Root and Stokes grind down weary India to stretch lead beyond 100

RICKY HATTON’S recent appearance on Simon Jordan’s popular Up Front podcast came as a riveting reminder of his history and legacy as not just an elite-level fighter, whose marauding all-action style made him a fan-favourite, but as a bona fide working-class hero when in his prime.
That prime saw him involved in some of his eras most exciting and pulsating battles inside the ring — against the likes of Kostya Tszyu, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao — and then ultimately his well-publicised deep dive down into the depths of depression and despair.
Adding to the Shakesperean trajectory of this particular story was Ricky’s ill-fated attempt to make a comeback three years after his devastating KO loss to Pacquaio. But if his legion of fans were expecting a Hollywood ending when he faced Ukraine's Vyacheslav Senchenko in front of a full house at the Manchester Arena on that cold November night in 2012, they were fated to go home disappointed.

Mary Kom’s fists made history in the boxing world. Malak Mesleh’s never got the chance. One story ends in glory, the other in grief — but both highlight the defiance of women who dare to fight, writes JOHN WIGHT

The Khelif gender row shows no sign of being resolved to the satisfaction of anyone involved anytime soon, says boxing writer JOHN WIGHT

When Patterson and Liston met in the ring in 1962, it was more than a title bout — it was a collision of two black archetypes shaped by white America’s fears and fantasies, writes JOHN WIGHT

In the land of white supremacy, colonialism and the foul legacy of the KKK, JOHN WIGHT knows that to resist the fascism unleashed by Trump is to do God’s work