kapow: Oleksandr Usyk (left) lands a punch on Tyson Fury during ninth round of the Heavyweight Championship fight in Riyadh, May 18, 2024
THE SOVIET school/style of boxing — think Bivol, think Usyk, think Golovkin, think Kovalev, and think the Klitschko brothers — traces its roots to the famed boxing schools of the now non-existent communist state.
These were the breeding grounds for the development of the tactical acumen and technical precision within a fighter’s armoury.
It was devised as a response to the challenges posed by opponents, rather than the reliance on sheer personal toughness and determination.
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
JOHN WIGHT previews the much-anticipated bout between Benn and Eubank Jnr where — unlike the fights between their fathers — spectacle has reigned over substance
