After a hundred years, The Ring stops publishing a paper version and only continues as a website. End of an era I guess, although the magazine hasn't been very good in years. Boxing Monthly was much better already in the 90s
I was a faithful subscriber to both Ring and KO magazine for years. They used to be great but haven’t been since about the early-mid 2000s.
Pretty sad how print media is on death's door although i can't say i've done my best to support it in recent years. I took a look at some old issues on ebay and some people have them in plastic cases along with some kind of grade like they're rare comic books.
Sad but Definitely NOT Surprising... The Internet GIVETH, the Internet TAKETH Away...Pre-Internet, Being a Hardcore Boxing Fan was a Rather LONELY Existence; No One Else Quite "GOT" It as REED Did, So Boxing Magazines were PRICELESS!!! As he Matured, REED Veered AWAY from Comic Books to Boxing Magazines & it Provoked Him Creatively...Writing Letters to the Boxing Mags (None Ever Posted, but Jake Can Claim Such), Drawing Pics of Fighters, Boxing Collages, etc... RING Mag & KO Mag were Dope AF, but Boxing Monthly was OTHERWORLDLY...The Photography and Quality of Writing were SUPERB, the Magazine Itself was LARGER In Terms of Length/Width than Any REED Had Purchased (Size MATTERS, Right???) and They Heavily Covered Prince Naseem, Who'd Just Burst Onto the Scene... REED's Time w/Boxing Monthly was BRIEF in Comparison, But He Definitely CHERISHED It... REED
I always liked World Boxing as well. I have a bunch of those, KO magazine, and Boxing Illustrated articles somewhere. They printed a couple of my letters….I remember Nigel Collins saying Hearns would have beaten Leonard and Conn would have beaten Louis if they were scheduled for 12 and I said “don’t you think they would have fought differently knowing there was only 12 rounds instead of 15?” I downloaded a bunch of recent Boxing News issues. They had some decent historical articles.
Good Shout on World Boxing and Boxing Illustrated...REED Couldn't Recall Some of the Names, But they were DOPE Also... Kudos on Getting a Letter or 2 PRINTED In a Mag, as Well !!!... As You ALREADY Know, It was a Different Time for Boxing Fans....No Other Outlet/Recourse to Express Intelligent Opinions Than Handwriting/Typing/Snail Mailing/Faxing a Passionate Letter to a Boxing Magazine... Now THAT's Dedication... REED
You can add the Ring Magazine to the long list of bad investments De La Hoya made. Can you imagine the Ceos at Ring when the offer came in from DLH to buy it. CEOs: Fuck what are we gonna do with all the boxing websites and channels our yearly sales are way down? CEO: we have an offer from De La Hoya... Ceo: Sell it to that coke head lmao(evil laugh)
Boxing Monthly was superb. I loved that and Boxing News because it gave a more British perspective which worked well as a companion to the more US-based The Ring and KO, which I enjoyed too. Between those four mags, that covered my boxing needs. Happy times.
I remember there was a 3rd boxing mag besides the ring and ko. I subscribed to it for years. But it had a section where people could write the magazine with questions. I might not have the name right but the writer had a funny name. Like baggoroni. The mag was called Boxing something and had really good content. Interviews with fighters or trainers, news about upcoming fights, tale of the tape for upcoming fights, predictions. It was a very solid magazine.
