Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
10 greatest living heavyweights: Is Tyson Fury on the list?
When three-time heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali died at 74 in 2016, boxing lost arguably its greatest heavyweight of all time.
Who is currently the No. 1 living heavyweight?
Well, that’s up for debate, which is the point of this special report. Boxing Junkie gives you the 10 greatest living members of the sport’s glamour division.
Here’s the list, in reverse order.
10 greatest living heavyweights: Is Tyson Fury on the list?
When three-time heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali died at 74 in 2016, boxing lost arguably its greatest heavyweight of all time.
Who is currently the No. 1 living heavyweight?
Well, that’s up for debate, which is the point of this special report. Boxing Junkie gives you the 10 greatest living members of the sport’s glamour division.
Here’s the list, in reverse order.
Riddick Bowe, 52, said he wants to return to the ring and is targeting Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson.
The list of retired geezers contemplating a comeback of some sort continues to grow.
Now Riddick Bowe, 52, wants in on the action. The former heavyweight champ told The (U.K.) Sun that he likes the idea of fighting again and is targeting old rival Evander Holyfield, 57, and old friend Mike Tyson, 54, both of whom have already announced comeback plans.
Oscar De La Hoya, 47, also said he wants to fight again.
“If the fans want to see me fight again, I’m fighting. I want to make fans happy,” Bowe told The Sun. “Equally, I want to be remembered as one who did everything to truly make boxing great. I want to get out there.
“This is the perfect time, I believe, and I’m very excited to fight again. It’s official. Actually, let me put it this way: I am officially back and want to and will fight. Come on Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield.
“[Tyson and I] went to the same school. We knew each other quite well. We started off fairly close being in the same neighborhood but then went different directions as our boxing developed.
“Of course, we both made it and became the world heavyweight champions. I am very excited I want to fight Mike now. … I will fight him any day of the week, whether it’s an exhibition, or even a pro fight.”
Tyson and Holyfield have made it clear that they intend to take part in charity exhibitions after the coronavirus pandemic subsides. De La Hoya has said he is interested in taking part in a sanctioned fight.
Bowe (43-1, 33 KOs) hasn’t fought since he outpointed journeyman Gene Pukall in 2008 in Germany. He went 2-1 in three fights with Holyfield and never fought Tyson.
Evander Holyfield, 57, made it clear that he has no intention of fighting prime young fighters in his return to the ring.
Evander Holyfield, 57, made it clear that he has no intention of fighting prime young fighters in his return to the ring.
The former four-time heavyweight champ, who has said he’s interested in exhibition for charity, seems himself in the ring with former rivals Mike Tyson (53), Riddick Bowe (51) or Lennox Lewis (54).
“It’s better you do it with people who have been around like you,” Holyfield told The Times of London. “I don’t want to go and fight someone trying to make a name for themselves. People want to see me and [Riddick] Bowe, of course, Mike Tyson and maybe Lennox [Lewis], that would be good. I’ll spar with anyone.”
Tyson kicked off all the talk about the legends returning to the ring when he posted a video of himself training and looking fit, after which he declared his intention to “fight” for charity.
Holyfield followed suit by posting his own videos and saying he, too, was coming back.
Some have supported the idea of the legends fighting for charity. Others worry about their welfare. Holyfield suggested that he and his peers will be just fine.
“Look, we are going three rounds. It’s not 10 or 15. Maybe there’ll be headgear,” he said. “My intention is not to knock someone out, but you’ve got 16-ounce gloves and you get good shots in sparring too.”
Evander Holyfield said that George Foreman and Riddick Bowe, not Mike Tyson, punched him hardest.
Evander Holyfield revealed the hardest puncher he ever faced. And it wasn’t Mike Tyson.
Holyfield said in a The 3 Point Conversion interview that George Foreman and three-time opponent Riddick Bowe landed punches that were more punishing than those of Iron Mike in their two fights.
Holyfield defeated 42-year-old Foreman by a unanimous decision in defense of his title in 1991. “The Real Deal” went 1-2 in a classic series with the prime and much bigger Bowe between 1992 and 1995.
Holyfield stopped Tyson to regain the heavyweight title in 1996 and won by disqualification in the rematch the following year after Tyson chewed off a portion of his ear.
“George Foreman hit me with the hardest punch,’ Holyfield said. “But Riddick Bowe hit me more than anybody with big shots. In not winning my first fight with Riddick Bowe, I was kind of inspired by the people saying, … ‘If you hit him (Holyfield), he’s not gonna stop coming.’
“I always remember that was inspiration that I could take something. Everyone was asking, ‘What’s gonna happen if he gets hit by some big guy?’”
He went on: “I guess the first heavyweight fight that was really kinda taxing was when I fought Michael Dokes. But after Michael Dokes, I kinda grew into how to hang with guys who are bigger and had a little bit more experience than I.
“… I remember at one point in time I thought I could never be hurt because it never happened to me. But the first time Bert Cooper caught me with a shot, they gave me my first eight count. Then I realized, ‘Wow.’ When he hit me I didn’t see the shot. All I remember is my legs rubber banding. … But I never got hurt again until I fought Riddick Bowe.
“The art of the game is you only get hit when you do something wrong. So even sometimes you may get by, you do something wrong and the guy didn’t swing, so you’re kinda thankful. Either you’re in a position to hit the guy or the guy is in a position to hit you.
“Either you hit the guy or you move. If you don’t hit the guy and you don’t move, chances are you’ll get blasted. If you miss the guy but you move, the guy tends to miss you.”
Tyson, 53, and Holyfield, 57, have announced their intentions to return to the ring for charity exhibitions. They reportedly are in talks to face one another a third time.
Retired referee Eddie Cotton was hospitalized for more than a week before succumbing to complications related to the coronavirus Friday.
Retired referee and judge Eddie Cotton, who worked many world championship fights, died Friday from the coronavirus, according to multiple reports. He was 72.
Cotton was hospitalized for more than a week before succumbing to complications related to the virus.
The Paterson, New Jersey native reportedly began working as a professional boxing official in 1992 while serving as a member of the Paterson City Council. He worked dozens of title fights between then and his retirement in 2014, including the 2002 heavyweight title fight between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson in Memphis, Tennessee.
Sad news. #Boxing has lost another good man to #Covid_19. One of the most well known and respected referees in the world, Eddie Cotton was also one of the nicest people in our sport. Gutted for his wife and family. Prayers up. #RIPEddieCotton. pic.twitter.com/fMTNlc91dd
— Lou DiBella (@loudibella) April 17, 2020
“Paterson has lost a legend,” Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh told the Paterson Times on Friday. “Ed Cotton was an accomplished boxing referee, a respected community leader and a cherished friend.”
Cotton also was a member of the International Boxing Federation Board of Directors. The IBF was one of the outlets that announced his death.
“I gave him his license as a professional referee,” Larry Hazzard, the commissioner of the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board since 1985 who also has worked with the IBF, told ESPN. “I was his mentor. I thought he was one of the greatest referees who ever did it.”
Hazzard appointed Cotton to referee the Lewis-Tyson fight.
“I specifically selected Eddie to be the referee in that fight because I knew this was the type of fight you needed a referee like Eddie Cotton to officiate, and he did an excellent job,” Hazzard said. “He was a very friendly guy, very outgoing, very honest, greeted everyone with a smile and a kind word. It’s a great loss to humanity.”
Cotton also was the referee who disqualified Andrew Golota for repeated low blows in his second fight with Riddick Bowe in 1996.
Eddie Cotton was a great referee! Always in command and control. I used to always introduce him as “BIG” EDDIE COTTON! This COVID-19 has taken another one from our boxing community-I’m heartbroken!
R.I.P. Big Eddie-Much Love💔🕊 https://t.co/HsRN6LTv4t— Michael Buffer (@Michael_Buffer) April 17, 2020
Will the rematch between Andy Ruiz Jr. and Anthony Joshua join the most-memorable sequels in history? That’s no easy task.
The rematch between Andy Ruiz Jr. and Anthony Joshua on Saturday is as compelling as it gets because of their first fight.
Ruiz, a replacement opponent known as much for his paunch as his ability, pulled off one of the great upsets by putting Joshua down four times and stopping him in Round 7 on June 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Can Ruiz do it again in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, the site of the rematch? Or will Joshua have made the necessary adjustments and avenge his career-changing setback?
Of course, we can only imagine whether Ruiz-Joshua II will live up to the original. Some sequels are as good or better than the first fight, some fall short.
Here are 10 heavyweight rematches – or third fights – that remain in our consciousness for reasons unique to each of the fights.
Boxing Junkie presents in this special feature its list of the 10 greatest heavyweights of the modern era.
The process of selecting the 10 greatest heavyweights of the modern era – post World War II – made one thing clear: There have been many outstanding big men over the past 75 years.
Boxing Junkie was able to whittle the list down to the desired number but it wasn’t easy. The criteria we used wasn’t complicated: Our decisions were based on the accomplishments of the fighters, with some consideration of their impact on the sport.
We decided not to include active fighters such as Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury and Andy Ruiz Jr. We thought it made sense to let the current crop of heavyweights sort things out before considering them.
Wilder faces Luis Ortiz in a rematch on Saturday. Ruiz does the same with Anthony Joshua on Dec. 7.
So here is our list, with the “next five” listed after No. 10.
