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Q: MORE THAN two months have passed since your first career loss to Claressa Shields in a huge, crossover event. How has life been for Savannah Marshall? SM: I feel good, perhaps a bit bored now, so looking forward to getting back into the gym in the new year. I was exhausted after the fight,

WHAT will you remember about the boxing year of 2022? As always, there were enough heart-thumping moments to remind us why we gave those hearts to boxing all those years ago. Leigh Wood’s last-ditch victory over Michael Conlan was thrilling from start to finish, their efforts awe-inspiring. We thought nobody could compete with the violent

A LITTLE more than a fortnight after Mills Lane died at the age of 85, news reached BN on Monday (December 19) that Steve Smoger – inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015 – had passed away from an undisclosed illness. Smoger was a charismatic official, known for letting fighters sort out

ARMENIA’s David Avanesyan, 29-4-1 (17), and his team have filed an official complaint with the Nebraska Athletic Commission (NAC) following his sixth-round KO defeat to Terence Crawford, 39-0 (30), for the WBO welterweight title due to claims that Crawford’s gloves were defective and that the referee, Sparkle Lee, did not apply the rules appropriately prior

WHILE cataloguing my collection recently I came across a series of press photographs of Benny Lynch training for various contests back in the late 1930s. Benny Lynch is one of a small band of UK boxers for whom the public holds a particular fascination. This will probably be because of his early, tragic demise, as

IT WAS a relentless year, it really was, with so many fights and nights and miles and waits. The last boxing weekend of the year was no exception. On Friday, I went to Errol Johnson’s show at the Hangar in Wolverhampton. It was freezing, snow on the floor, the venue thick with frozen breath and vape and

HAVING played such a big part in the growth of British boxing over the last 10 years, you would think Anthony Joshua was in a position to make decisions about his career without outsiders relentlessly judging him for those choices. If you did think that: hello, welcome to the real world. Of course that isn’t

1 Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk Though it may end up being an eyesore stylistically, no one can deny that Fury and Usyk are the two best heavyweights in the world and should therefore fight. They are so far ahead of the rest, in fact, it seems ridiculous to wait any longer. 2 Joe Joyce

USED so often it has now become the wronged athletes’ “Live, Laugh, Love”, the Insta-mantra “let the apology be as loud as the disrespect” has been trotted out plenty in the 10 weeks since Conor Benn’s annulled fight against Chris Eubank Jnr back in October. And yet, as things currently stand, we – that is,

WHILE this might not be the year Chris Billam-Smith wins “British Fighter of the Year”, one category for which he is certainly in contention is “Most Improved Fighter”, owing to the three wins he has so far registered in 2022 and the manner in which those wins were secured. Once a cruiserweight easy to miss,

WHEN Jim Watt defeated Howard Davis at Ibrox Park, Glasgow, for the WBC lightweight title on June 7 1980, he was continuing a long tradition of great Scottish champions boxing in the country’s many large football stadia. The promoters had hoped for a crowd of 20,000 that night but far fewer than that turned up

THE 2022 World Cup Finals, despite being held in the middle of winter, have been as gripping as any World Cup that I can remember. We may all find the Qatar setting problematic but, when viewed purely as a sporting event, it has delivered thus far. The reason for that should be easy to understand.

AT 82, Barry Tompkins should be slowing down. But listen to him call the ShoBox fights on Showtime or any number of sports these days, and the Hall of Famer may just be getting started on the next chapter of his stellar career behind the mic. And that’s fine with him. “More than anything else,

I WILL start with the wonderful support that Ringside Charitable Trust have received this year. I never like to single out any of the very special people who have gone way above what could ever be expected of anyone, time and time again, as every single contribution and effort is so gratefully appreciated and I am

ONCE upon a time in Tokyo, two great men fought 15 rounds for the world bantamweight title. That is the path Paul Butler took this week, a road to true boxing immortality. In 1965, a little Scouser with the most brilliant technique, travelled for days to reach his destination. Alan Rudkin was the best British bantamweight

Linus Udofia (Middleweight contender) Naoya Inoue, for sure. For his size he is without doubt the hardest puncher in boxing at the moment. He is also, in my opinion, the most complete boxer. To have any chance of beating him you would have to stay on the outside and fight like Guillermo Rigondeaux: just two

IN THE immediate aftermath of Derek Chisora’s punishing defeat to Tyson Fury, there was an outpouring of concern over Derek’s long-term health from fans, the media, talking heads and even other fighters. He took a sustained beating for 10 rounds from Fury, who even in second gear and damage limitation mode, doled out the leather.

THE next time you are told British boxing is thriving on account of either the number of broadcasters currently flirting with it or domestic fights being offered on pay-per-view, please remember that Tuesday’s (December 13) world bantamweight title fight between Naoya Inoue – arguably the most exciting boxer on the planet – and Paul Butler,