The Ring Magazine - The Bible of Boxing, February 2026 • Volume 103, No. 2
62 MARIO’S WORLD BEING WRITTEN OFF IS NOTHING NEW, BUT MARIO BARRIOS AIMS TO SHOW RYAN GARCIA THAT HE IS NOBODY’S STEPPING STONE By Joseph Santoliquito 70 FIRST FIGHTER CECILIA BRAEKHUS LEAVES THE SPORT AS A TRAILBLAZING ICON, BUT HER GOAL WAS NEVER SO GRANDIOSE By Michael Rosenthal 78 THEYAWN FROM SAN JUAN THE NIGHT MUHAMMAD ALI DEFENDED THE HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE AGAINST AN OBSCURE NO-HOPER NAMED JEAN-PIERRE COOPMAN By Don Stradley DEPARTMENTS 6 OPENING SHOTS 9 RINGSIDE By Doug Fischer 14 BERNSTEIN ON BOXING By Al Bernstein 17 STEVE’S SOAPBOX By Steve Kim 20 BY THE NUMBERS By Don Stradley 23 RING RATINGS 52 PROSPECT WATCH: PAT BROWN By Dom Farrell 74 HOW TO WATCH BOXING By Adam Abramowitz 84 FIGHT OF FANTASY By Anson Wainwright 86 COLLECTOR’S SHOWCASE By Dan Rafael 88 THE FIGHT DOCTOR By Dr. Margaret Goodman 90 A SLICE OF BOXING By Thomas Hauser 92 COMMISSIONER’S CORNER By Randy Gordon 94 FINISHING SHOTS 96 FIGHTLINE
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32 SUPERFIGHT SHUFFLE IN THE WAKE OF “RING V” IN RIYADH, ATTENTION IS SHIFTING TO A POTENTIAL MATCHUP BETWEEN NAOYA INOUE AND JESSE “BAM” RODRIGUEZ By Tom Gray 38 EPIC STYLE RENOWNED PHOTOGRAPHER DAVID LACHAPELLE’S PORTRAITS OF MODERN BOXERS EXUDE A MONOMYTHIC GLOW By Brian Harty
46 A HEAVY HEART ICONIC BRITISH PROMOTER FRANK WARREN HAS ALWAYS LOVED THE HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION – AND THE CURRENT LANDSCAPE DELIGHTS HIM By Gareth A. Davies 56 SPECIAL BREW AT JUST 26, JESSE “BAM” RODRIGUEZ IS ALREADY A LOCK FOR THE HALL OF FAME, AND HIS GREATEST NIGHTS ARE POTENTIALLY YET TO COME By Corey Erdman
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