RINGSIDE By Doug Fischer WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?
November 2026 Volume 103, No. 11
Founder Nathaniel Fleischer (1888-1972) Owner His Excellency Turki Alalshikh
Editor-in-Chief Douglass Fischer Managing Editor Tom Gray Senior Editor Brian Harty Creative Director Lamar Clark Controller Deborah L. Harrison
F or the past few years, I’ve been lucky to be part of a small group of well-traveled boxing heads that meet for lunch once a month in Santa Monica, California. The ringleader of our eclectic clique is Larry Merchant. We all have some connection to boxing, but none as much as the venerable retired commentator whose 34 years with HBO made him an icon of the sport. And it’s Merchant who usually kicks off our boxing discussions. The nonagenarian not only follows the sport with interest, he’s got more enthusiasm for boxing than most media members I know who are literally half his age. Merchant, who was a sports columnist and editor at the Philadelphia Daily News during the 1960s, is still partial to boxers from the City of Brotherly Love. He loves what he sees from Jaron Ennis and was thrilled by Boots’ performance against Xander Zayas in June. “WOW! Fight of the decade. Ennis is a true Philadelphia fighter,” Merchant texted to me immediately following the seventh-
THE RING (ISSN: 0035-5410) November 2026, is published 12 times per year by The Ring Magazine FZ, LLC, 475 Heffernan Drive, West Haven, CT 06516. Application to mail at Periodicals postage is pending at Milford, CT 06460 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Ring, Magazine Subscriber Service Dept., PO Box 103 Cambey West Congers NY 10920-0103 Phone 845-719-3120 subscriptions@ringmagazine.com Single copy price $9.99 in U.S.A., 10.99 Canada (£10.99 in the U.K.). Global Subscription price $60.00 for 12 issues plus S&H. Not responsible for the loss or non-return of unsolicited articles or photographs, which will not be returned unless accompanied by a selfaddressed envelope bearing the proper amount of postage. The entire contents of this magazine are copyright ©2026 The Ring Magazine FZ-LLC. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved. Publisher is not responsible for the accuracy of the content of advertisements appearing in this magazine, nor the delivery or quality of merchandise or services offered. No endorsement of any such advertisement is intended or implied. Advertisers and agencies assume liability for claims arising from the content of their advertisements. FOR ADVERTISING INQUIRIES AND RATES: advertising@ ringmagazine.com. U.S. / Canadian and international distribution by Comag Marketing Group LLC, 155 Village Blvd #200, Princeton, NJ 08540. UK distribution by Seymour Distribution Ltd., 2 East Poultry Avenue, London, England, EC1A 9PT. Printed in USA. Subscription Inquiries Back Issues Inquiries Digital Orders Inquiries The Ring Magazine Subscriber Service Dept. PO Box 103 Camby West Congers NY 10920-0103 Phone: 845-719-3120 subscriptions@ringmagazine.com Send Editorial Comments To: comeoutwriting@gmail.com or P.O. Box 90254 Brooklyn, NY 11209
Joe Joyce poses with his team after beating Joseph Parker. Each received a cut of his career-high purse.
round stoppage. He acknowledges Shakur Stevenson’s talent but isn’t a huge fan of the skillful southpaw’s boxing style. He does, however, believe Stevenson has a bright future as a boxing analyst. He was thoroughly bored by the Rolando Romero-Teofimo Lopez bout and couldn’t wait to talk about the letdown at a late August gathering. “Let’s speak truth to weakness this Friday, 12:30,” read his text. Merchant is still hopeful that the right heavyweight upstart can energize the sport and capture the general public’s imagination as Mike Tyson once did. He was high on Jared Anderson a couple years ago and recently thought Moses Itauma could be “that guy.” He’s a big David Benavidez fan, so my guess is that he’ll back the Mexican Monster to be the
IT’S TIME! TO FIGHT SMOKING
which causes addiction. 18+
This product contains nicotine,
DZRT.COM
RINGMAGAZINE.COM 9
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker