. The fight came alive and they ended the round trading punches.

Cheers greeted the fighters as they met one another for the final round. McKinney had given all he had in the previous few rounds, though, and an awkward footing issue combined with body shots sent McKinney down for a third time. Barrera kept up the body work, leading to a fourth knockdown as McKinney took a knee to buy some time.

Unfortunately time was going against McKinney about as unrelentingly as Barrera, who nearly chopped McKinney in half to the body and landed a right hand upstairs to send the challenger down one final time and end the fight on a TKO.

Barrera was still more of a brawler at this point, but showed hints of the technician he would eventually become in order to soundly defeat a talented Olympic gold medalist who was also a former and future world champion.

“I love this sport. I love what I do,” Barrera said in the ring after his biggest win to date.

Boxing After Dark lasted more than 20 years on HBO and featured some of the network’s greatest fights. It became a fan favorite program with unmistakable moon logos, suggesting it was the night owls and hardcore nutcases staying up for the matchups that might not have been world title fights, but were geared toward entertainment.

The format was perfect, thus Boxing After Dark might have been successful no matter what. But by shedding blood and ringing the bells of war, Barrera and McKinney ensured that a new venture wouldn’t go unrecognized.