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It is fast approaching 90 years since an Englishman last won Wimbledon, with no end to the drought in sight. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder but,[...] -
Muhammad Ali’s star shone so brightly throughout the 1970s that it is easy to squint and blur the rest. And when other figures from that golden age in heavyweight boxing[...] -
It was H.P. Lovecraft, that master of horror fiction, who first declared that the “oldest and strongest kind of fear is a fear of the unknown.” When we can neither[...] -
As 2014 draws to a close, two of the greatest boxers on the planet are strutting their stuff in the Far East. One, Guillermo Rigondeaux, is in Japan through necessity. [...] -
We’re not sure exactly what James Whitcomb Riley had in mind when he very neatly illustrated the philosophy of inductive reasoning with his famous, if it walks, swims and quacks[...] -
La la la la la, La la la la lee, The WBO champ is Andy Lee. “God bless his soul” prayed Roy Jones Jr. as the first bell tolled and[...] -
Towards the end of his eye-opening/watering 2013 autobiography, Michael Gerard Tyson compares the merits of his own heart to that which beats in the chests of modern-day prize fighters and[...] -
Ireland was a great place to be back in the mid-1990s. World Cup qualification and Eurovision hegemony appeared a given, while the roar of a green, white and gold Celtic[...] -
In Liverpool on the 22nd of this month, almost hidden within the stacked undercard of the Nathan Cleverly versus Tony Bellew rematch, George Groves will continue rebuilding his boxing world[...] -
Even by the standards of the traditionally harrowing backstories of rags-to-riches-to-rags prize fighters, the early years of the great light heavyweight, Matthew Saad Muhammad, are particularly heart-rending. He was a[...] -
Round 9. If you are going to produce a series of articles based on Ring Magazine’s coveted Round of the Year award, there is really only one place to begin. [...] -
It takes no great time, effort nor Poirot-esque powers of deduction, to pinpoint Anto Connolly’s three priorities in life. In a very particular order they are as follows: family (partner[...] -
Scott Quigg is a nice guy. The number of fighters, managers, promoters and pundits to preface an opinion on the Bury boxer with a comment on his affability means that,[...] -
When I talk to Dublin’s Luke Keeler, he is just three days away from headlining a Friday fight night card in the Irish capital. In just his sixth bout of[...] -
I woke to watch this morning’s Mayweather v Maidana title bout with the intention of producing a bog standard write-up of the action. I let social media alone during the[...] -
Before The folly of conflating the combatant and non-combatant shades of a boxer’s character is regularly lost on those not involved in the sport. That fighters can be so brutal[...] -
For such a relatively small patch of land in the north east of Ireland, Belfast has a habit of producing very special sportsmen. That rarest of rare breeds who, through[...] -
I catch Carl Frampton just after 9pm on a Wednesday evening as he crosses the River Thames heading towards his temporary home in that most affluent of London boroughs, Kensington[...] -
The sleepy Valencian pueblo of Torrellano nestles inconspicuously between Alicante and Elche in south eastern Spain. With just 7,000 inhabitants and little to write home about, it is a small,[...] -
Kell Brook’s California dream became euphoric reality tonight as he took a majority decision verdict and the IBF welterweight title off American Shawn Porter at the StubHub Centre in Carson[...]
Three Minutes: Foreman v Frazier I Round 2
Muhammad Ali’s star shone so brightly throughout the 1970s that it is easy to squint and blur the rest. And when other figures from that golden age in heavyweight boxing do come into focus, it is invariably on account of their orbit having brought them into close proximity with the GOAT rather than an acknowledgement […]
The Rigolution May Now Be Televised
It was H.P. Lovecraft, that master of horror fiction, who first declared that the “oldest and strongest kind of fear is a fear of the unknown.” When we can neither see nor fully comprehend something, imaginations are free to run wild and create their own hyperbolised reality. That which may in fact be merely mildly […]
Naoya Inoue: A Star from the Land of the Rising Sun
As 2014 draws to a close, two of the greatest boxers on the planet are strutting their stuff in the Far East. One, Guillermo Rigondeaux, is in Japan through necessity. As the most avoided fighter in world boxing today, he must set sail for whichever shores will yield an opponent willing to enter the same […]
The Boxing Duck: Modern Fad or as Old as the Sport Itself?
We’re not sure exactly what James Whitcomb Riley had in mind when he very neatly illustrated the philosophy of inductive reasoning with his famous, if it walks, swims and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck, line. While it may have been simply a flippant remark to end a tiresome debate on the intricacies of […]
The Ballad of Andy Lee: Second Verse
Three Minutes: Tyson v Spinks Round 1
Towards the end of his eye-opening/watering 2013 autobiography, Michael Gerard Tyson compares the merits of his own heart to that which beats in the chests of modern-day prize fighters and can’t help lamenting the paucity of passion burning within the new breed. “They spring from a milieu too meagre to comprehend my kind of reality” […]
A Boy Named Steve Collins Jr
Ireland was a great place to be back in the mid-1990s. World Cup qualification and Eurovision hegemony appeared a given, while the roar of a green, white and gold Celtic Tiger was ushering in an unparalleled, though ultimately arenaceous, period of economic growth and prosperity. Amidst the revelry, a Celtic Warrior rode the crest of […]
The Third Man in the Ring: One Punch Too Early, One Punch Too Late
In Liverpool on the 22nd of this month, almost hidden within the stacked undercard of the Nathan Cleverly versus Tony Bellew rematch, George Groves will continue rebuilding his boxing world with a bout against the American super middleweight, Denis Douglin. It will be exactly one day short of a calendar year from the moment, 25 […]
Three Minutes: Saad Muhammad v Yaqui López II Round 8
Even by the standards of the traditionally harrowing backstories of rags-to-riches-to-rags prize fighters, the early years of the great light heavyweight, Matthew Saad Muhammad, are particularly heart-rending. He was a 27 year old man before someone told him his birth name, and recollections of his time on earth as Maxwell Antonio Loach remained hazy until […]
Three Minutes: Gatti v Ward I Round 9
Round 9. If you are going to produce a series of articles based on Ring Magazine’s coveted Round of the Year award, there is really only one place to begin. Round 9. The fact that, even with the above headline and photograph removed, boxing aficionados would already know we are talking about the first Arturo […]
Anto Connolly: Minimum Weight, Maximum Potential
It takes no great time, effort nor Poirot-esque powers of deduction, to pinpoint Anto Connolly’s three priorities in life. In a very particular order they are as follows: family (partner Dee and young boys, Wyatt and Fionn), craft (professional boxer) and football team (Glasgow Celtic). The first literally screams out its presence to me from […]
Frampton Quigg is No 50:50 Fight
Scott Quigg is a nice guy. The number of fighters, managers, promoters and pundits to preface an opinion on the Bury boxer with a comment on his affability means that, despite having never met the man, I take his genuine pleasantness as read. Pronouncements of his niceness from rival camps are, of course, more often […]
Luke Keeler: The Life of a Prospect
When I talk to Dublin’s Luke Keeler, he is just three days away from headlining a Friday fight night card in the Irish capital. In just his sixth bout of a fledgling professional career, this is a big moment for the middleweight prospect. Though in some respects just another step along the road, being the […]
Floyd Mayweather: Loathing Without Fear in Las Vegas
I woke to watch this morning’s Mayweather v Maidana title bout with the intention of producing a bog standard write-up of the action. I let social media alone during the fight before scrolling through reams of tweets immediately after. The vast majority of people I follow are boxing writers, analysts or commentators of varying merit […]
Jamie Conlan: The Calm Before & After the Storm
Before The folly of conflating the combatant and non-combatant shades of a boxer’s character is regularly lost on those not involved in the sport. That fighters can be so brutal inside the ring and so gentle out is still viewed as a delightful paradox by many who, I can only presume, believe that boxers live […]
The Night of the Jackal
For such a relatively small patch of land in the north east of Ireland, Belfast has a habit of producing very special sportsmen. That rarest of rare breeds who, through the grace of God, are blessed with a particular, often intangible, gift that elevates them beyond the mere good and great and into the pantheon […]
The Carl Frampton Interview
I catch Carl Frampton just after 9pm on a Wednesday evening as he crosses the River Thames heading towards his temporary home in that most affluent of London boroughs, Kensington and Chelsea. He is acclimatised now to the rarefied air breathed in by the Dukes, Earls and Knights listed as notable residents of the area, […]
The Kiko Martínez Interview
The sleepy Valencian pueblo of Torrellano nestles inconspicuously between Alicante and Elche in south eastern Spain. With just 7,000 inhabitants and little to write home about, it is a small, rather unremarkable, one-horse town on the inner fringes of the Costa Blanca: but what a thoroughbred the sole caballo that resides there is. I meet the […]
Federer: Greatest of All Time or Second Best of his Generation?
There is a tennis Grand Slam tournament starting tomorrow and you all know what that means: reams of sycophantic articles in praise of the tennis doyen’s tennis doyen, Sir Roger Federer. The Sir prefix is pure facetiousness on my part but it would not actually surprise me if a SW19 pressure group are currently lobbying […]