Nick Bond retweeted
With EA confirming the return of its Fight Night series, which cover would you pick? 🎮
Nick Bond retweeted
New @BoxingNewsED out today offers a sweeping take on the long road to a fight a decade in the making.
Plus features on Murat Gassiev, Ryan Garcia, George Chuvalo, Bobby Benton and Armando Muniz.
Nearest stockist: tinyurl.com/bnstores Or buy online: boxingnews.imbmsubscriptions…
Nick Bond retweeted
Quiet Rise: Bobby Benton is, to my mind, one of the world’s most under-appreciated trainers, largely because of his unwillingness to promote himself. Regis Prograis and O’Shaquie Foster had instead been doing that for him, but this month he spoke to @BoxingNewsED
Nick Bond retweeted
𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫: 🇬🇧 Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua 🇬🇧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐛𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲.
On sale now 🔗 boxingnews.imbmsubscriptions…
#BoxingNews #FuryJoshua
Nick Bond retweeted
Muhammad Ali scored his penultimate career victory against Earnie Shavers at Madison Square Garden #OnThisDay in 1977.
Then aged 35 and largely winning fights through his cunning and with a little help from admiring judges in charge of scoring his fights, Ali had squeaked past the likes of Ken Norton and Jimmy Young, but now he was facing a monster puncher in the form of the heavy-handed Shavers.
This was far from vintage Ali, but the fact he stood up to some thunderous punishment from one of the hardest punchers in history is testament to his durability, which was both a blessing and a curse.
The scores were reasonably close but not as close as many observers had it – with Ali prevailing by margins of 9-6, 9-6 and 9-5 (with one of these tallies being handed in by Eva Shain, who that night in New York became the first woman to score a world title fight). So Ali had escaped with his belt once again, but at what cost?
It was soon after this fight that Ali’s long-time doctor and friend Ferdie Pacheco quit his official role, stating how Ali’s kidneys were “falling apart.” The strain on Ali’s health had been too much for Pacheco, but Ali would fight on – on and off for another four years.
Ali had just one victory left inside his tired body; a revenge win over novice Leon Spinks.
Nick Bond retweeted
Sometimes one knows one is witnessing greatness as it happens. That was the feeling among those who saw the third and final fight between the two warriors that were Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in Manila #OnThisDay in 1975.
All those in crowd, and millions watching on television around the world, knew they were experiencing a fight that would be talked about for as long as people are interested in boxing.
The Boxing News ringside special report called it “one of the great all-time heavyweight battles”. That was an instant judgement; since then many have crowned it the best fight ever in the sport’s blue riband division – even the best at any weight.
It should have been expected. The two had met twice before, the first time in 1971 as a pair of unbeatens in the “Fight of the Century” at Madison Square Garden. Frazier won on points over 15 rounds to retain the world heavyweight title, but Ali gained revenge at the same venue in January 1974, this time over 12 sessions.
The third and final encounter was a battle of stunning intensity in which both had their moments. They were desperately tired, but Ali’s conditioning had enabled him to last the ferocious pace better.
We will never know what might have transpired in the last round because during the interval after the 14th Frazier’s trainer Eddie Futch withdrew his man.
That prompted Nat Loubert to write in The Ring: “Futch should be given a medal for humanity’s sake.”
The last word can be left with the gentlemanly Futch, who assured his bloodied but defiant charge: “Joe, no one will ever forget what you did here today”
