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Chris Walker tracks down Lamon Brewster, Chris Byrd, John Ruiz and Jameel McCline to discover what life was like trailing after a heavyweight great in Lennox Lewis
Lennox Lewis gives Tyson Fury some props, and Jaime Munguia heads back to Mexico to continue to his reign of terror
‘Is it just because he’s bitter?’ Eddie Hearn takes aim at Lennox Lewis
Conor McGregor might be eyeing up another foray into pro boxing, while Lennox Lewis issues a warning to WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder
Lennox Lewis hits out at judges after Tyson Fury is denied stunning win
Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe and more give their take on Wilder-Fury showdown
“I wanted to knock out Hasim Rahman quicker than he’d beaten me,” said Lennox Lewis
David Tua’s promise to put out Lennox Lewis’ lights fails in Las Vegas, writes Matt Christie
Matt Christie talks to Evander Holyfield about the highs and lows of a historic career
Lennox Lewis turned in clinical display in Tommy Morrison’s final world-class fight
Lennox Lewis hammered the unhinged Golota into quick submission, writes Matt Christie
Plus Lennox Lewis to reveal all and Harper opens up about his walkabout moment, Terry Dooley rounds up today’s Boxing News at Five
Lennox Lewis explains why Tyson Fury has made the right move, writes Declan Warrington
Samuel Vargas says Amir Khan is ready to be knocked out, Lennox Lewis tells us not to write off Tyson Fury, and Naoya Inoue gets a home WBSS fixture
On this day in 2012 Anthony Joshua won Olympic gold. George Gigney takes a look at what past Olympic super-heavyweight champions have gone on to do after winning gold
Who is the lineal heavyweight champion? We asked a man who knows a thing or two about the division, the last undisputed champion, Lennox Lewis
‘I walk in a room filled with great men,’ Lennox Lewis speaks to John Dennen about what it means to be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world
According to reports, Lennox Lewis and Vitali Klitschko will meet again, this time in Kiev, 15 years on from their classic first encounter
Lennox Lewis, Eric Morales and Mike Tyson all feature in Alex Reid’s countdown of the six most tantalising fights we could have seen in boxing in the last 25 years – but never did
Boxing News sits at the heart of the boxing scene. We want to share with you our passion by guiding you through the world of boxing, share our ringside seats and experiences, to listen to your opinions as we form our own, and to retain the integrity and excitement that seduces boxing fans around the world.
Boxing News was founded in 1909 by original editor John Murray as, simply, Boxing. Murray had been a regular contributor to Health & Strength magazine and convinced its owner, Bill Berry (later Lord Camrose) to launch a weekly magazine dedicated solely to boxing. It is believed Murray had been inspired by Jack Johnson beating Tommy Burns to become the first black World heavyweight champion. In his first editorial, Murray stated, "Boxing will stand for good clean sport. Its success of failure is in the hands of those who believe in sport of this character. Our energies will be devoted to giving the best paper that time, thought and money can devise." When circulation began to decline in the depression days of the late 20s, the name of the magazine was changed to Boxing, Racing and Football. In October 1931, the paper was sold to a syndicate of London sportsmen, who installed Sydney Rushton, a long-time London fight reporter, as the new editor. The layout changed, the page size was increased and Rushton proved less popular than Murray. The paper was again put up for sale and, while waiting for a buyer, the old features were reinstated and there was no official Editor. Another set of sportsmen bought the paper and Godfrey Williams was named editor. He attempted to run Boxing as a newspaper, cutting popular features and reducing news stories down to the shortest possible length. The circulation quickly dropped to its lowest ever.
Billy Masters, a city printer and huge boxing fan, saved the paper, appointing W.H. Millier as the new editor. He completely reinvigorated the magazine, helped in no small measure by its first colour cover. In 1935, Millier departed and the owner replaced him with Sydney Ackland, who had previously worked as John Murray's assistant editor and had been taught by him. World War II brought many changes as first Sydney, then replacement Stanley Nelson, contributed to the war effort. Murray made a popular comeback as editor but ill health forced him to step down in 1941. Gilbert Odd took over until the building housing the paper was destroyed by the enemy. Odd was then called up for national service and both Masters and Murray served further terms. Now with the new name of Boxing News, the paper was bought by Australian publicist Vivian Brodzky and former promoter Sydney Hulls. Northern sports writer Bert Callis was the new editor. Odd took over for a second term upon Callis' retirement. Odd implemented the tradition of reporting the results and fighters' weights for every single fight in the country. When Odd quit to write books, he was succeeded by Jack Wilson and then Tim Riley. When Brodzky died, Boxing News was sold twice in quick succession, and Graham Houston became editor in 1971, immediately broadening the range of coverage, especially in North America. Houston left in 1977 to work on morning newspapers in Canada. This prompted the appointment of perhaps BN's greatest Editor of recent years, Harry Mullan. Circulation increased exponentially during the Mullan years, which doubled as a time of great change in the boxing world. Most notable new developments were the proliferation of 'world' titles and the increase in the number of major British promoters. Mullan was fiercely principled and tremendously well respected in the boxing fraternity. When Mullan left in October 1996, he was given this glowing tribute from then BN Publisher Peter Kravitz: "His writing stands comparison with the Lieblings, Hausers and Mailers of this century of boxing." Assistant Editor Claude Abrams succeeded Mullan in November 1996. Boxing News was redesigned and switched to a full-colour format and become more extensive in content. In March 1999 the paper went to A3 size before reverting to A4, and increasing in size to 48 pages (from 24) in September 2005. The magazine remained the main trade paper in Britain. Abrams left BN – after 22 years – in December 2009, just three months after the publication celebrated its centenary, and was succeeded as editor by Tris Dixon.
Tris left the magazine in December 2014, with Matt Christie taking over as editor.
