Mark Baldwin's Latest Posts
In many ways, Gary Mason was a victim of timing. Mason was overshadowed by another British heavyweight of the time who grabbed the majority of the headlines when they were both climbing up the ladder of contenders. Frank Bruno was the man o...
The last time Boxing Social spoke to Dennis Hobson was a few weeks prior to his groundbreaking ‘Straightener in the Car Park’ show in December. Hobson is by nature a gambler; putting on a show in the middle of a pandemic, outsid...
Mark Baldwin looks at Saturday night’s high-profile WBA bantamweight title clash between Watford’s Shannon Courtenay and charismatic Australian Ebanie Bridges, whose artful self-promotion has stolen the limelight and earned an u...
Two-weight world champion Michael Spinks recalls his close encounters with heavyweight great Larry Holmes that gripped the boxing world in the mid-1980s, in conversation with Mark Baldwin. Heading into his 49th professional bout, Larry Holm...
There are two sides to Blackpool. The focus is on the bright lights, and hustle and bustle of the seafront. The holiday brochures only show you want they want you to see. But the decay and dereliction of the back streets are not in full vie...
The journey started in 2019; two fights, two wins. Rhiannon Dixon had made those tentative first steps on the professional ladder. Dixon had a fight scheduled for last March, but the global pandemic would leave her kicking her heels in frus...
There was a time, not that long ago, that British heavyweights were cruelly branded and labelled as horizontal. A near-century of failure to capture the biggest and richest prize in boxing resulted in that unfortunate and unflattering asses...
Testing times often bring innovation and veteran promoter Dennis Hobson chose to do exactly that. On December 11, Hobson will promote another show, but one with a difference – with Tommy Frank and Kyle Yousaf meeting for the vacant Br...
Before a handful of spectators on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the career of Kell Brook almost certainly ended. In many ways, it was a sad finale to a career that promised so much, despite winning a version of the world wel...
There are endless ‘what if’ stories in boxing. There are numerous tales of fighters turning around their lives from a criminal past. Boxing has many redemption stories, the sport has undoubtedly saved many. But it can’t save everyone,...
On its 40th anniversary, Mark Baldwin looks back at one of the grimmest spectacles in boxing history – when a peak Larry Holmes dismantled the shadow of a once great Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali had a career of pulling off miracles insi...
When the call came to fight Sugar Ray Leonard, any fighter would pick up the phone and say yes. Donny Lalonde was the recipient of that golden ticket in November 1988 with Sugar Ray on the comeback trail once again with another retirement a...
It was a golden era full of domestic stars. But even in an age where the likes of Lennox Lewis, Frank Bruno, Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn and others were drawing massive TV audiences and tabloid print, a young featherweight was also catching th...
On 23 October 2009, two boxers temporarily put their friendship aside. Jamie Moore entered the Bolton Arena ring the betting favourite and on the verge of a world title shot. The Mancunian was defending his European 154lbs crown, but much m...
In August 2017, two worlds formed a union of mutual convenience. Conor McGregor, the biggest star the world of MMA has ever seen, crossed the great divide and entered a new domain to challenge Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a boxing match. When it...
In September 1981, two rival champions treated us to one of the greatest fights in boxing history and arguably the best welterweight title match we are ever likely to see. WBC champion Sugar Ray Leonard and WBA title-holder Thomas Hearns se...
Badly overweight and battling severe mental demons, any chances of a successful comeback looked remote for Tyson Fury a couple of years ago. Frank Warren took a punt, of course, and the former undisputed heavyweight champion launched a mira...
Timing is everything in boxing. Taking a fight at the wrong time can have devastating, long-lasting consequences on a career. Equally, it can have tragic life-changing implications – you have to know when to let go. Larry Holmes had t...
On April 15th 1985, in a temporary arena built on the tennis courts of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, two fighters gave us everything and a little bit more. One came for redemption, the other for greatness. They met head on, in the most dr...