The Ring (magazine)
The Ring is an American
boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the legitimacy of Pro Wrestling came more into question The Ring shifted to becoming just a boxing publication. It is considered to be one of the oldest boxing publication in non-stop circulation.
Encyclopedia
The Ring is an American
boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the legitimacy of Pro Wrestling came more into question The Ring shifted to becoming just a boxing publication. It is considered to be one of the oldest boxing publication in non-stop circulation.
History
The Ring, first edited by hall-of-famer Nat Fleischer, has opened boxing scandals, helped make unknown fighters famous worldwide, and covered boxing's biggest events of all time. Dan Daniel was a co-founder and prolific contributor to
The Ring through most of its history.
In 1977, three international versions of the magazine came out. One, the
Spanish version, was named
The Ring En Espanol and was published from
Venezuela and distributed around all Spanish-speaking countries and the
United States until 1985. There was also a
Japanese version published in
Tokyo and a
French version published in
Paris.
Also in 1977, boxer
Cathy Cat Davis became the first and only female ever to be on a cover of
The Ring.
The magazine was taken over by flamboyant publisher
Bert Randolph Sugar in 1979, who hired
Randy Gordon—who would go on later that decade to become New York's boxing commissioner—as his editor-in-chief. Together, over the next five years, they put together what is still regarded by many readers as the finest issues of
The Ring the sporting world has yet to see. By 1985, both Sugar and Gordon had moved on, then watched from the sidelines as
The Ring nearly went bankrupt in 1989, causing the magazine to be taken off stands. It rebounded in 1992 and has been on a healthy run to
supermarket stands and magazine establishments around the world ever since.
It can be said that
The Ring is as classic a magazine as such others like
Time Magazine is a weekly American [i] newsmagazine [i], similar to
Newsweek [i] and U.S. News & World Report [i] ...
,
People,
Sports Illustrated is an iconic weekly American [i] sport [i]s magazine [i] owned by media [i] ...
,
Tiger Beat and
Popular Mechanics. It refers to itself as "The Bible of Boxing."
Some of the boxers featured on the magazine covers have included
Jack Dempsey, Max Schmeling,
Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson,
Jake LaMotta,
Rocky Marciano, Willie Pep,
Muhammad Ali, Alexis Arguello,
Wilfredo Benitez,
Wilfredo Gomez,
Roberto Duran,
Larry Holmes, Marvin Hagler,
Sugar Ray Leonard,
Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Julio Cesar Chavez,
Félix Trinidad, and
Oscar De La Hoya.
The Ring is published by London Publications, which also publishes sister magazines
KO Magazine and
World Boxing—former competitors of
The Ring.
The Ring champions
In 2002,
The Ring attempted to clear up the confusion regarding world champions by creating a championship policy. It echoes many critics' arguments that the sanctioning bodies that control the championships in boxing had undermined the sport because of undeserving contenders fighting undeserving champions, and forcing the boxing public to see mismatches for a "so-called" world championship. It attempts to be more authoritative and open than the sanctioning bodies' rankings, with a page devoted to full explanations for ranking changes. A fighter pays no sanctioning fees to defend or fight for the title at stake, contrary to practices of the sanctioning bodies. Furthermore, a fighter cannot be stripped of the title unless he decides to move up in weight or retire.
Generally, the
Ring champion will hold at least one of the three major sanctioning bodies' titles However, it has broken ranks at times .
While the seemingly more reasonable
Ring policies have pleased some, critics claim that
Ring championships are just opinions, and that a journalistic institution shouldn't be "making the news" of who is champion. Thus far, the wider press has made little note of the Ring's policy.
See also
- Ring Magazine fighters of the year
- Ring Magazine fights of the year
- Ring Magazine knockouts of the year
- Ring Magazine upsets of the year
- Ring Magazine comeback of the year
- Ring Magazine event of the year
- Ring Magazine round of the year
- Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time
- Ring Magazine's list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years
- Ring Magazine pound for pound
- Ring Magazine hall of fame
- The Ring Boxing The 20th Century
External link
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