Johnny Bratton News Today

In my writing for the past 17 years, I have met some outstanding fight people, from heavyweight champ Muhammad Ali to featherweight champ Willie Pep, and have

By Ken Hissner: World Welterweight champion Kid Gavilan was born Gerardo Gonzalez in 1926 in Camaguey, Cuba. His manager Fernando Balido gave him that

A masterful boxer-puncher in the golden era of the welterweight division, with a unique punching style. The great Kid Gavilan was born 97 years ago today.

Record Store Day 2021: A list of jazz records for vinyl collectors By Adam Feibel Mick Haupt / Unsplash The 14th edition of Record Store Day will take place in two different “drops” in June and July, featuring more than 400 special releases combined. Taking place annually since 2008, Record Store Day sees collectors flock to indie record stores across the globe to scope out a lineup of special vinyl releases, including rarities, reissues and box sets. Here’s a curated list of some of the...

In his seven-year career at the paper, Roi Ottley distinguished himself as a keen observer of issues relating to race, voting and domestic migration.

Cortina de Hierro –Castro’s Iron Curtain In 1946 after the end of the Second World War what Winston Churchill described as an Iron Curtain stretched across Europe separating East and West with all professional sport banned in the East. That brought an end to any fledgling careers and any future hopes of a professional career for boxers on the Eastern side of the Curtain. After just over forty years with the dissolution of the USSR the Curtain is no longer a barrier to professionalism and fi...

Hannibal Boxing Virgil Akins knocks down Vince Martinez during their fight for the vacant welterweight world title at the Arena in St. Louis on June 6,1958. Akins won by TKO in round four. Finally, after all the hard years toiling in hothouse gyms and all the years crisscrossing the country as an itinerant journeyman—smoke-filled halls, catcalls and hisses when facing the local hero, narrow losses tallied on doubtful scorecard after doubtful scorecard—Virgil Akins became one of The Chosen. ...