Unprecedented. Katie Taylor and being there.

I don’t get to the fights like I used to. Understanding a fight fully, by relating to it on a sensory level, as a lived experience, is lost as a result. The atmosphere is a vital part of the story. Whether rousing a fallen hero or setting the tone as a villain walks to the apron, a crowd, large, or small, may not be able to win a fight, but it can draw back a boxer on the brink of defeat and it can even the odds for an underdog. As such, a ring side press seat offers a perspective for reporting that cannot be mimicked on a sofa. Despite the improved impartiality and the clearer view this affords.

Opting out of the ringside experience, or not being asked a wag at the back may suggest, has also removed the opportunity to observe many of the vignettes available for those minded to stay abreast of those people stories that exist on the periphery of a boxing match.

Continue reading →

September 3, 2026 0

Hrgovic wins IBF title, frowns through Itauma’s impudence to win in 9

Conquer we shall, but first we must contend,

Tis not the fight that crowns us, but the end

The End by Robert Herrick, poet (1591-1674)

Felipe Hrgovic’s victory over Moses Itauma in the 9th round of their IBF World Heavyweight title fight owed much to a stubbornness he is not famed for, conditioning he had previously only partially conquered and a stout chin. His own offence was modest and timidly applied in the early going. Winning rounds was not the game plan. Staying vertical until the second half of the Queensberry Promotions bill-topper was paramount.

The notion, the theory beneath the shellacking he withstood in those first six rounds being that Itauma would tire. Once spent, Hrgovic’s aim was to capitalise on Itauma’s lack of seasoning as a distance fighter – he had never fought beyond the 6th – and the complimentary assumption that the 21-year-old upstart would start fast. Burning fuel he didn’t have the experience to know he would need later.

Continue reading →

August 30, 2026 0

All guts, all glory. Daniel Dubois stops Fabio Wardley

Article first appeared at Roundtable Boxing

There are moments as a fan, writer and, I guess, participant in boxing when the sport’s inherent appeal becomes submerged in the deep waters of the damage and debilitation fighters accrue. On Saturday night, as Fabio Wardley stumbled forward, his face butchered, his senses numbed, boxing won and lost.

Saturday night’s heavyweight fight in Manchester, England between Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois, two British contenders in the prime of their careers and physical prowess, will prove to be one of the most memorable for many who bore witness. The victor was felled twice, the loser stubbornly refused to buckle but was, belatedly, stopped in the 11th round.

Dubois celebrated in that awkward manner of his. “Are you not entertained!”, he was urged to bellow to those still gathered in the darkness beyond the ropes.

Continue reading →

May 11, 2026 0

Emotional transference. Benn, Hearn and all that shit

“I’ve been fucked so many times. I don’t even get upset about it. Boxing is one of the worst businesses in the world.” Eddie Hearn speaking to GQ in 2022.

Perhaps it says more about the writer than the protagonist that news of Conor Benn signing with Zuffa Boxing drew a wry smile. The schadenfreude of it all. Eddie Hearn, the sport’s most lusty chapman, with the film star crop and the double breasted roll neck and white pimp soles, betrayed by the fighter he stood by in his darkest moments.

And to Hearn’s newest nemesis. Dana White. A challenge even to boxing’s loquacious Lex Luthor – and if early interviews are a guide – the disbelief appeared to be winning.

Continue reading →

February 21, 2026 0

OTD 1908 Jack Johnson wins the Heavyweight title

Article first published at Roundtable Boxing

Australia is rarely the epicentre of the boxing world. It has had its heroes of course, from the relentless Jeff Fenech in the 1980s who tackled the great Azumah Nelson, Bantamweight Lionel Rose in the 1960s – the first indigenous Australian to win a world-title, thundering Jeff Harding and adopted Aussies like Light-Welterweight king Kostya Tsyzu, Vic Darchinyan and the nomadic Joe Bugner. A century or more ago, when fighters boarded ships to travel the world in pursuit of new challengers – to prey on the whimsy of wealthy men willing to back their local contender or opportunists seeking to capitalise on a scrap of land to pitch a ring – Australia had its share of illustrious visitors.

The Boxing Day fight between Jack Johnson, the challenger, and Tommy Burns the Champion, was a long time in the making but does represent one of the few occasions Australia became the centre of the boxing world. Hugh Macintosh promoted a fight which brought together two men with a genuine dislike for each other. A heady brew brought on by contrasting personalities, the colour bar which ran between them like a line in the sawdust in a saloon and Burns’ insistence on a $30,000 purse to step across it. A fee that would usurp any other fee he’d commanded during his reign.

Continue reading →

December 27, 2025 0

OTD 1982: Director al corazon. Bobby Chacon conquers Rafael Limon

Article first appeared at Roundtable Boxing

It is 43 years since Bobby Chacon won the WBC Super-Featherweight title against arch rival, Rafael Limon. Their fourth meeting proved the most poignant as it came in the same year Chacon had contemplated suicide following the suicide of his wife Valerie, who had wanted Chacon to quit boxing.

Back in the Winter of 1982, boxing, the great harborer of lost souls, raconteurs and those scrambling from past or place had yet another of her famous stories to tell.

It wasn’t the silver screen redemption arc of Rocky Balboa in the third instalment of his Rocky franchise which enjoyed a long run at the cinema and its title track Eye of the Tiger had clung to US Billboard number 1 until the end of the summer too. In the charts of Limon’s Mexico the youngster Luis Miguel was riding high, with Directo al corazon, broadly translated as Right to the Heart.

The the story of Bobby Chacon, the tumult of his life, particularly during this period are as infamous and incredible as anything conjured for the big screen.

Continue reading →

December 11, 2025 0

Eubank Jr., ageing and depleted, faces Benn once more

Article first appeared at Roundtable Boxing

The long shadow cast by Chris Eubank Jnr’s father, the indefinable Chris Eubank Snr., has proven to be a heavy one during his career as a professional fighter. Like so many sons of famous father’s he has been offered opportunities and renumeration beyond the scope of his ability but equally, has had to fight hard to distinguish himself from the collective memory of Senior’s accomplishments.

Continue reading →

November 15, 2025 0

Dave Allen. Good fighter.

First published at BigFightWeekend.com

Inside Dave Allen, he of the self-deprecation and tales of humility, regret and over hand right, lives a capable heavyweight. One of much greater boxing acumen than his lack of preparation invariably exposes to the watching public. Much of his enduring box-office appeal is founded on whimsical charisma, improbable durability and, well, man-child Yorkshireness. An area of England known for its grit, community and truculence.

The son of a professional fighter, Allen has grown up in the shadows of a punch bag. He has seen all that the sport can offer and steal away; the broken promises, the sweat, tears, success, the failures, the damage and the indifference of everything in between.

This weekend a refined, more physically prepared incarnation of Dave Allen the fighter, tackles the man mountain Arslanbek Makhmudov at the Sheffield Arena over 12 rounds. It won’t be the first time the Doncaster born slugger has been presented with an opportunity to catapult himself from the comedy fringes toward more significant opponents, but it may be the first time he’s appropriately prepared.

Continue reading →