The Bible of Boxing, Ring Magazine recently took it upon itself to try and rank the ten greatest living fighters. With the recent, sad passing of the incomparable Muhammad Ali, the editors, with contributions from various experts, set to work compiling their top-10. A mammoth task, one sure to court debate, even controversy (something the editors of Ring fully expected and are prepared for!) picking these ten special fighters resulted in the following list:
James Slater
Photo: Kell Brook looks massive at 30-day weigh-in, tips scale at 176-pounds; Golovkin 165!
Golovkin/Brook news: Middleweight ruler Gennady Golovkin and his next challenger Kell Brook both weighed in at today’s 30-day weight check conducted under WBC rules, and the weights were quite surprising. Brook, looking enormous in comparison to his welterweight says, tipped in at 176-pounds, while Golovkin, looking trim, came in at 165-pounds. So both unbeaten fighters are within the WBC rules that state a fighter should not be any more than 10 percent above the bout’s weight; which is of course 160-pounds.
Adios, Marcos, and thanks for the great fights! Maidana announces his retirement at age 33
Just when we thought there was a chance, just a small chance, he might fight again – the rumour mill going into overdrive simply because “El Chino” stepped back into a gym – Argentine warrior Marcos Maidana has made it official: he has retired from the sport he gave so much excitement to, at age 33. The former two-weight champion wrote on social media how he no longer has the fire inside him.
Don King has great plans: to bring us “Rumble in The Jungle II” in honour of Muhammad Ali
It was a truly landmark event not only in boxing, but in the careers of Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, in black music and in the career of the man behind it all, Don King. It was “The Rumble in The Jungle” of 1974 and, in honour of The Greatest, who as we all know passed away in June of this year, promoter extraordinaire King is planning a sequel, a “Rumble in The Jungle II” as it were.
Sky Sports poll: who is Britain’s best current world champion?
Sky Sports recently launched an online poll, asking fight fans to vote for who they feel is the best of the current British world champions. With an impressive 14 reigning world champions to pick from (an amazing achievement for British boxing; with champions at heavyweight all the way down to bantamweight) fans who voted had a tough task.
In the end, 400,000 fight fans cast their vote and the results came in as follows:
Golovkin vs Brook: Brook extremely confident going into huge challenge of Golovkin
“I’ve visualized the knockout already”
Kell Brook might be a significant underdog going into his September 10 challenge of middleweight ruler Gennady Golovkin, he might be having his very first fight not one but two weight classes above his career-long tenure at welterweight, and he might be going in with the single hardest puncher in boxing today. But Brook – who is either talking a great game that hides his real feelings or is utterly convinced for real that he will win – says he does not care about what Golovkin will be doing in the ring he will share with him in London next month.
David Haye: “I’m working on my next fight. I want it to be a fight that gets people excited”
Who will David Haye fight in his next bout? Do fight fans retain serious interest in the one-time cruiserweight great and the former WBA heavyweight ruler? Two disappointing fights into his latest comeback – not disappointing to Haye in terms of the result, but quick wins over the over-matched duo that was Mark de Mori and Arnold Gjergjaj certainly disappointed the hardcore fans – Haye is on the lookout for a shot at a heavyweight belt.
Joe Gallagher hoping his gym will boast four world champions by the end of 2016
Manchester’s Joe Gallagher has already proven his ability as a boxing trainer, what with great success with the likes of Anthony Crolla, Scott Quigg and the Smith brothers, but the modest coach says his gym, in Bolton, could boast four world champions by the end of the year. Gallagher also said, in speaking with Sky Sports, how he feels he has the right to say his gym is currently the best in Britain and Europe.