Root and Stokes grind down weary India to stretch lead beyond 100
The history behind Soviet-style boxing
Not only did this school of fighting create champions in Eastern Europe, it influenced boxers across the entire world, explains JOHN WIGHT
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.
More from this author
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
