In boxing, the past remains an ever present obsession. We display a reverence for history and the written word that borders on compulsion, poring through old newspapers, compiling lists of names and dates, catalogs of fights and fighters and clippings from old magazines. Even after a century of technological innovation — film, radio, television, and streaming — we still look to the writers, our scribes of the sweet science, for fresh insight into this ancient sport. We celebrate our bibliography from Homer and Virgil through to Byron and Whitman, from London and Hemingway to Mailer and Oates ..read more

Anyone with even the most perfunctory education in the long history of prizefighting knows enough not to question the status of one Henry Melody Jackson, aka Henry Armstrong. The man is a genuine legend and any ranking of the all-time greatest ring warriors, pound-for-pound, must, if it’s to be taken seriously, have his name near the very top. In one of the sport’s most competitive eras, Armstrong was a phenomenon, a force of nature, and, for a time, undisputed king of the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions simultaneously, a feat never to be duplicated. The one-and-only Henr ..read more

The discord and violence, the blood, brutality, and brain trauma, it has all come to a head. Was it the delusion of a “civilized society,” spurred by human naivete that finally stripped boxing of its last veneer of respectability? Did a single incident serve as the final straw? Or maybe it was just the passing of an age when people had less access to visceral spectacles to satisfy their death drive—after all, television had yet to be invented when the fight game was still acceptable, still mainstream. Six years ago, everything changed: boxing was turned over to robots, and whatever sparked its ..read more

Yesterday marked a full century since Abe Goldstein became the first Jewish world champ of the bantamweight division. An orphan from New York’s Lower East Side, he experienced an unusual and hard-fought climb to the championship at a time when the bantamweight division was loaded with talent. Among those Abe would face before attaining his chance at glory would be Joe Lynch, Kid Williams, Johnny Buff, Frankie Genaro, Pancho Villa, and Joe Burman. They were all stars, but to the Jewish people of New York City, Goldstein was something more; he was “The Pride of the Ghetto.” Like almost every oth ..read more

There have been few brawlers whose willingness to do whatever it took to win matched that of Oscar Nelson or Adolphus Wolgast. The careers of both Hall of Fame warriors consisted of one torturous marathon fight after another. Individually, their nigh-superhuman displays of endurance were responsible for herculean dramas that astonished fans. That these two bloodthirsty champions inhabited the lightweight division at the same time was either a godsend or a curse, depending on how much of a stomach one had for prehistoric savagery. Whenever a prizefight had the billing of Nelson vs Wolgast, a sc ..read more

It was actually supposed to be happening today, the big “Ring of Fire” event in the oppressive totalitarian state of Saudi Arabia with a Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk showdown as the main event. But, as frustrated fight fans know, a bad cut sustained in training has forced Fury to withdraw from the scheduled fight date and in turn forced the Saudi government to take a break from killing more children in Yemen to help organizers re-schedule the big clash for heavyweight bragging rights to May 18th. Which begs the question, will this lengthy delay affect the outcome of the bout when it finally ha ..read more

I will not attempt to feign impartiality in regards to David Curcio’s new book of insightful essays on boxing movies, Smash Hit: Race, Crime, and Culture in Boxing Films. Curcio and I spoke of his project in its embryonic stage and I read many of the essays in draft form. An erudite and wide-ranging volume, of equal interest to both film buffs and fight fans, Smash Hit offers informed discussions on twenty movies, ranging through all the 20th century and into the 21st, as Curcio explores at turns the history of cinema, the silver screen star power of certain champions, and the influence of the ..read more

The year just ended was, in many, if not most, respects, a very good year for professional prizefighting. We saw more high-stakes match-ups, more great fights, and more outstanding performances than anyone really has a right to expect from 21st century boxing. There’s always room for improvement, always disappointments, and always match-ups that failed to materialize, but the bottom line is boxing came through in 2023 in a way we haven’t seen for quite some time. All we can do is hope the positive trends continue in 2024. In the meantime, here’s our take on the year just finished and the fight ..read more

Tune in to our first episode of 2024 for an in-depth interview with site contributor and author David Curcio on his new book, Smash Hit: Race, Crime, and Culture in Boxing Films. In this fascinating work, David details how crime, race, and boxing intersect and reflect who we are as a culture. David covers famous film titles such as, Ali, Raging Bull, and Fat City, but also delves into lesser known films such as Girlfight and The Prizefighter and the Lady. If you like boxing and the big screen, make sure to tune into this episode! Check it out:   Let our creators know what content you wou ..read more

Author and site contributor Kenneth Bridgham has recently published his second book, a biography of one Henry Melody Jackson Jr., aka the great Henry Armstrong. Set in an America beset by racism, corruption, the Great Depression, and World War II, Homicide Hank: The Life of Boxing Legend Henry Armstrong chronicles the story of a true ring great, from his humble beginnings to the heights of stardom and on to his post-boxing years as a man of God. Surprisingly, it is the only complete biography of one of pugilism’s most significant champions and thus deserves to be widely read and discussed. Mor ..read more