The Ring Magazine, May 2025 • Canelo vs Scull • Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
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DEPARTMENTS 6 OPENING SHOTS
58 TENDER WARRIOR KATIE TAYLOR IN PERSON MIGHT SEEM TOO NICE TO BE A FIGHTER, BUT HER DESIRE FOR BLOOD-AND- GUTS CONQUEST IS FAR FROM EXHAUSTED By Adam Smith 64 SONNY LISTON 2.0 LABELED A DISGRACE AFTER THE “PHANTOM PUNCH” CONTROVERSY, SONNY LISTON WAS FORCED TO EITHER REBUILD OR RETIRE By Don Stradley 70 BACK TO THE SPECTRUM BEFORE HIS MIDDLEWEIGHT REIGN, BEFORE HE WAS “MARVELOUS,” MARVIN HAGLER PROVED HIS METTLE IN PHILADELPHIA By Dave Wedge 80 BEYOND TOUGH GREG HAUGEN BECAME A FAN FAVORITE THROUGH HIS ABSOLUTELY FEARLESS APPROACH TO FIGHTING – WHICH WAS EASY BECAUSE IT WAS THE THING HE
32 A GENTLE GIANT GEORGE FOREMAN’S TRIUMPH OVER JOE FRAZIER MADE IT ABUNDANTLY CLEAR THAT THE NEWEST HEAVYWEIGHT KING WAS SOMETHING VERY SPECIAL By George Girsch 38 NO MORE GRUDGES HERO TO SOME, HERO-SLAYER TO OTHERS – SOMETIMES BOTH – FOREMAN’S CHARM WAS JUST AS POWERFUL AS HIS PUNCH By Wallace A. Matthews 44 CANELO VS. THE GREATS MEXICO’S MODERN-DAY SUPERSTAR TAKES ON CHAMPIONS OF THE PAST IN 12 MYTHICAL MATCHUPS By Anson Wainwright 52 THE NEW ATOMIC AGE THE TRAGIC AND TRIUMPHANT CAREER OF FORMER HEAVYWEIGHT TITLEHOLDER OLIVER MCCALL ENTERS ITS NEXT CHAPTER By Ted Kluck
9 RINGSIDE By Doug Fischer 12 BERNSTEIN ON BOXING By Al Bernstein 14 MY FIRST TIME: KELLY PAVLIK By Kelly Pavlik and Anson Wainwright 19 STEVE’S SOAP BOX By Steve Kim 22 BY THE NUMBERS By Don Stradley 24 RING RATINGS PACKAGE 76 FUNDAMENTALS By Tom Gray 78 BOOKREVIEW By Thomas Gerbasi 84 FIGHT DOCTOR By Dr. Margaret Goodman 86 THE FACE OF BOXING By Wojtek Urbanek and Thomas Hauser 88 COMMISSIONER’S CORNER By Randy Gordon 90 WORLD BEAT 94 FINISHING SHOTS 96 FIGHTLINE
LOVED MOST By Lee Groves
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Cover Illustration By DEMZO ART
What is FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves? SNK’s beloved Fatal Fury series first hit the market in 1991, spearheading the fighting game boom that went on to sweep the industry in the 1990s. GAROU: MARK OF THE WOLVES (released in 1999) has for some time served as the franchise’s most recent installment. But that is all about to change. Twenty-six years on, a brand-new entry – FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves – is set to arrive on the scene! FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves features a unique art style, an innovative REV System that supercharges the excitement, plus a host of other battle systems even more robust than before. The game also breathes new life into the series by introducing two distinct control schemes, ensuring the most immersive engagement for newcomers and veterans alike. And those are just some of the new features to be discovered! The streets of South Town are a hotbed of action, wild dreams, and even wilder ambition. Here, at long last, a new legend is about to unfold. About SNK Headquartered in Osaka, Japan, SNK develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software on a global scale. Known for such franchises as THE KING OF FIGHTERS, METAL SLUG and SAMURAI SHODOWN, SNK continues to focus on its rich console game and arcade history.
From Brand Strength to Broadcast Power: stc group at the Global Forefront The lights go up in Riyadh. Two fighters touch gloves at center ring. Around them, the crowd rises in anticipation. And beyond the arena, in cafes, on screens, and on mobile apps, millions of viewers experience that same moment with precision and clarity. The feed is seamless. The timing is exact. The delivery works. That level of performance is not an accident. It is powered by infrastructure, scale, and intent. And increasingly, it is made possible by stc group. In March, Brand Finance, the world’s leading independent brand valuation consultancy, ranked stc group as the third strongest telecom brand in the world. This latest recognition builds upon stc’s established brand leadership – having previously been named the most valuable telecom brand in the Middle East for five consecutive years and earning the region’s strongest brand designation with an exceptional Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 88.7 out of 100 and AAA brand rating. These accolades collectively reflect more than just market presence. They demonstrate stc’s fundamental strengths: consistent service delivery, strong customer perception, and the ability to maintain seamless connections with users across platforms and borders. These are the essential qualities that define great performance in a digital world - the same characteristics that have shaped boxing’s most memorable broadcast moments. For nearly a century, boxing has pushed the boundaries of how sport is delivered. In 1938, more than 70 million people listened live as Joe Louis faced Max Schmeling. A decade later, Sugar Ray Robinson brought the fight to television, captivating living rooms across America. As formats evolved, so did the viewing experience. Closed-circuit theatres made matches communal. Pay-per-view took boxing global. Digital platforms turned every screen into a front-row seat. Through each phase, broadcasters adapted. They introduced visuals, new angles, faster feeds, and clearer commentary. The expectations kept rising, and so did the demands on the systems behind the scenes.
The goal remained unchanged. The fight needed to reach the audience completely, cleanly, and in real time. Not just the image, but the experience. Not just access, but confidence. That is the kind of delivery stc group now powers. The brand’s journey began with infrastructure, building the backbone of national connectivity across Saudi Arabia. But the brand has continued to grow with purpose, anticipating what individuals, businesses, and institutions need to stay connected and ahead. Today, it operates across the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, enabling everything from cloud services and digital platforms to entertainment and live sport. It is not just a service provider. It is part of how the modern experience is delivered. The similarities with boxing’s broadcast evolution are clear. As boxing becomes increasingly digital and globally distributed, the success of every major event depends not only on the fighters or the spectacle in the ring, but also on the quality of the experience. Viewers expect sharp visuals, uninterrupted streams, and real-time access. This is where stc group’s role is especially critical. Its networks, platforms, and services are part of what brings the moment to life — clearly, completely, and without disruption. As Saudi Arabia emerges as a major host of global combat sports, that role only becomes more important. Fans today are not just watching. They are sharing, commenting, replaying, and expecting instant, uninterrupted access. The moment cannot just arrive. It has to arrive on time, with quality intact. That is the environment stc group operates in. Behind every screen is a system. Behind every experience is a performance. And behind boxing’s new digital age is a brand that has committed to making each moment count. From the earliest crackle of radio to today’s high- definition streams, the audience has always remembered two things. What they saw. And how it reached them.
That is the standard stc group continues to deliver.
OPENING SHOTS Welterweight star Jaron Ennis
dominated what many thought would be the toughest fight of his pro career, a showdown with fellow unbeaten titleholder Eimantas Stanionis on April 12 in Atlantic City. “Boots” broke the game Lithuanian down in six rounds and made it look easy, unifying the IBF and WBA belts and winning the vacant Ring Magazine championship.
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RINGSIDE By Doug Fischer FAREWELL TO FOUR LEGENDS
May 2025
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
T he third weekend of March was a hard one for longtime boxing fans. In the span of two days, we learned of the passings of George Foreman, Colin Hart and Livingstone Bramble. Just before this publication went to press, another legend of the sport, decorated amateur and pro trainer Kenny Adams, passed away. Foreman’s death caused the biggest waves, not just within boxing but throughout the world, which comes as no surprise. Big George, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003, was an Olympic gold medalist who twice won the heavyweight crown (20 years apart) and is considered one of the hardest punchers of all time. However, he transcended boxing. During his unlikely 10-year comeback – which spanned from 1987 to 1997 – Foreman evolved from a maligned curiosity to a legitimate contender to a popular HBO commentator to the oldest heavyweight champion ever to a celebrity pitchman
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Former heavyweight champion George Foreman was among the beloved boxing figures who recently passed away.
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and, finally, into a bona fide folk hero. There’s nothing I can say about Foreman that hasn’t already been said and written since he passed on March 21 at age 76. Thankfully, there was enough time to assign award-winning sportswriter Wallace Matthews to pen an essay on Foreman for this issue (see page 38). Matthews is joined by Ring columnists – and fellow Hall of Famers – Al Bernstein and Randy Gordon, who share their remembrances of the big- punching and big-hearted Texan. There’s more to come in the June issue, which will be dedicated to Big George’s extraordinary life and career. The other three legends who have recently left us are equally deserving of proper tributes. The Voice of Boxing Colin Hart was a prolific sportswriter who covered eight Olympic Games
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THE RING (ISSN: 0035-5410) May 2025, is published 12 times per year by The Ring Magazine FZ, LLC P.O. Box 90254 Brooklyn, NY 11209. Postmasters: Send change of address Notices to: The Ring Magazine Subscriber Service Dept., PO Box 16027, North Hollywood, CA 91615-6027, Phone: 818- 286-3101; rngcs@magserv.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 self- addressed envelope bearing the proper amount of postage. The entire contents of this magazine are copyright ©2025 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 and the UK.
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RINGSIDE
(1972-2000) and chronicled great fighters and boxing events during a career that spanned seven decades. Known as “The Voice of Boxing” in Britain, where he was beloved by his readers and peers, Hart passed away on March 22 at age 89. Born in London’s East End in 1935, his interest in boxing began with his father’s stories of great Jewish boxers Ted “Kid” Lewis and Jackie “Kid” Berg, who had emerged from the same tough immigrant area in previous decades. Hart’s journey in journalism began modestly, as a copy boy for a neighborhood newspaper, but he was destined for sportswriting. After joining the staff of the Daily Herald (a national morning paper, later renamed The Sun) in 1958, he quickly advanced from crime reporter to night editor and finally the sports desk, where he began covering boxing in 1964. Ten years later, Hart was ringside for the “Rumble in the Jungle” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as Zaire). He was among the few reporters who picked Muhammad Ali to beat Foreman. Hart frequently traveled to the U.S. to cover major bouts, which included “The Fight of the Century” between Joe Frazier and Ali in 1971 (his first American assignment) and the showdowns between The Four Kings during the 1980s. Hart enjoyed a rapport with many iconic American boxers, growing so close to Ali that “The Greatest” trusted him to break the story on his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis in 1984. But it was in Britain where Hart was a press row fixture
he covered the standouts: Henry Cooper, Ken Buchanan, Frank Bruno, Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank Sr., Lennox Lewis, Joe Calzaghe, Ricky Hatton, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury. Hart retired as The Sun’s full- time boxing correspondent in 2000 but rejoined the staff as a weekly boxing columnist – a role he continued until weeks before his passing. Hart was the first British scribe to be honored with the Nat Fleischer Award for Excellence in Boxing Journalism by the Boxing Writers Association of America in 2011. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame two years later. The Pitbull Livingstone Bramble, who passed away on March 22 at age 64, took the boxing world by storm in the mid- 1980s when he upset Ray Mancini for the WBA lightweight title and made two defenses of the belt, including a rematch with the popular Ohioan. Affable and eccentric outside of the ring but
have inspired his nickname, but he lived up to his “Pitbull” ring moniker with his fearsome fighting spirit. During a two-year stretch – 1984-1986 – Bramble defeated (in order) 19-0 up-and-comer Rafael Williams (UD 12), Mancini (TKO 14), the crafty Edwin Curet (UD 10) in a non-title bout, Mancini in the rematch (UD 15) and the WBA’s No. 1 contender, Tyrone Crawley (TKO 13), before suffering a second-round KO at the hands of Edwin Rosario. He remained a contender into the later part of the decade before settling into a role as a serviceable gatekeeper during the first half of the 1990s. From 1990-1994, he tested hot prospects and fellow veterans, including a thriller with Oba Carr (L-SD 10) that the undefeated youngster was lucky to win, future IBF 140-pound titleholder Charles Murray (L-UD 10), Roger Mayweather (L-DQ 5) and future Hall of Famers Kostya Tszyu (L-UD 10) and Buddy McGirt (L-UD 12). The Coach The passing of Kenny Adams barely made news outside of boxing, and even within the sport it was seemingly noted only by his former fighters, fellow trainers, industry folks and longtime media members who knew him. Adams, who died on April 7 at age 84, was low-key compared to other notable trainers, but those who had the honor of working with him or the pleasure of covering his extraordinary career can attest that he was every bit the boxing sage as celebrated gurus of the past, from Ray Arcel to Angelo Dundee and Emanuel Steward. Make no mistake: Adams, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2024, is one of the greatest trainers of the modern era. A Vietnam veteran and career military man, Adams elevated the U.S. Army’s boxing team to international success before joining USA Boxing to serve as assistant coach for the
Adams was born in Springfield, Missouri, where I spent my formative years, so we had an instant bond and familiarity, but I was still surprised by his candor once we started talking. “Vince is coming along nicely,” he told me. “If I can keep him active and away from the dope man, I think he can win a world title by the end of next year. That’s why I’ve got him and Kennedy training up in Big Bear [California], to keep ’em away from drugs. I swear, if I see that hippie dealer and his van anywhere near our gym, I’ll strangle him.” Adams had a temper. It almost cost him the ’88 Olympic coaching gig when he attempted to strangle a USA Boxing controller for raising his voice at him. However, when that fire was focused on instilling discipline and technique into willing boxing pupils, it made Adams an elite coach and teacher. Many of his fighters needed the no-nonsense drill sergeant approach. Adams took on the hard cases and the head cases – fighters who struggled with addiction like McKinney and Phillips, and those who were troubled and more than a bit “touched,” like Norwood and Valero. Adams believed in his fighters and they delivered for their coach, often against all odds. Jacquot, his first world titleholder, scored The Ring’s 1989 Upset of the Year by outpointing Donald Curry. Cook was unknown when he knocked out heavily favored Israel Contreras for the WBA bantamweight title in 1992. Phillips earned The Ring’s 1997 Upset of the Year and the IBF junior welterweight title when he shocked Kostya Tszyu. The same year, McKinney became a two-division champ with an up-from-the-canvas KO of Junior Jones. Norwood got the better of Juan Manuel Marquez in a WBA featherweight title defense in 1999. Truth be told, Adams had IBHOF credentials 25 years before he got in. He will be missed.
Adams attends to a young Roy Jones Jr. during the 1988 Olympic Games.
Hart was a respected voice in boxing for 50 years. Bramble’s panache injected some excitement into the mid-’80s.
legendary 1984 U.S. Olympic squad. Adams was promoted to head coach of the ultra-talented 1988 U.S. Olympic team (the first African American to hold that position), which included Roy Jones Jr., Riddick Bowe, Ray Mercer, Michael Carbajal, Kennedy McKinney and Andrew Maynard. Adams followed those medalists into the professional ranks, where he would go on to work with at least 25 world titleholders, including McKinney, Mercer, Michael Nunn, Johnny Tapia, Nonito Donaire, Diego Corrales, Cory Spinks, Jorge Linares, Edwin Valero, Vince Phillips, Frankie Liles, Al Cole, Freddie Norwood, Rene Jacquot, Charles Murray, Samuel Peter, Michael Bentt, Ruslan Chagaev, Eddie Cook and Dee-jay Kriel. When I met Adams 30 years ago, he had already helped four fighters – Jacquot, Cook, McKinney and Liles – win world titles. I approached him (as a fan; I was not yet media) shortly after Phillips had scored a first-round KO at The Forum in Inglewood, California.
rugged and relentless inside it, Bramble made for good copy and fun fights when boxing was still on network TV and 15 rounds was still the distance of most world championship bouts. He adorned the cover of the September 1984 issue of The Ring shortly after the first Mancini fight. The studio portrait of a grinning Bramble wearing a bright-colored Rasta hat with his pet boa constrictor around his neck and the WBA title draped over his shoulder made even casual fans want to read about the native of St. Kitts and Nevis who fought out of New Jersey. Bramble owned a collection of pitbull terriers, which may
and considered the most informed, prescient and eloquent boxing writer on the beat. For half a century,
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BERNSTEIN ON BOXING
“You know, Mike Tyson is a thoroughbred and I’m just an old gaited horse that walks and trots well, but if I get him in the ring, I’ll beat him.”
for my book and he produced it in all of three days. He laughed and told me, “Hey, I didn’t type it, but I DID dictate it.” I did a show called “Boxing By The Book” at the Caesars Palace Race and Sports Book where I sang some specialty numbers, showed boxing videos and interviewed boxers. George got wind of it and volunteered to be a guest. Over 1,000 people showed up and crowded into the space to see him – I think his appearance got me renewed for another six months. I told George and thanked him. He just winked – he knew he was doing me a solid.
said, “You know, Mike Tyson is a thoroughbred and I’m just an old gaited horse that walks and trots well, but if I get him in the ring, I’ll beat him.” I didn’t believe that then or for a while after, but the more George repeated it to me, the more I came to believe it. He explained he would fight him like he did Joe Frazier, pushing him off to disrupt his rhythm, tying him up if he did get inside and waiting for his time to land a big counter uppercut or right hand that would change the fight. If I thought I was crazy to believe him, well, I felt less crazy when the great trainer, manager and savant-like broadcaster Gil Clancy told me that he agreed with George on this one. We will never know if George would have achieved that goal of beating Tyson as he did so many others. We do know he ended up winning the world title again, and he left very little undone in his life. Perhaps the great Mae West said it best: “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” George did it right. I ronically, around the time of George’s death and the flood of remembrances about him, there came the release of a definitive work to help us honor the memory of one of George’s great contemporaries. A brilliant film called I Am Joe Frazier was released on The CW Network, and it demands the attention of boxing fans. The triumvirate of Ali, Frazier and Foreman created boxing folklore in the 1960s and ’70s. The documenting of Frazier’s amazing journey has been done mostly through the prism of his rivalry with Ali… until now. This remarkable film by Pete McCormack provides us with a vivid, accurate and entertaining retelling of the Frazier story. I assure you: It will surprise and illuminate you, no matter what you think you already know about Joe. This film fulfills a mission that is decades overdue. It is a piece of art that needed to be made.
George and I had many phone calls about our shared passion: horses. We both were devoted riders. George rode and raised gaited horses. I rode mostly quarter horses, and that breed is not naturally a gaited horse. So, I learned from George about gaited breeds that he had on his ranch in Marshall, Texas. I was, however, able to provide some equestrian knowledge to George, because he didn’t do much of the rodeo event known as team penning, and I did. So I shared my knowledge on that sport with him. Demonstrating his quick wit, he once chuckled and said to me, “You know, I never thought anyone with a last name like Bernstein would ever give me tips on team penning.” On a Big Fights Boxing Hour show on ESPN, I delivered these words about him: “Before George Foreman was a personality, he was a puncher. Before he was a sportscaster, he was a puncher. And before he was a product pitchman, he was a puncher. Being a big puncher made all that possible.” Indeed, the young Foreman was all about raw power as much as any boxer we might remember. The singularity of this persona in the ring was mesmerizing and successful, but it ultimately led to his downfall in act one. The older, wiser, patient and more nuanced George that I covered and announced in act two was a delightful
surprise and revelation to fans and pundits. An amazing fact is that the older, heavier Foreman was just as durable physically and more so mentally than the younger version. He survived any big punch landed and was undaunted by setbacks within fights or overall. He overcame adversity in a way that sometimes eluded him in his younger years. Two weeks before he fought Michael Moorer for the heavyweight title, I interviewed him for ESPN. During that interview, of course, he said he would win by knockout. Most people were skeptical of that at the time. After the interview, we had lunch. At one point, he leaned across the table, looked at me intently and said, “What I told you in the interview, I want you to know I really believe it. He’s probably gonna beat me up some, but I tell you what: I’ll get to him eventually and I WILL knock him out.” In every detail, that turned out to be an accurate description of the match. When Foreman started his comeback, Mike Tyson was the champion and George stated his goal was to win the title. Most folks thought it would be suicide for him to fight Tyson. During one of our horse breed-related conversations, thoroughbreds came up because my horse at the time was part thoroughbred. Out of the blue, George
RIDERS ON THE STORM By Al Bernstein
The man with famously heavy hands had a soft spot for horses.
me, watched the first act as a spectator before joining the supporting cast for act two. The intermission provided time for personal growth that made the professional redemption and reinvention of George possible. He told me on several occasions that the lessons he learned while out of the spotlight fueled his future accomplishments. The details of his amazing story have been well-chronicled on video, in print and in the digital world, but his personal strengths sometimes get lost in the shuffle. After his death, we have heard personal stories that buttress those attributes. Let me add to that. There was never anything I requested from George that he didn’t do. I asked him to write the foreword
O n March 20, I received a residual check for the voiceovers I did for the movie Big George Foreman . As I looked at it, I thought about the fact that I had not talked to George in a while and wrote a note on my calendar to reach out to him the next day. On the next day, George died. Irony does not even cover it. That check was the final gift of many related to him that I received in my life. Much has been said and written about George since his passing. Every
person who knew him, covered him or even admired him from afar has something to add to chronicling his unique life. And you need many voices for that, because his journey was so varied and jam-packed with important events and moments that one perspective doesn’t do it justice. George’s professional life is like a Broadway play. It had act one, followed by an intermission (a long one), and then act two. Some people in boxing and the media were in George’s personal orbit for both acts. Many, like
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Kelly Pavlik took his time reaching the top – seven years, to be precise – but when the big occasion came, he wasn’t found wanting. • As the underdog against middleweight champion Jermain Taylor in 2007, Pavlik climbed off the canvas in a near-disastrous second round and bounced back to score a come-from-behind seventh-round knockout. • He outpointed Taylor (UD 12) in a non-title rematch and proceeded to make three successful defenses of his Ring, WBC and WBO belts.
Fair, down in Columbus, and you get a lot of kids from all over the country who fight in that. “This kid had 30 or 40 amateur fights. He fought in the Junior Olympics and did very well. I think he made it to the final or won it. He had a lot of experience, and it was my very first amateur fight. “Everybody was going, ‘This is a learning experience for Kelly,’ not thinking I would win. “I literally just turned 12. I went in there and I put it on this kid. I gave him such a whooping. “I had real big feet when I was a kid, tall for my weight. I
was beating him up so bad, I started doing the Ali shuffle and tripped and almost went down because of my big feet. “I won my very first fight. It was on points. That was a regular club show. I know a lot of people were coming up to me that wasn’t from my area. They were like, ‘Wow, man, good fight.’ I don’t think they knew I didn’t have no fights and that was my first one. “My trainer and the guys on my team – ’cause we took
THE FIRST TIME I LACED UP GLOVES “I grew up in the inner city of Youngstown [Ohio] and had a buddy that lived across the street, and his dad was much older. He had the old-World War II gloves; we put on those old-school ’30s and ’40s gloves. “We put a little kitchen timer outside – that was our bell – and beat the shit out of each other in the backyard. We created our own [characters] and stuff like that. That was the first time putting on gloves. “I would go home – I was 8, 9 years old – my face
My First Time by Kelly Pavlik As told to Anson Wainwright
about seven of us down – they were all like, ‘Dude, good job. No way that was your first fight!’ I was like, ‘I’ve been training here. You were here when I got here.’ “It was cool. It was definitely a memorable fight, not because it was my first fight but just the way it played out.” MY FIRST PROFESSIONAL FIGHT JUNE 16, 2000 OPPONENT: ERIC BENITO ’ T ZAND VENUE: FANTASY SPRINGS CASINO, INDIO, CALIFORNIA “I was definitely nervous for that one. I signed the contract with Top Rank, and then Cameron Dunkin, who was my agent, and probably two weeks before the fight, [Dunkin] said, ‘I think you guys are going to be on TV.’ I’m like, ‘What?’ He said, ‘You’re going to be on ESPN.’ And a lot changed in the course leading up to that. You’re nervous. You’re anxious. You’re preparing for your pro debut, first fight without headgear, fighting outside in 110 degree weather and also wondering if you’re going to get on TV, because at 18 years old, that’s everything. You’re going to go out and perform if it’s TV cameras or not. I didn’t know [if I would be on the broadcast] all the way up to the fight.
would be red or I’d have a little bit of blood and would have to think of a good excuse, because if I told my parents I was getting beat up by my older brothers or friend, they’d be pretty mad. “That was an experience with boxing that got me really into it. “The first time I went to the gym and sparred, I got my butt whooped. My parents were happy because they thought I was going to quit, because they didn’t want me boxing. I came home from school and had my gym bag ready, and my dad was like, ‘Where are you going?’ And I was like, ‘We’re going back to the gym so I can kick that kid’s ass.’ And that was kind of where I knew boxing was a sport. “Those were the first couple of times I put gloves on, and I loved it.”
MY FIRST AMATEUR FIGHT “I remember that probably more than any fight.
“We have a tournament here in Ohio – it’s actually pretty big. It’s a non-ranking tournament. It’s called the Ohio State
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MY FIRST TIME: KELLY PAVLIK
“You want to be impressive. You just got a signing bonus from your promotional company. You’ve got all these people hyping you up, your hometown; your local newspaper is blasting you – some of the outlets which is a little different than how it is today. You want to be impressive. In your
MY PERFECT PUNCH JANUARY 27, 2007 OPPONENT: JOSE LUIS ZERTUCHE
head, you’re like, ‘I’ve got to be impressive.’ Secondly, you don’t know much on who you’re fighting. Even then (the year 2000), there was no YouTube. “You know you’re going to win. I would say 70, 80 percent [of you] knows you’re going to win, hands down. Ten percent is like, ‘I’ve got to be impressive. I’ve got to show people. I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to do that.’ And then you’ve got that small percentage that sticks to the back of your head that’s like, ‘I’ve got to
“A lot of people talk about my right hand: ‘Oh, that lethal right hand.’ But I actually had a sneaky, brutal left hook, because I’m ambidextrous. Most of my brutal knockouts were with my straight right that I was setting up – I would set off the left. [The
Jose Luis] Zertuche [knockout] is one they’re constantly showing highlights of. The straight right was one that put people to sleep. “I just felt like I got a lot of torque on the right hand, and it was comfortable for me. The right hand, I had the range down perfect, the perfect setup for the right hand, and I think that helped a lot. “I used to throw my jab with the glove open and my hand pointing down. It was kind of like that split-second pause; a lot happens in a split second in boxing. So I would kind of throw my jab out and leave my glove down a little bit and bring the right hand over it. Or like Zertuche, I would get them to keep their hands in a certain spot. If you watch, it was a one-three-two: a jab, left hook, [right hand,] but on the left hook, I didn’t throw it like a left hook. I was almost like trying to pat him on the side of the head to keep his hands there so I could fire a right hand straight down the middle, and caught him right on the chin. I did that a lot. “He had a translator, and he mentioned something in Spanish. He looked at me and smiled, was talking to the translator, and he patted the translator on the shoulder and the translator pointed to his right hand and said, ‘Geez, never been hit like that.’ It’s up there as one of the more brutal knockouts within that decade.”
win, or I could lose this fight – and not only lose but get hurt.’ That usually played on my mind too. It’s pro boxing. ‘I could get knocked out. The worst could happen.’ There’s a lot that goes on in your head before a fight. I was still confident: You’re coming in off a great amateur run; you’re coming out of the Olympic Trials; you’re signed with the promotional company; you’re one of the top dogs. But you do and should have that doubt. It’s part of the adrenaline that keeps you going. “Once you get in there, you’re nervous, but you have a game plan. You have some experience from the amateurs, but it’s a rude awakening. It’s a whole different atmosphere. Everything was moving quick. I adapted quick. Once that bell rings, it’s fight time. Pro debut is more of an instinct at that point, and you’re fighting off what you know how to do for the past handful of years. “I fought a kid by the name of [Eric] Benito ’ t Zand, trained by one of [Mike] Tyson’s old trainers, and he was short and stocky – built just like Tyson, very muscular – and I was like, ‘Damn, your first fight without headgear.’ The fight went quick, but it was a good fight. I found my rhythm. After the first minute of the round, I started opening up and the natural ability made it different, and I knocked him out in the third round. “We just hung out in the room, [with] my trainers, had some beers. I was excited and happy. You’ve come to find out you were on TV. You’re on top of the world. Top Rank flew us out the next morning, so there was no partying. It was only the pro debut. You’ve got to move on from there and see what else is out there, get ready for the next one. I believe I actually fought the next month.”
Pavlik secured his shot at the middleweight throne with an impressive stoppage of Edison Miranda in 2007.
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STEVE’S SOAPBOX
A RARE SIGHTING By Steve Kim
Wherever he fights, The Monster brings a heavy chest of treasure with him.
to make some concessions to make this trip to the U.S. a reality. “I mean, it’s not a gimme,” admitted Bob Arum, the founder of Top Rank. “But MGM really stood up to the plate and bought a block: $2.5 million worth of tickets for its customers. So we were able to piece it together. But yeah, [Inoue] makes a lot of money in Japan, and so obviously we had to come close or match it to make it palatable for him to fight in the United States.” The Cardenas fight will have been Inoue’s fourth outing in the U.S. His first was as a supporting bout on the inaugural “SuperFly” series on HBO in 2017, when he stopped Antonio Nieves in six rounds at the StubHub Center (now Dignity Health Sports Park) in
B y the time you’ve cracked open this edition of The Ring Magazine, Naoya Inoue will likely have another victory on his resume, and probably another KO, at the expense of Ramon Cardenas. Coming into their May 4 matchup, oddsmakers listed the undisputed junior featherweight champion as a 50-to-1 favorite. So yeah, “The Monster” from Japan wasn’t exactly facing Godzilla here. But what made this date notable is
that it marked Inoue’s return to America after a four-year gap. This particular event, which was promoted by Top Rank, was set to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It wasn’t Inoue’s first appearance in the United States, but there is a chance that it was the last opportunity for U.S.-based fans to see him live. While most foreign boxers come to America for the money, Inoue, who regularly scores eight-figure paydays in his home country, most likely had
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“He had a dream, that’s what he told me, of fighting on a big, big stage ...”
Carson, California. He then had five fights overseas and won the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight tournament in 2019, after which he signed to a co-promotional deal with Top Rank. His debut under the Top Rank banner was set to be at the Mandalay Bay in 2020 versus John Riel Casimero, a bantamweight unification bout at the time. Unfortunately, this was one of the first fight cards that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It could’ve done huge numbers at the box office, according to many insiders. “I can’t remember a fight where I received so many calls from international marketing divisions from different casinos for that ticket,” Jim Boone, a leading ticket broker, told The Ring. “It was absolutely incredible. The funny thing was everyone would call and pronounce Inoue’s name incorrectly. I heard multiple ways of pronouncing his name. It was the real deal. It had a big-fight feel to it.” In an effort to clear up the pronunciation of Naoya’s last name, the easy way is “ee-no-way,” but the more proper way has four syllables and
No. 1. No longer is he a curiosity from “The Land of the Rising Sun.” Inoue has an international profile among boxing fans and is now a bona fide icon in his home country. There was a growing chorus from certain fans that for Inoue to really prove himself, he had to fight on American soil. Never mind that he had already done so a few times. The reality is that he didn’t have to, but he wanted to return to the States – this time with the full capability of drawing a much bigger audience. “Very much so,” confirmed Arum. “He had a dream, that’s what he told me, of fighting on a big, big stage, particularly in Las Vegas. So he’s going to do that big
fight at the T-Mobile, which is the largest indoor arena in Vegas.” But you do wish he’d had stiffer opposition on May 4. To many fans, Inoue facing Cardenas was akin to Shohei Ohtani hitting off a batting tee. Who knows? Maybe something unlikely happened that evening – and yeah, it would make this column a bit farcical – but it’s doubtful. To put this into perspective, a Cardenas victory would be a bigger upset than Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson. Regardless, this will have been a chance – perhaps the last one – for American fans to see a truly special prizefighter while still in his prime. Hey, beggars can’t be choosers, right? There are plans for Inoue to face former unified 122-pound titleholder Murodjon Akhmadaliev and WBA featherweight beltholder Nick Ball later in 2025, with locales such as Japan and Saudi Arabia being mentioned.
Promoter Bob Arum expects more stateside visits from Inoue.
sounds like “ee-noh-oo-ay.” Eventually, Inoue would face Jason Moloney in the Top Rank “Bubble” in October 2020 and then Michael Dasmarinas at the small room inside the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas the following year. At that time, Inoue was a highly respected boxer with an avid following among the hardcore denizens of the sport, but he had yet to break into the mainstream consciousness outside of Japan. A lot has taken place since then. Inoue not only became both the undisputed bantamweight and junior featherweight champion in the subsequent years, but he is now considered to be among the finest pound-for-pound fighters in the world, if not
However, Arum isn’t convinced that this is Inoue’s last dance in America. “He’s a relatively young man, and he will be fighting at 122 for the next year,” said Arum. “Then once he gets to 126, we expect we’ll be able to bring him back to the United States, because we have so many 126-pound champions.” Always thinking ahead, the 93-year-old Hall of Famer put WBO featherweight titleholder Rafael Espinoza in the May 4 co-feature, thus providing an ESPN-televised foundation for a possible matchup with The Monster. “That’s why he’s on the card.”
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BY THE NUMBERS: Jack McAuliffe by Don Stradley • Illustration by KronkAAArt When referee Billy Roche penned an appreciation for Jack McAuliffe (1866-1937), he appeared to be writing about a flamboyant Broadway actor greeting the masses, a refined dandy who was as much consumed by fashion as fisticuffs. “He would walk across the ring with a lordly air,” Roche wrote, “and there was something royal in his gesture as he threw off his robe and acknowledged the plaudits of the crowd.” Known as “The Napoleon of the Ring,” McAuliffe was among the first to embrace the Marquess of Queensberry Rules. Here’s his story by the numbers.
Controversial Bout with Young Griffo » After their 10-round battle at Coney Island’s Seaside Athletic Club in 1894, most of the 6,200 in attendance felt Australia’s Griffo had outboxed McAuliffe from the first gong to Round 7. Granted, McAuliffe put on a fierce rally over the last three rounds, but it certainly appeared a new lightweight champion was about to be anointed. To the surprise of the onlookers, referee Maxie Moore awarded the bout to McAuliffe. Though McAuliffe opened a bottle of wine in the ring for a victory celebration, the crowd objected. According to a ringside report, “The shout for Griffo went from one end of the amphitheater to the other.” Moore explained that he’d kept a clicker in each hand, counting the punches from each man. McAuliffe had landed 137 clean punches to Griffo’s 123. Moore also tallied the fight in rounds this way: McAuliffe four, Griffo three and three rounds even. Griffo did a lot of slapping and flailing, Moore said, while McAuliffe’s blows were harder. The boxing business was still in its pioneer era, but the argument was already on about which blows should count for more.
Losses » McAuliffe’s overall record differs according to the source, with some putting it at 27-0-10 with 19 knockouts, but what everyone agrees on is that he is one of the few fighters to retire without a loss. For many years, that was his calling card. Born in Cork, Ireland, McAuliffe came to America as a boy, living first in Bangor, Maine, before settling in Brooklyn, New York. His boxing career spanned from the gaslit era of the 1880s, when championship fights were held in secret to avoid police intervention, to the late 1890s, when boxing became mass entertainment and was presented in chic new athletic clubs. Along with his official bouts, he took part in dozens of exhibitions around the country.
Years as Lightweight Champion »
Jack Dempseys on his Resume » How many fighters could say they’d traded blows with both the 1880s Dempsey, known as “The Nonpareil,” and the later Dempsey who became one of the premier sports figures of the 20th century? Indeed, McAuliffe could. He boxed many exhibitions with the first Dempsey, the final being in 1895 in Brooklyn. Sources report that sometime around 1919, McAuliffe, now in his 50s, boxed an exhibition with the second Dempsey in New Jersey. Moreover, he’d also sparred with Georges Carpentier, so when the Dempsey-Carpentier bout was being made, McAuliffe monetized his experience with a vaudeville engagement, billing himself as having been in the ring with both Dempsey and Carpentier. evening dress with a white waistcoat and a flower in his buttonhole.” The sparring was set for three one- minute rounds, but a lot of time had passed since their epic battle in Revere. “McAuliffe was the quicker of the two,” reported the Evening Mail, “and he kept his opponent dancing about all over the ring. Nothing much in the way of blows was landed, but the pace was too hot for Carney, who retired at the end of the second round.” The London Times regarded the sight of the two aging geezers as “tragic,” but McAuliffe probably returned to America and, with his customary bravado, declared he’d outlasted Carney and was still undefeated.
one point, McAuliffe actually fell after slipping on Carney’s blood. In the 74th, as the clock neared 6 a.m., Carney knocked McAuliffe through the ropes, causing that side of the ring to collapse. With their man down, McAuliffe’s crew created a diversion by storming the ring. Referee Frank Stevenson of New York, fearing the police might arrive at any moment, declared the fight over. There was no winner. The fight was supposed to continue at another date to decide a victor, but it went into the history books as a draw. With a winner undeclared, Carney and McAuliffe insulted each other for years. McAuliffe called Carney a dirty fighter who should’ve been disqualified. In turn, Carney’s backers said the fight was stopped by armed gamblers who had bet on McAuliffe and felt he was on the verge of losing. Carney explained to The Sun, “One bloke put a gun to my head and said he’d blow my brains out if I didn’t get out.” McAuliffe proclaimed himself the lightweight champion starting in 1885, but it wasn’t until January 1887, with a 28th-round KO of Harry Gilmore in Lawrence, Massachusetts, that he was generally regarded as the division’s best man. He maintained his standing until November 1894, when he broke his wrist during a draw with Owen Ziegler in Brooklyn and relinquished the belt due to the injury shortly thereafter.
Carnival of Champions » In September of 1892, with the famous John L. Sullivan- James J. Corbett fight as the highlight, the Olympic Club of New Orleans hosted a three-night program billed as “The Carnival of Champions.” One night saw featherweight champion George Dixon stop challenger Jack Skelly in eight, while another saw McAuliffe score a 15th-round KO of Billy Myer, who had previously held McAuliffe to a 64-round draw in Indiana. McAuliffe also served as Sullivan’s chief cornerman during the Corbett fight, which ended with Sullivan knocked out in the 21st. “It was pitiful,” McAuliffe said, “and taught me a lesson that made me avoid fighting that one fight too many when I found myself slipping.”
Rounds with Jem Carney » On November 16, 1887, in a secluded stable that was part of the Atlantic Hotel at Revere Beach near Boston, McAuliffe and
Carney fought for five hours. Blankets were placed over the windows to keep the affair private, while an invited audience of no more than 50 men settled in to witness Carney, the top lightweight of England, challenge McAuliffe, the top lightweight of America. It was a bout that had taken months to make, a sort of superfight of the post-Civil War era, for a purse of $4,500. Fighting under the Queensberry rules with skin-tight yellow gloves, McAuliffe got out to an early lead. By the 12th, the Boston Globe reported that Carney’s nose was “split across the bridge” and that his forehead “began to bulge out in great disproportion.” Yet Carney found a second wind, and then a third. As the fight dragged on for the next 50 rounds, it seemed neither man could gain an edge for long. At
Years of Bitterness » McAuliffe and Carney remained bitter enemies after their 1887 draw, but in 1914 they put aside their differences and met in London for a boxing exhibition. According to the Birmingham Evening Mail, 48-year-old McAuliffe was his usual splendid self as he arrived for the event “in immaculate
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Ring Ratings Analysis Through fights of April 5, 2025 • By Brian Harty
it to the fourth, but his already-compromised legs were entirely rubberized when he absorbed another flush right uppercut followed by a pair of overhand finishers about 40 seconds into the round. Martinez broke into the ratings at No. 10 as a result of the impressive win, replacing Erik Bazinyan. JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT: Jesus Ramos got a bump from No. 9 to No. 8 after his seventh-round stoppage of Guido Schramm, who was pinned on the ropes when a heavy left hook left him too damaged to fend off further punches from the 24-year-old Arizonan. This was the third-straight TKO win for Ramos since his lone defeat against Erickson Lubin in September 2023. WELTERWEIGHT: Brian Norman Jr. was promoted from No. 5 to No. 3 after a brief but methodical beatdown of Derrieck Cuevas, who failed to come up with a convincing response when asked if he wanted to continue after getting floored in the third round. While Norman was climbing to his new perch, he had to pass by No. 4-rated David Avanesyan, which prompted one panelist to ask why Avanesyan was there to be passed in the first place. Starting in December 2022, he has fought four times: Two were knockout losses to Terence Crawford and Jaron Ennis, and the other two were stoppage wins against men with a combined record of 22-58-3 at the time. Not “Top 5” stuff, really. The panelist suggested lowering Avanesyan to No. 10 or ousting him entirely. That suggestion was embraced by some, but opposition from another panel member rekindled a tricky debate: Should changes to the ratings be allowed outside of the normal cycle of weekly events? Put another way: Are we allowed to make corrections? It last came up when a ratings discussion veered toward placing Artur Beterbiev above Dmitry Bivol on the pound-for-pound list but below him on the light heavyweight list – something that didn’t really make sense for two guys who only fight at one weight. Before that, the panel debated whether Sunny Edwards vs. Jesse Rodriguez – a fight that everybody agreed should crown a flyweight king – should be for the vacant Ring championship even though they were ranked No. 1 and No. 4, respectively, and the rules state that a vacancy can only be filled by No.
Rohan Polanco entered at No. 10. (And a quick note to Jaron Ennis and his fans: We barely had time to slap the Opening Shot onto this magazine as it passed by on its way to the printer, so we’ll get back to that performance next time. Look for a feature in the June issue.) FEATHERWEIGHT: Rey Vargas (No. 5) last fought to a draw against Nick Ball in March 2024 and had nothing scheduled at press time, so the former two-division titleholder from Mexico was removed for inactivity. Arriving at No. 10 to pick up the slack was undefeated Californian Omar Trinidad. The rock-solid Ball, meanwhile, stayed put at No. 3 after beating TJ Doheny, whose corner pulled the plug in the 10th to save their fighter from two more rounds of abuse from the young WBA titleholder. Bruce Carrington (No. 8 last month) used a combo straight out of a mitt drill to floor Enrique Vivas in Round 2 – uppercut, dip to avoid the counter hook that whiffs overhead, left to the body, right to the head – but you rarely see it executed so perfectly during a real fight. After referee Raul Caiz Jr. put an end to the clinic in the next round, “Shu Shu” got a one-spot promotion as payment for his teaching services. FLYWEIGHT: Teraji (No. 2 last month) and Akui (No. 3) gave fans a fascinating brawl in mid-March, blending will and skill as they angled for openings to chop at each other with unwavering tenacity in the center of the ring. Both had success, neither gave any ground, and the underdog Akui was ahead on one official scorecard and trailing by just one point on the other two going into the 12th round. Then, suddenly, Teraji slammed into a higher gear, churning at Akui’s head with both hands and whipsawing his foe’s midsection with hooks until Akui, overwhelmed, fell into a clinch for the first time all night. The surge continued as Kenshiro summoned one heavy bomb after another from an apparently inexhaustible stockpile, still throwing and pursuing as Akui staggered backward and referee Katsuhiko Nakamura stepped in at 1:31. With Akui’s WBA belt now providing a counterbalance to the WBC strap already draped on Teraji’s shoulder, the winner ascended to No. 1 on the list while the valiant
1 facing No. 2 (and sometimes No. 3). In both cases, the standings were the result of small decisions that became glaring anomalies over time. Back to Avanesyan: He wasn’t punished too much for losing to a pound-for-pound prodigy in Crawford. His loss to Ennis was also forgivable in itself, but a look back at the ratings discussion shows that the debate that week was focused on whether to bring the legendary Roman Gonzalez back into the ratings after beating Rober Barrera, a win of questionable significance, and Avanesyan’s loss didn’t get much attention. Add in the two stay-busy fights that kept Avanesyan in the mix and the attrition that occurs when others exit the list, and you end up with a guy in the top 5 who looks strange being there. The first panel member argued that Avanesyan’s position was an obvious mistake that should be corrected. The opposing panel member favored strict adherence to the process, saying that the alternative “lacks rigor and can easily lead people down the road to playing favorites/punishing others. […] The panel needs to avoid arbitrary moves like this in favor of a rigorous and consistent approach.” The counter was that the proposal was not arbitrary; it was based on facts. And favoritism is put in check – in theory, at least – by the votes of other members. Panelist No. 2, whose hardline position had also found support, wouldn’t budge, saying these things need to work themselves out by the same process that created them. The panel was faced with approaching the situation as a court approaches the law: The rules state that “The Ring Editorial Board considers input from the Ratings Panel of boxing journalists from around the world and then decides collectively what changes will be made.” Can this be interpreted as permission to make changes at any time? Does rigor exist only in staying within the weekly cycle, or is continuous monitoring and tweaking its own form of rigor? When it comes to a list based on expertise, is it more important to favor process over consensus? It’s an ongoing debate. Another panelist offered this: “Strict rules and consistency are important and essential, and we should continue to do so. However, when you find a ranking that is off the mark like this one, it seems right to admit your mistake and correct it.” In this case, Avanesyan was removed and
fight kept him busy enough to avoid being dropped for a year without action. He’ll be back in the ring facing Jose Ramirez as part of the Times Square day of reckoning on May 2 (with old pal Garcia in the main event), so Haney will be under the microscope soon enough. For the time being, Benavidez is out. HEAVYWEIGHT: It won’t make anyone’s list of candidates for Performance of the Year, but Filip Hrgovic’s unanimous decision victory over Joe Joyce was enough for a promotion. Voting to favor the simple equation of “W > L,” the panel moved the Croatian from No. 8 to No. 6, placing him above Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole, who both lost in their most recent fights. CRUISERWEIGHT: Arsen Goulamirian (No. 5 last month) triggered the inactivity trapdoor by not having a fight since his transatlantic letdown against Gilberto Ramirez in March 2024. Once the Frenchman had dropped off the list, undefeated Swede Robin Sirwan Safar moved in at No. 10.
SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT: Joeshon James was at his best
POUND FOR POUND: After coming out on the winning side of 11½ rounds of trench civil warfare with countryman Seigo Yuri Akui, Kenshiro Teraji was nominated to replace David Benavidez at No. 10 on the list. It wasn’t without some trepidation, as the quality of Benavidez’s ongoing run at 168 and now 175 pounds inspired several members of the ratings panel to defend his P4P credentials. An alternative proposal was to drop the next man up the list instead: No. 9-rated Devin Haney. He’s a complicated case, however. Haney fought in April 2024 and
Kenshiro Teraji (right) takes it to Seigo Yuri Akui en route to a dramatic 12th- round stoppage victory.
when boxing from a distance in his twice- postponed matchup with Lester Martinez, but he strayed into unsafe territory once it was clear that the quicker Guatemalan couldn’t be defeated by long jabs alone. Martinez could overcome the arm-length disparity with his quicker feet, but he was even better at close quarters when mixing in some Y-axis attacks, scoring with uppercuts and then completely surprising James with an overhand right that dropped the Californian into what seemed like a definitive heap at the end of Round 3. James surprisingly beat the count and made
dropped a majority decision to Ryan Garcia, but that result was nullified after Garcia tested positive for a banned performance-enhancer. So while Haney’s last official win was a unanimous decision over Regis Prograis all the way back in December 2023, he hasn’t officially lost since then, either, and the Garcia
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