Newcastle’s Lewis Ritson and Miguel Vasquez of Mexico
The head coach says relationship with owner Marinakis is ‘not so good’
BOXING, I have said in this column more than once, is a mirror like no other sport in the way that it reflects the best and worst of the human condition. What’s unusual is to see both on display on the same night on opposite sides of the world.
The former took place in Las Vegas last weekend, where the seemingly invincible Ukrainian maestro of the squared circle, Vasily Lomachenko, locked horns with a hardly ripe 23 year old Teofimo Lopez of Brooklyn, New York by way of Honduras. What ensued was the near complete shutdown of Loma by Lopez over 12 rounds in the kind of controlled and disciplined performance you’d associate with a veteran of the sport, rather than one so young.
Though “ordinary” is not a word you would normally ever place either before or after the name of Vasily Lomachenko in a sentence written while in full command of your faculties, ordinary is precisely how the 32-year-old former WBO, WBC and WBA lightweight champion looked for long stretches of the fight, reflected in the wide unanimous decision the judges awarded Lopez at the final bell.
In recently published book Baddest Man, Mark Kriegel revisits the Faustian pact at the heart of Mike Tyson’s rise and the emotional fallout that followed, writes JOHN WIGHT
As we mark the anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, JOHN WIGHT reflects on the enormity of the US decision to drop the atom bombs
From humble beginnings to becoming the undisputed super lightweight champion of the world, Josh Taylor’s career was marked by fire, ferocity, and national pride, writes JOHN WIGHT
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
