A Boxing Memory: Eusebio Pedroza In 1985, the brilliant and long-reigning WBA featherweight champion Eusebio Pedroza was still a formidable fighter. The decline may have been setting in, but if Barry McGuigan thought he would give up that title without a fight, he would have been greatly mistaken. But McGuigan would have expected a tough … Continue reading A Boxing Memory: Eusebio Pedroza →

A Boxing Memory: Arturo Gatti The way he died will perhaps always be in dispute. But the way he fought will never be disputed. Arturo Gatti was a two-weight world champion and was involved in some of the greatest fights in boxing history. The three fights with Micky Ward are a thing of legend. The … Continue reading A Boxing Memory: Arturo Gatti →

A Boxing Memory: Alexis Arguello Many boxers suffer in retirement, but maybe Alexis Arguello suffered more than most. The many demons he fought for much of his life resulted in Arguello committing suicide in 2009. A single gunshot wound to his chest at his home in Managua, Nicaragua, when he was just 57 ended the life … Continue reading A Boxing Memory: Alexis Arguello →

A Boxing Memory: Jimmy Young The two biggest fights in the career of Jimmy Young were ones he wasn’t meant to win. In one of those, he should have won. The other he did win. But despite that upset victory over George Foreman in 1977, it didn’t quite happen for Young. A fighter easily forgotten, … Continue reading A Boxing Memory: Jimmy Young →

A Boxing Memory: Davey Moore A career that was so brief but far more tragic. A star that once shone so bright before it all came crashing down. The career was cut short. His life also. A world title after only nine fights, an away trip to Japan earned him the WBA  light-middleweight title and … Continue reading A Boxing Memory: Davey Moore →

A Boxing Memory: Emile Griffith "I kill a man, and most forgive me… I love a man, and many say this makes me an evil person." Emile Griffith lived a double life. A secret life, or more accurately, a not-so-secret life. Griffith was gay in a time and in a country where, with the exception … Continue reading A Boxing Memory: Emile Griffith →

A Boxing Memory: Sonny Banks Not many people know that it was Sonny Banks who was the first fighter to knock down Muhammad Ali as a professional. Even the pub quizzes I used to frequent back in the day used to name Henry Cooper as that fighter when the question was asked. Not many people … Continue reading A Boxing Memory: Sonny Banks →

A Boxing Memory: Battling Siki By Garry White There are probably two words that best sum up the life of Louis M’Barick Fall, known forever to the boxing world by his chosen ring name of Battling Siki (60-24-4, 31KOs). The first of these would have to be: fearless. An attribute adequately characterised by his travelling as … Continue reading A Boxing Memory: Battling Siki →

A Boxing Memory: Vassiliy Jirov By Cain Bradley Kazakhstan has turned itself into somewhat of a boxing superpower. It produces brilliant results in the amateur scene whilst Gennady Golovkin is the trailblazer for some great young talents. Before Golovkin emerged though, there was a different man who represented Kazakh boxing admirably. That was Vassiliy Jirov, … Continue reading A Boxing Memory: Vassiliy Jirov →