Latest editorial
Callum Smith (left) and John Ryder (right) alongside promoter Eddie Hearn
England’s super sub praises England boss Sarina Wiegman for giving her hope ‘when she didn’t have any’
SATURDAY night sees two world title defences take place on opposite sides of the Atlantic.
In Liverpool at the M&S Bank Arena, Callum Smith puts his WBA world, WBC diamond and Ring Magazine super-middleweight titles on the line against John Ryder in a mandatory defence, while at the MGM in Las Vegas, the self-styled Bronze Bomber, Deontay Wilder, risks his WBC heavyweight title in a rematch with Cuba’s formidable Luis Ortiz.
For Smith, who cemented his status as an elite-level fighter with his clinical demolition of George Groves in the final of the World Boxing Super Series super-middleweight tournament in Saudi Arabia just over a year ago, victory over Ryder will set up the likely prospect of a massive legacy fight at his beloved Anfield next year against the likes of Canelo Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin or perhaps even Britain’s Billy Joe Saunders in what would be a classic domestic clash.
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
