Featured Articles
The Other Four Kings
“During the1980s,” wrote TSS editor Arne Lang in a recent article, “Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, and Roberto Duran enlivened the sport, fighting each other in what amounted to a round-robin, nine fights in all fought across four weight divisions. Looking back 20-odd years later, the late Boston Herald (and TSS) columnist George Kimball dubbed them the Four Kings, a name that would stick.”
Arne went on to state: “It seems inevitable that [Devin] Haney, [Teofimo] Lopez, [Ryan] Garcia, and [Gervonta] Davis will cross paths with each other before their careers are finished. More than one writer has dubbed the quartet the new Four Kings.”
Maybe so, but let’s slow this down a bit before the memory of four other kings fades away. These particular four traveled on the U.K. Expressway, a uniquely fast, ferocious, and furious pathway. They were Chris Eubank, Carl Thompson, Nigel Benn, and Michael Watson and they, too, had lots in common.
This writer has always had a special affinity for fighters from the United Kingdom. Maybe it has to do with their grit or maybe the drama that seems to unfold in many of the top fights. It might have started when Alan Minter dismantled Sugar Ray Seales in 1976. However, watching the likes of Carl Thompson, Chris Eubank, Michael Watson and Nigel Benn has provided special thrills.
First and foremost, these four were warriors in the true sense of the word. They would risk their own well-being to render havoc on an opponent, and in too many instances, the price paid was terribly high.
Like their U.S. counterparts, they often fought each other. Watson lost to Eubank twice, but beat Benn by shocking TKO in 1989. Benn went 0-1-1 with Eubank with their second fight before 42,000 rabid fans in 1993 called Britain’s version of Hagler-Leonard. Thompson beat Eubank twice during his exciting chill-or-be-chilled career. But it wasn’t so much that they compiled great records or were world champions at one time or another as it was the way in which they fought.
Benn
Nigel “The Dark Destroyer” Benn was and is a complex, emotional and extremely soulful man who fought the best of UK competition at a time when that competition was as keen as any in the world. A middleweight and super middleweight boxing champion with a 42-5-1 record (three of his defeats came at the end of his career), Benn’s life in and out of the ring is the grist for a movie or Netflix series
When you think of Benn, words like fury, rage, and ferocity come to mind. These were his trademarks in the ring and they provided uncommon excitement and entertainment for fight fans, but sadly his career-defining fight with the great bomber Gerald McClellan ended with tragic results for McClellan and detracts from his entire body of work.
As Boxing Monthly contributor Ian McNeilly poignantly said, “One man’s finest hour was the end of another man’s life as he knew it…the fight with Gerald was one of the best and worst to ever take place. A triumphant and tragic microcosm of boxing.” It would change Nigel’s life forever, and according to his trainer, the tragic results of that fight took away his fighting spirit. “
Quoting McNeilly again, “The story of Gerald McClellan is a painful one, one that fighters, boxing writers and fans seem to find it easy not to discuss……This is because he is a living embodiment of the risks fighters take every time they step through the ropes, a reminder of the dangers that are ignored at peril. To dwell on cases like Gerald McClellan would destroy the sport. To ignore him is to debase ourselves.”
While Nigel Benn was a one of a kind and will not soon be forgotten, no boxing fan will ever forget Gerald MeClellan.
Eubank
A match with a James Toney or Michael Nunn would be a game of chess. A fight with Benn is another matter, because he punches like no other man. It took me 10 months to recover from that fight, (and) 10 months to recover from the Watson II fight, too. – Chris Eubank
No one was more eccentric than Chris “Simply the Best” Eubank, but this is not about his cane, bowler hat, jodhpurs, monocles, lisp, etc, etc. The cocky and flamboyant Eubank, who went undefeated in his first 43 bouts, was the antithesis of Benn and a great rivalry developed between the two culminating in two historic fights. Few can forget the manner in which Eubank seemed to get under Benn’s skin and drive him to distraction. It was high camp and it was hilarious.
The first fight between Eubank and Benn was termed “Grand Prix stuff” by BBC commentator Dave Brenner as both men went at each other with malice aforethought and evil intent. The fight was a classic with Eubank finally stopping Benn with 5 seconds to go in the 9th round, but not before being decked twice himself. Their second bout was a grueling and fierce affair after which each warrior paid the other their due respect.
Chris participated in two more such fights against Michael Watson and they are discussed below. Eubank finished his great career with two losses to Carl “The Cat” Thompson and one to Joe Calzaghe, but his 45-5-2 record came against the very best opposition possible and if a tally were made of his won-loss record, the finding would be astounding.
Michael “The Force” Watson
September 21st, 1991, was the night that Michael Watson should have died. –Chris Baldwin
Getting angry won’t correct the past.— Watson
If you sit there and watch a person take about an hour to tie his shoestrings, then you realize that whatever problems you got ain’t that significant. —Vernon Forrest
Watson and Eubank fought one of the most savage fights in British boxing history. Indeed, it was Britain’s Hagler-Hearns.
Both Watson and Eubank had agility, skill, and power. They were classy and smart fighters who could adapt well for differing opponents and circumstances. After a grueling 10 rounds of action when they finally met in the ring, things came to a boil in round 11. It was an incredible three minutes with Eubank tiring badly, but then suddenly rallying and taking it to Watson, hurting him with several hard shots. But the rally almost gassed Chris, allowing Watson to return the punishment and finally knocking Eubank down with a crunching right to the head. Then, with Watson ahead on points and seemingly on the verge of a stoppage victory, Eubank — who had struggled to his feet– immediately connected with a devastating uppercut which caused Watson to crash backward and strike the back of his head against the ropes. His eyes glazed over as the bell rang and he staggered back to his corner. Soon after Round 12 began, a helpless Watson was trapped in a corner and Referee Roy Francis wisely stopped the fight. Watson then collapsed in the ring.
Michael’s life was at great risk. A total of 28 minutes elapsed before he received treatment in a hospital. He spent over a month in a coma, had six brain operations to remove a blood clot, and then languished over a year in intensive care and rehabilitation before facing six more grueling years in a wheelchair while he ever so gradually recovered some movements as well as the ability to speak and write.
No one really expected Watson to live, much less talk or write. Yet, against all odds, he finished the London Marathon in 2003, capturing the hearts and minds of an entire nation. As people wept in joy and urged him on, Watson walked for six days. He reached his goal after 12 long years, way too many operations and hospitals, and far too many years in a wheelchair. But he trained for months and walked the entire 26 miles and 385 yards, finishing with Eubank and his neurosurgeon Peter Hamlyn at his side.
I was completely inspired. I felt tears falling from my eyes. It has lived with me forever. How do you expect that to make a man feel when you are called ‘The People’s Champion?’ That’s the one label they will never take away from me. — Watson
On 4 February 2004, Michael was awarded the MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II.
Carl Thompson
Manchester-born Carl Thompson won the IBO cruiserweight title by beating Sebastian Rothmann in a closet classic and then turned right around and stopped contender and future champion David Haye in still another great fight in which Haye was winning but gassed out, allowing the cunning “Cat” to catch and claw him out. In 2001, The Cat lost his title to American Ezra Sellers in a fantastic slugfest in which both warriors were down multiple times. Thompson finished his career with six straight wins and will forever be adored by his fans as a humble but fierce warrior who participated in a number of true classics.
Reminiscent of the Norkus-Nardico classic, the Cat’s all-out Pier 6 with Sellers in 2001 produced six knockdowns (Thompson was knocked down four times, Sellers twice)! Sellers finally halted “The Cat” in the fourth round and ended a winning streak that had started after Thompson lost to Johnny Nelson in 1999. Thompson had been decked many times before, but he had always gotten up. Against Ezra, he was separated from his senses and sent to Feline Dreamland. This fight reliably demonstrated what can happen when two chill-or-be-chilled types face off.
It was truly a shame that Carl flew under the radar of American boxing writers and fans. In many ways, his exploits were just as noteworthy as those of Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank (whom he beat twice in 1998), or Michael Watson. Maybe it was because he fought as a cruiserweight (a lower profile weight division) but more likely it’s because he never fought outside of Europe.
Ted Sares can be reached at tedsares@roadrunner.com
Check out more boxing news on video at the Boxing Channel
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
Two below-the-radar super welterweight stars show off their skills this weekend from different parts of Southern California.
One in particular, Charles Conwell, co-headlines a show in Oceanside against a hard-hitting Mexican while another super welter star Sadriddin Akhmedov faces another Mexican hitter in Commerce.
Take your pick.
The super welterweight division is loaded with talent at the moment. If Terence Crawford remained in the division he would be at the top of the class, but he is moving up several weight divisions.
Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) faces Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs) a tall knockout puncher from Los Mochis at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, Calif. on Saturday April 19. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also features undisputed flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora. We’ll get to her later.
Conwell might be the best super welterweight out there aside from the big dogs like Vergil Ortiz, Serhii Bohachuk and Sebastian Fundora.
If you are not familiar with Conwell he comes from Cleveland, Ohio and is one of those fighters that other fighters know about. He is good.
He has the James “Lights Out” Toney kind of in-your-face-style where he anchors down and slowly deciphers the opponent’s tools and then takes them away piece by piece. Usually it’s systematic destruction. The kind you see when a skyscraper goes down floor by floor until it’s smoking rubble.
During the Covid days Conwell fought two highly touted undefeated super welters in Wendy Toussaint and Madiyar Ashkeyev. He stopped them both and suddenly was the boogie man of the super welterweight division.
Conwell will be facing Mexico’s taller Garcia who likes to trade blows as most Mexican fighters prefer, especially those from Sinaloa. These guys will be firing H bombs early.
Fundora
Co-headlining the Golden Boy card is Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) the undisputed flyweight champion of the world. She has all the belts and Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs) wants them.
Gabriela Fundora is the sister of Sebastian Fundora who holds the men’s WBC and WBO super welterweight world titles. Both are tall southpaws with power in each hand to protect the belts they accumulated.
Six months ago, Fundora met Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz in Las Vegas to determine the undisputed flyweight champion. The much shorter Alaniz tried valiantly to scrap with Fundora and ran into a couple of rocket left hands.
Mexico’s Badillo is an undefeated flyweight from Mexico City who has battled against fellow Mexicans for years. She has fought one world champion in Asley Gonzalez the current super flyweight world titlist. They met years ago with Badillo coming out on top.
Does Badillo have the skill to deal with the taller and hard-hitting Fundora?
When a fighter has a six-inch height advantage like Fundora, it is almost impossible to out-maneuver especially in two-minute rounds. Ask Alaniz who was nearly decapitated when she tried.
This will be Badillo’s first pro fight outside of Mexico.
Commerce Casino
Kazakhstan’s Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0, 13 KOs) is another dangerous punching super welterweight headlining a 360 Promotions card against Mexico’s Elias Espadas (23-6, 16 KOs) on Saturday at the Commerce Casino.
UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions card of about eight bouts.
Akhmedov is another Kazakh puncher similar to the great Gennady “GGG” Golovkin who terrorized the middleweight division for a decade. He doesn’t have the same polish or dexterity but doesn’t lack pure punching power.
It’s another test for the super welterweight who is looking to move up the ladder in the very crowded 154-pound weight division. 360 Promotions already has a top contender in Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk who nearly defeated Vergil Ortiz a year ago.
Could Bohachuk and Akhmedov fight each other if nothing else materializes?
That’s a question for another day.
Fights to Watch
Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) vs. Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs); Gabriela Fundora (15-0) vs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1).
Sat. UFC Fight Pass 6 p.m. Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0) vs Elias Espadas (23-6).
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
The Boxing Writers Association of America has announced the winners of its annual Bernie Awards competition. The awards, named in honor of former five-time BWAA president and frequent TSS contributor Bernard Fernandez, recognize outstanding writing in six categories as represented by stories published the previous year.
Over the years, this venerable website has produced a host of Bernie Award winners. In 2024, Thomas Hauser kept the tradition alive. A story by Hauser that appeared in these pages finished first in the category “Boxing News Story.” Titled “Ryan Garcia and the New York State Athletic Commission,” the story was published on June 23. You can read it HERE.
Hauser also finished first in the category of “Investigative Reporting” for “The Death of Ardi Ndembo,” a story that ran in the (London) Guardian. (Note: Hauser has owned this category. This is his 11th first place finish for “Investigative Reporting”.)
Thomas Hauser, who entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the class of 2019, was honored at last year’s BWAA awards dinner with the A.J. Leibling Award for Outstanding Boxing Writing. The list of previous winners includes such noted authors as W.C. Heinz, Budd Schulberg, Pete Hamill, and George Plimpton, to name just a few.
The Leibling Award is now issued intermittently. The most recent honorees prior to Hauser were Joyce Carol Oates (2015) and Randy Roberts (2019).
Roberts, a Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University, was tabbed to write the Hauser/Leibling Award story for the glossy magazine for BWAA members published in conjunction with the organization’s annual banquet. Regarding Hauser’s most well-known book, his Muhammad Ali biography, Roberts wrote, “It is nearly impossible to overestimate the importance of the book to our understanding of Ali and his times.” An earlier book by Hauser, “The Black Lights: Inside the World of Professional Boxing,” garnered this accolade: “Anyone who wants to understand boxing today should begin by reading ‘The Black Lights’.”
A panel of six judges determined the Bernie Award winners for stories published in 2024. The stories they evaluated were stripped of their bylines and other identifying marks including the publication or website for which the story was written.
Other winners:
Boxing Event Coverage: Tris Dixon
Boxing Column: Kieran Mulvaney
Boxing Feature (Over 1,500 Words): Lance Pugmire
Boxing Feature (Under 1,500 Words): Chris Mannix
The Dixon, Mulvaney, and Pugmire stories appeared in Boxing Scene; the Mannix story in Sports Illustrated.
The Bernie Award recipients will be honored at the forthcoming BWAA dinner on April 30 at the Edison Ballroom in the heart of Times Square. (For more information, visit the BWAA website). Two days after the dinner, an historic boxing tripleheader will be held in Times Square, the logistics of which should be quite interesting. Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Teofimo Lopez share top billing.
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
To say that Mekhrubon Sanginov is excited to resume his boxing career would be a great understatement. Sanginov, ranked #9 by the WBA at 154 pounds before his hiatus, last fought on July 8, 2022.
He was in great form before his extended leave, having scored four straight fast knockouts, advancing his record to 13-0-1. Had he remained in Las Vegas, where he had settled after his fifth pro fight, his career may have continued on an upward trajectory, but a trip to his hometown of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, turned everything haywire. A run-in with a knife-wielding bully nearly cost him his life, stalling his career for nearly three full years.
Sanginov was exiting a restaurant in Dushanbe when he saw a man, plainly intoxicated, harassing another man, an innocent bystander. Mekhrubon intervened and was stabbed several times with a long knife. One of the puncture wounds came perilously close to puncturing his heart.
“After he stabbed me, I ran after him and hit him and caught him to hold for the police,” recollects Sanginov. “There was a lot of confusion when the police arrived. At first, the police were not certain what had happened.
“By the time I got to the hospital, I had lost two liters of blood, or so I was told. After I was patched up, one of the surgeons said to me, ‘Give thanks to God because he gave you a second life.’ It is like I was born a second time.”
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have happened in any city,” he adds. (A story about the incident on another boxing site elicited this comment from a reader: “Good man right there. World would be a better place if more folk were willing to step up when it counts.”)
Sanginov first laced on a pair of gloves at age 10 and was purportedly 105-14 as an amateur. Growing up, the boxer he most admired was Roberto Duran. “Muhammad Ali will always be the greatest and [Marvin] Hagler was great too, but Duran was always my favorite,” he says.
During his absence from the ring, Sanginov married a girl from Tajikistan and became a father. His son Makhmud was born in Las Vegas and has dual citizenship. “Ideally,” he says, “I would like to have three more children. Two more boys and the last one a daughter.”
He also put on a great deal of weight. When he returned to the gym, his trainer Bones Adams was looking at a cruiserweight. But gradually the weight came off – “I had to give up one of my hobbies; I love to eat,” he says – and he will be resuming his career at 154. “Although I am the same weight as before, I feel stronger now. Before I was more of a boy, now I am a full-grown man,” says Sanginov who turned 29 in February.
He has a lot of rust to shed. Because of all those early knockouts, he has answered the bell for only eight rounds in the last four years. Concordantly, his comeback fight on Saturday could be described as a soft re-awakening. Sanginov’s opponent Mahonri Montes, an 18-year pro from Mexico, has a decent record (36-10-2, 25 KOs) but has been relatively inactive and is only 1-3-1 in his last five. Their match at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California, is slated for eight rounds.
On May 10, Ardreal Holmes (17-0) faces Erickson Lubin (26-2) on a ProBox card in Kissimmee, Florida. It’s an IBF super welterweight title eliminator, meaning that the winner (in theory) will proceed directly to a world title fight.
Sanginov will be watching closely. He and Holmes were scheduled to meet in March of 2022 in the main event of a ShoBox card on Showtime. That match fell out when Sanginov suffered an ankle injury in sparring.
If not for a twist of fate, that may have been Mekhrubon Sanginov in that IBF eliminator, rather than Ardreal Holmes. We will never know, but one thing we do know is that Mekhrubon’s world title aspirations were too strong to be ruined by a knife-wielding bully.
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
Bernard Fernandez Reflects on His Special Bond with George Foreman
A Paean to George Foreman (1949-2025), Architect of an Amazing Second Act
Spared Prison by a Lenient Judge, Chordale Booker Pursues a World Boxing Title
Sebastian Fundora TKOs Chordale Booker in Las Vegas
Boxing Odds and Ends: The Wacky and Sad World of Livingstone Bramble and More
Avila Perspective, Chap. 318: Aussie Action, Vegas and More
Avila Perspective, Chap. 319: Rematches in Las Vegas, Cancun and More
Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan
Results and Recaps from Sydney where George Kambosos Upended Late Sub Jake Wyllie
William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0
History has Shortchanged Freddie Dawson, One of the Best Boxers of his Era
Avila Perspective, Chap. 320: Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame, Heavyweights and More
Results and Recaps from Las Vegas where Richard Torrez Jr Mauled Guido Vianello
Filip Hrgovic Defeats Joe Joyce in Manchester
Weekend Recap and More with the Accent of Heavyweights
Remembering Hall of Fame Boxing Trainer Kenny Adams
Avila Perspective Chap 320: Boots Ennis and Stanionis
Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis Wins Welterweight Showdown in Atlantic City
Dzmitry Asanau Flummoxes Francesco Patera on a Ho-Hum Card in Montreal
Boxing Notes and Nuggets from Thomas Hauser
Avila Perspective, Chap. 322: Super Welter Week in SoCal
TSS Salutes Thomas Hauser and his Bernie Award Cohorts
Mekhrubon Sanginov, whose Heroism Nearly Proved Fatal, Returns on Saturday
Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis Wins Welterweight Showdown in Atlantic City
Boxing Notes and Nuggets from Thomas Hauser
Avila Perspective Chap 320: Boots Ennis and Stanionis
Dzmitry Asanau Flummoxes Francesco Patera on a Ho-Hum Card in Montreal
Remembering Hall of Fame Boxing Trainer Kenny Adams
Weekend Recap and More with the Accent of Heavyweights
Results and Recaps from Las Vegas where Richard Torrez Jr Mauled Guido Vianello
Filip Hrgovic Defeats Joe Joyce in Manchester
Avila Perspective, Chap. 320: Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame, Heavyweights and More
History has Shortchanged Freddie Dawson, One of the Best Boxers of his Era
Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan
William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0
Avila Perspective, Chap. 319: Rematches in Las Vegas, Cancun and More
Boxing Odds and Ends: The Wacky and Sad World of Livingstone Bramble and More
A Paean to George Foreman (1949-2025), Architect of an Amazing Second Act
Sebastian Fundora TKOs Chordale Booker in Las Vegas
Bernard Fernandez Reflects on His Special Bond with George Foreman
-
Featured Articles4 weeks agoBernard Fernandez Reflects on His Special Bond with George Foreman
-
Featured Articles4 weeks agoA Paean to George Foreman (1949-2025), Architect of an Amazing Second Act
-
Featured Articles4 weeks agoSpared Prison by a Lenient Judge, Chordale Booker Pursues a World Boxing Title
-
Featured Articles4 weeks agoSebastian Fundora TKOs Chordale Booker in Las Vegas
-
Featured Articles3 weeks agoBoxing Odds and Ends: The Wacky and Sad World of Livingstone Bramble and More
-
Featured Articles4 weeks agoAvila Perspective, Chap. 318: Aussie Action, Vegas and More
-
Featured Articles3 weeks agoAvila Perspective, Chap. 319: Rematches in Las Vegas, Cancun and More
-
Featured Articles3 weeks agoRingside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan