An independent boxing website
It is 1942, a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and America is at war. As the country enters this new chapter in its history, one thing remains unchanged: the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world is Joe
Read more
The great Joe Louis, already something of a legend, made his first defense as heavyweight champion against Welshman Tommy Farr just nine weeks after his title-winning knockout over James J. Braddock. Few thought Farr capable of troubling Louis, let
Read more
At the end of the second, Frankie Campbell tells his corner, “Something feels like it broke in my head.” He’d put future heavyweight champion Max Baer down in that round with a left to the ribs, though it
Read more
Fighting families are not exactly unique in boxing. Indeed, the history of prizefighting is filled with siblings who shared the profession, such as Max and Buddy Baer, Leon and Michael Spinks, Gabriel and Rafael Ruelas, Gaby and Orlando
Read more
Former world champion Max Schmeling was a solid 10-to-1 underdog when he faced rising contender and awesome knockout artist Joe Louis in a major heavyweight showdown in June of 1936. A huge crowd in Yankee Stadium expected to
Read more
Think back, if you will boxing fans, and recollect those breathless days of yesteryear, when the young, can’t-miss prospect, the next great star of the ring, thrilled you as he bounded over the obstacles to fistic success like
Read more
It is 1941 and while some say death and taxes are the only sure things in life, American sports fans know different. There exists a third certainty: Joe Louis will win his next fight. And then the one after
Read more
The great Joe Louis was born on this day in 1914 and no serious fight fan needs to be reminded as to why he will always be a legend of pugilism. He was the most dominant heavyweight champion
Read more
The comeback trail is a well-trodden path for professional boxers. Ex-champions, contenders, and club fighters alike are all tempted to return to the ring for one last payday. This was indeed the case with Jack Dempsey, who made
Read more
“I could have struggled up once more, but when I get executed, people are going to have to pay more than twenty-five dollars a seat to watch it.” — Max Baer “Joe’s punches could paralyze you … Anywhere
Read more
Boxing and cinema have always had a warm relationship. In fact, the very first feature film in the history of motion pictures is The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight, a documentary released in 1897. In the decades since, countless movies telling
Read more
Rocky is a great movie, and Creed was pretty good, but they get my town all wrong when it comes to boxing. The films portray Philadelphia as a city of lovable losers who can almost never get to the
Read more
Heavyweight champ Jess Willard was 6’6, but he was absolutely destroyed by Jack Dempsey who stood five inches shorter and gave away 58 pounds. Another huge champion, Primo Canera, was just under 6’6 and weighed over 260 pounds,
Read more
Undefeated. Invincible. Unstoppable. The best. The greatest. All applied to Ronda Rousey short hours ago, and thus her fall to unheralded Holly Holm is easily the biggest upset of the year in combat sports. Rousey had ended all
Read more
A closer look at Joe Louis’ defeat at the hands of former champion Max Schmeling reveals a masterclass in boxing skill, with Schmeling controlling the terms of the match from start to finish. Few gave Schmeling a chance
Read more
“I thought I could lick Baer. I thought I can outpoint him. They never gave me a chance. But he was just another opponent and I was in there to fight him.” “I knew from the start that
Read more
At a polite social gathering, a friend introduces you to someone as, among other things, “a boxing fan,” or “a boxing writer,” or perhaps even “an ardent follower of ‘The Sweet Science.’” For a few minutes your new
Read more