Situated just over ten miles from Glasgow’s city centre on the North Bank of the River Clyde, Dumbarton has kept a low profile in recent years, smothered in the shadow of its own famous rock. Boxing hasn’t brought the town the success that other sports have, with no mention of any fighters or particular contests […]
“What am I going to fight for? Unless someone comes over and says, ‘Andy we’re giving you four million dollars.’ Or stupid money that you could say, ‘Well, look it’s worth it.’ But otherwise you’re just chasing something that’s not really there anymore. I’m happy now. It’s just fulfilment,” explained fighting favourite and now professional trainer-manager, Andy Lee (35-3, […]
Behind the scenes at a packed, vibrant York Hall, fighters are milling about, smashing pads or lightly jogging on the spot. Weeks, and often months of preparation have led to this moment, fighting at one of the sport’s historic venues in front of friends and family. Behind one chipped, wooden door, the sound of retching […]
The eye-catching sparkle, thrown up from yet another diamond-encrusted Audemars Piguet or a jewelled, limited edition Rolex screams ‘success’ at the top of its lungs. It’s been a status-symbol for decades, the ridiculous timepiece flanked by equally flashy bracelets and unbearable chains, causing gradual whiplash with pendants as gaudy as Adam Sandler’s Pokémon-themed accessory seen in Netflix […]
The sun shining over both Chelmsley Wood’s rough council estate in Birmingham, England and the glossy city of Calabasas, Los Angeles is shared. Its intensity varies, burning brighter on American soil as it bounces off the windows of glamorous, designer shopping malls. Hollywood sits gently in its distance, the home of the beautiful, often painting […]
“I didn’t really pay attention to anyone, to be fair,” opened unbeaten super-middleweight, Zach Parker (18-0, 12KOs), when asked about the fallout from his controversial British title triumph, sixteen months ago. “Everyone has an opinion in life and people will always disagree about things. It didn’t really bother me, at all. I just get on with […]
Cycling through all four of Hartlepool’s seasons in one day, the young daughter of a foster carer and a roofer found familiarity in Hartlepool’s fully-funded Headland boxing gym. Occupying her evenings after school and filling time on the weekends, she devoted herself to the sport, when others crumbled at the door of teenage vices. The […]
This weekend, a British-Yemeni champion faces his toughest test in the form of a Nicaraguan cult, boxing icon. It’s a fight that’s long-overdue, between men that have often been linked. Kal Yafai (26-0, 15KOs) has yet to make the headlines his earlier performances suggested were a formality; whilst Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez (48-2, 40KOs) has grasped […]
The shoulder-shimmying and the kiss blown across the ring may have seemed arrogant to some, but for Deontay Wilder, those gestures allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief. He trotted backwards, eyes as wide as my own scorecard tallied against him, with another opponent in an all-too familiar position – flat on his back. […]
“If I lose, what am I going to do next? I don’t know nothing else,” Super middleweight prospect John Docherty (7-0, 5KOs) told Boxing Social, as he prepared for his first outing of an important new year. “I don’t have anything else to do after boxing, so I can’t lose,” he added. “That’s what’s in […]
Beyond the dark, solid door of another unnamed facility, basking in the unbending Las Vegas heat, finely tuned athletes were somersaulting and dragging their bodies through the mill. A warehouse in Sin City is so much more than just a warehouse. The creaking of Olympic rings, carrying the weight of multiple, small acrobats, could be […]
There were more bodies than beds, cramped into the one-bedroom apartment in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. Bent like a little contortionist, the youngest of the struggling Mendez family wrestled with the searing heat during his attempts to sleep, following another day of hard graft. In Caribbean Islands such as Puerto Rico, education lands a distant […]