Boxing in the Pages of Sports illustrated: A Short History

Published

8 months ago

January 22, 2024

Boxing in the Pages of Sports illustrated: A Short History

Last week, Sports Illustrated laid off virtually its entire staff. This would seem to presage the end of the print edition, and, if so, it comes as no great surprise. It had become apparent that the storied publication was hanging on by a thread.

Sports Illustrated (henceforth S.I.) debuted with the issue dated Aug. 16, 1954. Eddie Matthews, the slugging third baseman of the Milwaukee Braves, was on the cover. The following year, in September, Rocky Marciano had the distinction of being the first prizefighter to appear on the cover. A few days after the issue hit the newsstands, Marciano defended his heavyweight title with a ninth-round stoppage of Archie Moore in what would prove to be Rocky’s farewell fight.

Boxing was big in those days, as evident by the fact that Marciano’s successor, Floyd Patterson, made four appearances on the S.I. cover. Moreover, it speaks reams that two of Patterson’s would-be conqueror’s, Tom McNeeley and Roy “Cut and Shoot” Harris, were also the subjects of an S.I. cover story. Neither had a snowball’s chance against Patterson, but putting their faces on the cover of S.I. legitimated them in the eyes of casual fans.

Ingemar Johansson, a one-trick pony of sorts, was featured on the cover after upsetting Patterson in 1959 in the first of their three meetings. More than that, S.I. named him the Sportsman of the Year.

There was a back story. S.I. had been running a series of stories detailing mob involvement and corruption in the sweet science and was pushing for the establishment of an international body to regulate the sport. What better person to lead the charge than the reigning heavyweight champion?

“The purpose of this organization must be to restore public confidence in boxing, which has been badly hurt by scandals and to protect the fighters, who have been too often manipulated by powerful promoters and unscrupulous managers,” Ingemar was quoted as saying.

In the ensuing six-plus decades, only two other boxers, Muhammad Ali (1974) and Sugar Ray Leonard (1981), would be named the S.I. Sportsman of the Year.

Ali made his first appearance on the S.I. cover as Cassius Clay in 1963. He and basketball star Michael Jordan would wage a battle for the most S.I. covers, distancing the field like Secretariat in the 1973 Belmont Stakes, with Jordan eventually inching ahead.

Ali appeared with Joe Frazier on the cover on the 25^th anniversary of their first conflagration, the Fight of the Century. He made his 39^th appearance on Sept. 1, 2015, when S.I. re-named its Legacy Award the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award and appeared again the following year in a special souvenir edition following his death.

Ali’s first cover (June 10, 1963) and Mike Tyson’s first cover (Jan. 6, 1986) are two of the most prized by collectors. Newsstand copies (no mailing label) in pristine condition have fetched low five-figure sums at auctions.

Tyson, then sporting the nickname Kid Dynamite, was only 19 years old and had been a pro for only nine months when he made his S.I. debut. In terms of public recognition, no boxer was ever such a comet coming out of the amateur ranks.

—

Although S.I. doubled its circulation and tripled its advertising revenue within five years of its inception, it reportedly did not become profitable until 1964. When it turned the corner, however, it was full speed ahead. By 1970, S.I. ranked fourth in circulation among weekly publications, trailing only TV Guide, Time, and Newsweek. By the end of the century, base circulation topped three million. It would be written that S.I. was read by 19 percent of the adult males in the United States.

On Jan. 20, 1984, a swimsuit model, one Babette March, graced the cover. This would be considered the birth of the S.I. swimsuit era, an annual tradition that evolved into a franchise, spawning calendars, DVDs, pageants, and whatnot.

The sport that got the biggest play in this issue was boxing as it featured the second installment of Jack “Doc” Kearns’ memoir, an 8-page excerpt from his forthcoming autobiography (written with Oscar Fraley).

The previous week, S.I. had caused a furor by publishing Kearns’ “confession” that he had loaded Jack Dempsey’s gloves with plaster of Paris before his match with Jess Willard. (Dempsey sued for libel. His attorney won an out-of-court settlement. The legal proceedings delayed the publication of the memoir and when the book was finally released, the offending portion was deleted. By then the wily Kearns, a central character in the Golden Era of Sports, was long dead.)

Christie Martin appeared on the cover of S.I. in 1996 in the April 15 edition, a watershed moment in the history of female boxing. As for the oddest boxer to make the cover, the honor goes to Gypsy Joe Harris, a colorful character from the mean streets of North Philadelphia whose career was cut short when it was discovered that he was blind in one eye. Although Harris owned a win over welterweight title-holder Curtis Cokes in a non-title fight, he wasn’t even ranked when his face appeared on the S.I. cover in June of 1967.

The Gypsy Joe story was by Mark Kram and one surmises it made the cover simply because Kram’s writing was too good to let the story be buried in the table of contents. Over the years, S.I. employed some of the best boxing writers on the planet including none other than the great Budd Schulberg who edited the publication’s early boxing pieces. The list of outstanding wordsmiths is long with special citations going to Kram and to Pat Putnam, the longest tenured of the boxing writers.

“Watching the magazine deteriorate,” wrote Matthew Rees, “has had the feel of witnessing the decline of a once-iconic athlete.”

As the swimsuits became skimpier, so did the magazine as a whole, gutted by the loss of advertising revenue. True, no one bought the magazine for the ads, but they made the magazine heftier which made the price of it seem like a squarer deal. What happened at S.I. happened at other mass circulation news magazines, dinosaurs in a digital age when we can summon up a wealth of information on the smartphone we carry in the pocket of our pants. Perhaps a third of S.I.’s readers got their copy at a newsstand, perhaps an impulsive purchase dictated by who happened to be on the cover and nowadays, in many communities, the only good newsstands are found at an airport and even they are inferior to the better newsstands of yesteryear that catered to a larger demographic by offering a wider range of publications.

In its glory days and beyond, Sports Illustrated was the gold standard of sports journalism. We miss those days. Thanks for the memories.

—

Arne K. Lang is a recognized authority on the history of prizefighting and the history of American sports gambling. His latest book, titled Clash of the Little Giants: George Dixon, Terry McGovern, and the Culture of Boxing in America, 1890-1910, was released by McFarland in September, 2022.

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Canelo-Berlanga Postscript

Published

46 mins ago

September 16, 2024

The Sweet Science

By TSS Special Correspondent Raymundo Dioses — There was a palpable buzz in the air befitting a mega fight in Las Vegas on a Mexican holiday weekend. Canelo Alvarez retained his unified super middleweight titles against Edgar Berlanga via unanimous decision at the T-Mobile Arena in front of a sold-out crowd who were treated to a one-sided, yet never boring contest.

Although Canelo, (62-2-2, 39 KOs) remains devoid of a knockout win dating back to November 2021 against Caleb Plant, there was plenty to like about his performance and enough offense being thrown his way by Berlanga to produce an entertaining fight.

It was about as jovial a crowd as any for a fight night and despite the wide scores (118-109, 118-109, 117-110) as well as Berlanga getting a “caught with his lead hand down’ moment” which enabled Canelo to score an early knockdown, the young Puerto Rican made a positive impression in his first title fight, his first main event pay-per-view, and his first Sin City atmosphere which can make or break a fighter.

“My experience, my talent, my hard work (was the difference). Everything together, because if you have a talent and you don’t have discipline you have nothing. If you have discipline and you don’t have talent you have nothing. So you need to combine both and hard work,” Canelo would say in the post-fight in-ring interview with Jim Gray. Canelo would go on to relay that message to Berlanga and tell his most recent adversary that he sees him as a future champion.

There was talk around town and the sports world that the Spherical ‘Noche UFC’ event a few miles down the road would take some of the flair away from the PBC on Prime Video event which featured a $90 price with the B-side fighter Berlanga gloving up against an 18/1 favorite in Canelo.

Yet when all was said and done, 20,312 boxing fans were provided a good show with a decent undercard that saw Erislandy Lara retaining his WBA middleweight title against Danny Garcia via stoppage, plus an entertaining Caleb Plant-Trevor McCumby match won by Plant via TKO, and a first- time title challenger in Berlanga who didn’t show up to lay down against a top pound-for-pound fighter despite having literally all the odds stacked against him.

The post-fight press conference was held following T-Mobile Arena staff impressively breaking down the ring and transforming the canvas into a stage for fighters and their camps to react to the night’s proceedings. Up to the dais first were Plant and Lara, two veterans of the sport. Plant has made himself into a fan favorite with impressive performances throughout the years including solid showings in his only defeats in bouts with Canelo and David Benavidez. Lara spoke through an interpreter and thanked everyone involved in the win that solidifies him as the sport’s oldest title-holder at 41 years of age.

Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) preceded Canelo to the mic and had Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn and his team alongside him. The press showed great respect to Berlanga who said that he felt 50/50 towards the event and its outcome, knowing that while his first career loss was registered, he knows that the performance that he delivered was of the type that often propels the B-side fighter into more big fights and lucrative paydays (see Caleb Plant).

Reminiscent of a champion-last ring walk, Canelo arrived with his team and after the obligatory “thank you” to all involved, spoke briefly on a next possible opponent and was asked about the UFC fight that that took place the same night.

A media member brought up ‘Noche UFC’ sponsor Turki Alalshikh’s comments about a matchup between Canelo and fellow top pound-for-pound fighter Terence Crawford.

After once again filling up the T-Mobile Arena while headlining a pay-per-view event and securing a payday perhaps upwards of $50 million, Canelo’s response to Alalshikh was perhaps his best punch of the night:

“No comment.”

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Canelo Proves Too Canny and Tough for Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas

Published

2 days ago

September 14, 2024

David A. Avila

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Canelo Proves Too Canny and Tough for Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas

Never underestimate a Puerto Rico versus Mexico fight.

Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez needed all 12 rounds to defeat Puerto Rico’s super strong Edgar Berlanga and retain the unified super middleweight championship on Saturday.

Berlanga never quit.

“He’s very strong,” Canelo said.

Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) showed that championship fighting is like high-speed chess and Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) did not have enough moves to out-wit the Mexican redhead at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Especially on Mexican Independence Day weekend.

Despite an early knockdown by a Canelo left hook, Berlanga was able to survive the Mexican fighter’s onslaught and withstand punishment that could have felled a rhinoceros.

“I got a little bit of Mexican in me,” Berlanga joked.

During an exchange in the third round Alvarez snapped a quick left hook that timed the Puerto Rican perfectly. Down he went for only the second time in his career. But he got up quickly and rallied a bit in the round.

It was the theme of the fight.

Every time Alvarez scored heavy with combinations to the head and body, Berlanga responded back as much as possible. He never wilted though he had plenty of opportunities.

It was a methodical attack by the Mexican champion that kept Berlanga guessing in every round. The Puerto Rican tried firing back and using his height and reach but Alvarez was always a step ahead.

Berlanga managed to score, but he never could mount a long rally. In the fifth round Berlanga used rough tactics including a head butt that angered Alvarez. It was the first time the Boricua was able to connect heavily.

But Alvarez proved too canny for Berlanga. The Mexican redhead who has won world titles as a super welterweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight, showed off his experience. The Puerto Rican could only absorb the blows and retaliate. But his strength was impressive.

“He will be a champion,” said Alvarez.

After 12 back-and-forth rounds, both hugged like old friends. It was exactly the type of fight Alvarez wanted for the thousands of Mexican and Puerto Rican fans at the arena and worldwide.

Alvarez was deemed the winner by unanimous decision 117-110, 118-109 twice and retains the world titles.

“I did good,” said Alvarez. “I’m the best fighter in the world.”

Berlanga was gracious in defeat.

“I could have done a lot more, but I was fighting a legend,” Berlanga said.

Other Fights

After nine rounds of whistles and boos by a disgruntled crowd due to inactivity, Erislandy Lara (31-3-3, 19 KOs) fired a lead left cross to drop Danny “Swift” Garcia (37-4). Lara was making the third defense of the WBA middleweight world title he won with a one-punch knockout of Thomas La Manna.

The battle between counter-punchers did not please the fans, but slowly Lara kept Garcia at bay with his sharp right jabs. The Cuban southpaw caught Garcia moving with his hands down with a single strafing left. Down he went for the first time in his career and the fight was ended at the end of the ninth round.

It was the first loss by knockout for Garcia, the former super lightweight and welterweight world titlist.

Plant

Once again Caleb Plant (23-2, 15 KOs) made the fight personal and found Trevor McCumby (28-1, 21 KOs) a worthy challenge for the interim super middleweight title for most of the fight.

It was thoroughly entertaining.

McCumby battered Plant early and put him to the canvas twice, although only the second was ruled a knockdown. A strong left hook to the shoulder caught Plant perfectly and down he went.

That seemed to wake up Plant.

The former super middleweight world titlist who lives in Las Vegas took the fight inside and pinned McCumby to the ropes. Plant went to work from that point on and did not allow his foe another big opportunity.

In the ninth round Plant pinned McCumby against the ropes once again and unloaded a dozen blows that ravaged the Arizona fighter. Referee Allen Huggins stopped the fight at 2:59 of the ninth round.

“Word on the street is I cant fight inside,” said Plant sarcastically.

Rolly Wins

Former lightweight champion Rolly Romero (16-2) proved too experienced for the rugged Manuel Jaimes (16-2-1) who resembles slightly Antonio Margarito. The only problem is he doesn’t punch enough like the Tijuana tornado.

Romero hit and held through much of the fight until the referee warned him repeatedly. Still, Romero was busier and far more accurate than Jaimes. All three judges scored in favor of Romero 99-91.

Photo credit: German Villasenor

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Stephen Fulton Nips Carlos Castro in a Prelude to Canelo vs Berlanga

Published

2 days ago

September 14, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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In his first fight back after being dominated and stopped by pound-for-pound king Naoya Inoue in a fight for super bantamweight supremacy in July of last year, Stephen Fulton nipped upset-minded Carlos Castro, improving to 22-1 (8) in his first start as a featherweight. The verdict was split, with Fulton prevailing by 96-93 and 95-94 with the dissenter favoring Castro 95-94. The decision seemed fair although not in eyes of the predominantly Mexican crowd which booed the decision.

This was an entertaining 10-round fight between two evenly-matched 30-year-old campaigners. Long-time Phoenix resident Castro (30-3) put Fulton on the deck in round five with a counter right hand and Fulton rode his bicycle to shed the cobwebs as the round played out. But the Philadelphian, with new trainer Bozy Ennis in his corner, recuperated well and had a strong sixth round.

In round eight, Castro buckled Fulton’s knees with another straight right, but was unable to press his advantage. The bout served as the “main” prelim to the four-fight PPV card.

—

In a welterweight contest slated for “10,” Mexico City’s Ricardo Salas, a 6/1 underdog, scored a second-round stoppage of Roiman Villa. The end in this slam-bang and all-too-brief skirmish came at the 2:06 mark of round three when Salas, fighting off the ropes, nailed Villa with a perfectly-placed, short right hand. Villa went down for the count.

Salas, whose de facto manager is the ubiquitous Sean Gibbons, improved to 20-2-2 with his 15^th win inside the distance. From Colombia by way of Venezuela, Villa (26-3) was making his first start since being stopped by Boots Ennis in July of last year.

—

In the opener on the PBC YouTube channel, super featherweight Jonathan “Geo” Lopez, a 21-year-old Pennsylvania-born southpaw, won a wide 8-round decision over rugged San Antonio campaigner Richard Medina. Lopez pitched a shutout, winning 80-71 on all three cards, but this was hardly a stroll in the park for him.

Lopez, who improved to 17-0 (12), simply had too much class for Medina. A 20/1 favorite, the Eddy Reynoso-trained boxer hurt Medina at the end of round seven and put him on the canvas in the final round with a straight left hand, but Medina (15-3) kept on plugging away and maintained his distinction of never being stopped.

Also

In an off-TV fight, super middleweight Bek Nurmaganbet, a 26-year-old Kazakh, won his eighth straight inside the distance, improving to 12-0 (10) with a second-round stoppage of SoCal’s Joshua Conley (17-7-1).

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