RINGSIDE
than 500 boxing luminaries, including Roberto Duran, Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya, Wladimir Klitschko, Naseem Hamed and Carl Froch. Those hall of famers were joined by Amir Khan, Carl Frampton, Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury, Jai Opetaia, Daniel Dubois, Chris Eubank Jr., celebrities such as Cuba Gooding Jr. and Mario Lopez, and several very trendy looking Gen-Z influencers I did not recognize. All sang the praises of The Ring during red carpet interviews with major media outlets such as DAZN, TNT Sports and BoxNation, which took place before the dinner portion of the gala began. I was asked to give a speech on stage during the dinner, oh, maybe two days before the event. I was told I had five minutes of a tight two-hour program produced and live-streamed by DAZN. No problem, I can do five minutes in my sleep. But the event organizers asked me
Leonard and Thomas Hearns. The event announced the greatest fighter of the last 75 years (Sugar Ray Robinson) and presented Ring championship belts to many of the legends in attendance. I remember reading about it and wishing I could have been there. “When’s the next time they’ll have a celebration like this one?” I wondered. “The 100th anniversary?” I had no clue that I would be affiliated with The Ring by its centennial, let alone Editor-In-Chief of the publication, but there would be no 100-year celebration. The pandemic had a part in that, as did some haters who worked under the publication’s previous owner. However, two years after the print magazine ceased publishing, The Ring received a party worthy of its long history and significance to the sport at VIA Riyadh, a luxury retail and event development (basically a giant fancy- schmancy mall). Giant red Ring logos, neon signs of “The Ring” and “The Bible of Boxing,” and hundreds of vintage cover images from several decades adorned an enormous event hall that hosted more
to present my speech in writing the night before. That was a mistake. I’m incapable of writing succinctly. This is not exactly what I said (because I freestyled a bit behind the podium, piggy-backing off of a wonderful Ring reminiscence from event host Michael Buffer, which drove the producers crazy), but this is what I wrote: T onight we celebrate a new era of the Ring Magazine, which is a celebration of boxing – past, present and future. Looking out into the audience, I see representatives of every facet of the sport and the industry – the boxers, trainers, managers, matchmakers, members of the media, as well as representatives from the sanctioning bodies, promotional companies and networks. Along with the fans, you ARE boxing. When you open an issue of The Ring, we want you to see yourselves and every aspect of boxing. But most importantly, we want you to see the SPORT in its purest form – no politics, no bullshit – as well as its rich and fascinating history. For more than a century, The Ring
has chronicled every era that has not only defined the sport but shaped society – The Roaring Twenties, The Great Depression, World War II, The Baby Boom, the TV Age, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Era, on into my lifetime, which began in the 1970s. Muhammad Ali introduced me to boxing, but Sugar Ray Leonard and his rivalry with Roberto Duran transformed me into a lifelong fan. Duran is here tonight. And so I bow to him and his peers of the ’70s and ’80s. They are the reason I love boxing. I see other fighters in the audience, some of whom I covered as a member of the media during the 1990s and 2000s. They’re modern legends now. Wladimir Klitschko. Oscar De La Hoya. Special thanks to The Golden Boy for keeping this magazine alive through its 100th birthday. It wasn’t just an honor to cover De La Hoya and his peers – Ike Quartey, Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley, Fernando Vargas – it was a pleasure. Like the Four
that we’re in for another special night on Saturday. Also, keep this in mind: As good as this December issue is, it’s only 50% of where we will be. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has an ambitious vision and plan for this historic publication, and we are proud and honor-bound to accept this challenge for the betterment of a true boxing institution and to better serve the sport we love. I was politely scolded by one of the stage coordinators for using up 10 minutes once I got back to my table, but everyone I spoke to that night (including Len Blavatnik, who owns DAZN) congratulated me for speaking from the heart. If you want to watch DAZN’s two-hour production, just go to YouTube and type in RIYADH SEASON: RING MAGAZINE RELAUNCH GALA; it will pop up on the channels belonging to DAZN Boxing, Top Rank Boxing, Matchroom Boxing and TNT Sports Boxing.
Kings of the ’80s, they didn’t just make for big events, they made for great fights. My longtime colleague Steve Kim and I talk about this all the time; we were lucky to come up when we did. It was a hell of a ride. And the journey continues for The Ring, amazingly back in print in 2025. If you want to know what to expect of this new era of Ring Magazine, I proudly invite you to pick up a copy of our December 2024 special, which previews Saturday’s heavyweight championship rematch. Feel the weight and the quality of the paper, appreciate the variety of the art, note the new departments, but most importantly READ the articles. The Q&As that were done with Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury are not your average interviews, because these aren’t average individuals. After reading these articles, you’ll understand how special and outstanding they are – not just as champions and elite-level competitors, but as human beings – and you’ll realize
December issue in hand, the Editor-In- Chief promised continued excellence from The Ring in 2025.
NOTES FROM RIYADH
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as ever, recalling every detail of events that took place more than 50 years ago and before I was born. Chatted with Amir Khan, who I hadn’t seen in many years, while at the relaunch gala. First thing he told me: “Man, you’ve put on weight!” Yes, Amir, 20+ pounds. You’ve given me my motivation for my New Year’s resolution. Steve Kim and I hosted a live “watchalong” during the later part of the Usyk-Fury II pay-per-view broadcast on DAZN. Watching a clean feed (no commentary or graphics), Kim and I scored the fight wide for Usyk.
I also met the Neffati Brothers (Jamel and Jamil), influencers who began the infamous World Freak Fight League. Their first (and only) promotion was headlined by the two of them (who look like lightweights) taking on a British weightlifting behemoth named Eddie Hall in an MMA cage match. (Google it, YouTube it, it’s insane.) They introduced themselves and told me they really liked my speech at the gala. I told them that they were the “future” that I mentioned at the start of it. Not the “freak fight” stuff. I was talking about the interest in learning more about boxing sparked by the classic Ring covers they saw at the gala and by rubbing shoulders with the legends of the sport.
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This was my first time in Riyadh (first time in Saudi Arabia, first time visiting the Middle East). It’s a modern, fairly westernized city where English is prevalent in most areas. I experienced no more “culture shock” there than I have when covering boxing in Tokyo, Mexico City or London. I didn’t have much time to explore Riyadh while there (six days). On top of racing to finish this issue, I was kept busy with company meetings and interviews for an in-the- works Ring Magazine Podcast series. Bob Arum and Roberto Duran were among my interviews. They’re as sharp
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I finally met content creator Showbizz The Adult.
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