Anyone else love/collect old boxing magazines?

[sweetviolenturge]

I have ever since my then-14-year-old self purchased my first two way back in the summer of 1976.
I'd been a boxing fan for only a few months at that point in time & as it approached, I was becoming more & more excited by the upcoming Ali-Norton rubber match which happened to be the cover stories on both the September issues of THE RING & BOXING ILLUSTRATED. Which, believe it or not, I can still vividly recall walking the two blocks or so from my house to the local news shop around the corner & buying for $1.25 apiece.
After which I never missed another issue of either until BI eventually went under a couple of decades later & THE RING became a slick, over-priced Golden Boy advert a few years back.
I also began to purchase INTERNATIONAL BOXING, WORLD BOXING, BIG BOOK OF BOXING, HANK KAPLAN'S BOXING DIGEST, TV BOXING & every other magazine that covered the sport.
I also began to make regular purchases of bunches of back issues from the publishers & haunted every used book & magazine store in western NewYork to buy up their lots of old copies as well. Until that well dried up & then I began to frequent flea markets & garage/yard sales looking for them.
My best source back then?
A shabby old "used book shoppe" on Genesee St. in Buffalo that was actually about 80% porn that initially refused me entry, but after much pleading & promises not to go into the "adult section" ( basically everywhere in the place but a small corner in the front of the store. LOL ) I hit the "motherload", piles & piles of old issues of THE RING going back to 1949 for about a quarter apiece.
Needless to say, I was thrilled & I was grinning ear to ear as my mom drove us back home to Lockport with the car's back seat piled high with ( what to me was ) gold.
And, I've continued my love affair with the boxing magazine ever since then, right up til today some four long decades later.

I'd love to hear other's stories about their own relationship with boxing mags & ( if applicable ) their own collections.

Peace.
- Jim

[davie]

That sounds like a fair collection.
You'll have to post a picture
Maybe of you swimming in them like Scrooge McDuck

I've bought the odd ring and BM.
But they've all been in the modern age so I've watched every bout on tv or youtube and ready and dicussed the fight online by the time I see it in print

[sweetviolenturge]

Oh, I completely agree Davie. The boxing magazine has been technically obsolete for quite a few years now since the advent of the WWW & the plethora of websites that cover the sport in up to the minute detail like this one & Fightnews. That's why I don't buy any regularly anymore. Just the occasional issue of BOXING MONTHLY & BOXING WEEKLY ( & the latter only online via Pocketmags ) if there's a particular fight/fights that I want to read their editorial coverage of.
My "thing" is old boxing magazines. With my particular focus being on those from the late fifties from the Patterson era up through the early '70s. You might think that after 40 years of collecting that I'd have that whole era covered with my collection, but nope. Though I have a full run of THE RING from 1971 to when Delahoya bought it, there are still several holes to fill going back into the fifties & I've still got a lot of holes in my BOXING ILLUSTRATED collection before 1975 or so. Especially those from the latter '60s-early '70s when Bert Sugar was the editor/publisher.
Those have been difficult to come by for me. Actually, I think they're a bit difficult for anyone to come by because I believe there may have been lower print runs and/or spotty distribution during that period.

[sweetviolenturge]

BTW, I cracked up at your suggestion of the Scrooge McDuck photo.
But, while I have a whole lot of boxing magazines ( so much so that, due to space/storage constraints, I had to make the VERY difficult decision to part ways with & sell off the majority of my INTERNATIONAL, WORLD & BIG BOOK OF BOXING collections a few years back ), they wouldn't quite fill a swimming pool. Besides, I'm a bit obsessive about maintaining their condition, so I wouldn't want to damage them by frolicking about on/in them.

[scartissue]

Jim, I left you a PM. Drop me a line when you get time.

[sweetviolenturge]

I pretty much couldn't help myself as I'm a born collector.
Long before boxing mags & memorabilia, it was comic books, monster magazines, monster models etc.. I continued collecting those even as I began with the boxing stuff & then, over the years I've added further collections to my collections. LOL.
With my boxing memorabilia, I was heavily into collecting posters, programs, trading cards, autographs, signed 8 x 10s, you name it. But, again, display space & storage room became an issue, so about a decade ago I sold off a lot of my posters, programs & especially items that took up lots of space like signed gloves, fight worn items such as trunks & robes, signed, blood spattered, corner used towels most of those sorts of things. With the best one of the latter being a towel used in Roberto Duran's corner during his fight in Buffalo vs Tony Biglen in '92 w/ a smear of Duran's blood on it that he signed for me afterward. I wound up selling it for $150, but regret it, because I spotted it about two years later online on sale for $600! So, I was a wee bit pissed that I let it go so cheap, but it was my bad for not being up on the prices for fight worn/used items.

[Ade L]

Nice to know there's still some of us collectors left....despite the WWW I still buy The Ring, Boxing News & Boxing Monthly - and even with the advent of YouTube I still "collect" fights.

[evrenb]

I have ever since my then-14-year-old self purchased my first two way back in the summer of 1976.
I'd been a boxing fan for only a few months at that point in time & as it approached, I was becoming more & more excited by the upcoming Ali-Norton rubber match which happened to be the cover stories on both the September issues of THE RING & BOXING ILLUSTRATED. Which, believe it or not, I can still vividly recall walking the two blocks or so from my house to the local news shop around the corner & buying for $1.25 apiece.
After which I never missed another issue of either until BI eventually went under a couple of decades later & THE RING became a slick, over-priced Golden Boy advert a few years back.
I also began to purchase INTERNATIONAL BOXING, WORLD BOXING, BIG BOOK OF BOXING, HANK KAPLAN'S BOXING DIGEST, TV BOXING & every other magazine that covered the sport.
I also began to make regular purchases of bunches of back issues from the publishers & haunted every used book & magazine store in western NewYork to buy up their lots of old copies as well. Until that well dried up & then I began to frequent flea markets & garage/yard sales looking for them.
My best source back then?
A shabby old "used book shoppe" on Genesee St. in Buffalo that was actually about 80% porn that initially refused me entry, but after much pleading & promises not to go into the "adult section" ( basically everywhere in the place but a small corner in the front of the store. LOL ) I hit the "motherload", piles & piles of old issues of THE RING going back to 1949 for about a quarter apiece.
Needless to say, I was thrilled & I was grinning ear to ear as my mom drove us back home to Lockport with the car's back seat piled high with ( what to me was ) gold.
And, I've continued my love affair with the boxing magazine ever since then, right up til today some four long decades later.

I'd love to hear other's stories about their own relationship with boxing mags & ( if applicable ) their own collections.

Peace.
- Jim

I collect the boxing news...have every weekly copy since 1988....that's a fair few mags...a mixture of the others...I have a nice 1971 ring magazine that covered ali vs Frazier...a few other 1960s and 1970s ring magazines ...1977 whole year of boxing news...many others....I particularly like boxing illustrated from the 1980s ..

[sweetviolenturge]

Nice to know there's still some of us collectors left....despite the WWW I still buy The Ring, Boxing News & Boxing Monthly - and even with the advent of YouTube I still "collect" fights.

Yeah, it's always great to meet other collectors.
I have a fairly large collection of BOXING MONTHLY myself, but the store that used to carry it stopped for some reason. So, I haven't seen a copy in about two or three years now & I love that mag.
I really should subscribe, but damn, it's expensive to get it here in the States.

- Jim

[sweetviolenturge]

evrenb - Those are greats mags & you've got a terrific collection.


- Jim

[scartissue]

I have ever since my then-14-year-old self purchased my first two way back in the summer of 1976.
I'd been a boxing fan for only a few months at that point in time & as it approached, I was becoming more & more excited by the upcoming Ali-Norton rubber match which happened to be the cover stories on both the September issues of THE RING & BOXING ILLUSTRATED. Which, believe it or not, I can still vividly recall walking the two blocks or so from my house to the local news shop around the corner & buying for $1.25 apiece.
After which I never missed another issue of either until BI eventually went under a couple of decades later & THE RING became a slick, over-priced Golden Boy advert a few years back.
I also began to purchase INTERNATIONAL BOXING, WORLD BOXING, BIG BOOK OF BOXING, HANK KAPLAN'S BOXING DIGEST, TV BOXING & every other magazine that covered the sport.
I also began to make regular purchases of bunches of back issues from the publishers & haunted every used book & magazine store in western NewYork to buy up their lots of old copies as well. Until that well dried up & then I began to frequent flea markets & garage/yard sales looking for them.
My best source back then?
A shabby old "used book shoppe" on Genesee St. in Buffalo that was actually about 80% porn that initially refused me entry, but after much pleading & promises not to go into the "adult section" ( basically everywhere in the place but a small corner in the front of the store. LOL ) I hit the "motherload", piles & piles of old issues of THE RING going back to 1949 for about a quarter apiece.
Needless to say, I was thrilled & I was grinning ear to ear as my mom drove us back home to Lockport with the car's back seat piled high with ( what to me was ) gold.
And, I've continued my love affair with the boxing magazine ever since then, right up til today some four long decades later.

I'd love to hear other's stories about their own relationship with boxing mags & ( if applicable ) their own collections.

Peace.
- Jim

I collect the boxing news...have every weekly copy since 1988....that's a fair few mags...a mixture of the others...I have a nice 1971 ring magazine that covered ali vs Frazier...a few other 1960s and 1970s ring magazines ...1977 whole year of boxing news...many others....I particularly like boxing illustrated from the 1980s ..

I think I started subscribing to Boxing News around '82 and kept it going for a good 10 year run I believe. I looked forward to seeing it in the post every week. Loved their historical pieces and I really loved Ron Olver's series 'The Professionals'. Something seemed to go out of it when Harry Mullan passed away. It just lost a bit of flavor.

[gilgamesh]

I have a fairly large video collection which will continue to grow throughout my life. I did have quite a few old Ring Magazines, but I sold most of 'em. I still have the 100 Greatest Punchers of All Time issue, 50 Dream matches issue, 3 of which I'm featured in the Come Out Writing section and one I bought later after I'd sold all the others.

I don't read it much anymore, but that's mostly because nothing around where I live sells it.

[Ade L]

I was fortunate to meet Micky Ward a few years ago & he signed my copy of The Ring magazine with him and Gatti holding baseball bats on the cover

[Controversial]

I really should subscribe, but damn, it's expensive to get it here in the States.

- Jim

You can get a digital version on iPad or similar, or was that what you meant?

[sweetviolenturge]

I really should subscribe, but damn, it's expensive to get it here in the States.

- Jim

You can get a digital version on iPad or similar, or was that what you meant?

No, I meant the actual "hard copy" mag.
But, thanks for the suggestion. I'm def going to look into the digital subscription. But first I have to get a Kindle Fire because their digital download isn't compatible with my Chromebook laptop. Peace & many thanks for the reply.

[sweetviolenturge]

I was fortunate to meet Micky Ward a few years ago & he signed my copy of The Ring magazine with him and Gatti holding baseball bats on the cover

Awesome. That's a keeper my friend. Peace.

[Tomasino]

I have ever since my then-14-year-old self purchased my first two way back in the summer of 1976.
I'd been a boxing fan for only a few months at that point in time & as it approached, I was becoming more & more excited by the upcoming Ali-Norton rubber match which happened to be the cover stories on both the September issues of THE RING & BOXING ILLUSTRATED. Which, believe it or not, I can still vividly recall walking the two blocks or so from my house to the local news shop around the corner & buying for $1.25 apiece.
After which I never missed another issue of either until BI eventually went under a couple of decades later & THE RING became a slick, over-priced Golden Boy advert a few years back.
I also began to purchase INTERNATIONAL BOXING, WORLD BOXING, BIG BOOK OF BOXING, HANK KAPLAN'S BOXING DIGEST, TV BOXING & every other magazine that covered the sport.
I also began to make regular purchases of bunches of back issues from the publishers & haunted every used book & magazine store in western NewYork to buy up their lots of old copies as well. Until that well dried up & then I began to frequent flea markets & garage/yard sales looking for them.
My best source back then?
A shabby old "used book shoppe" on Genesee St. in Buffalo that was actually about 80% porn that initially refused me entry, but after much pleading & promises not to go into the "adult section" ( basically everywhere in the place but a small corner in the front of the store. LOL ) I hit the "motherload", piles & piles of old issues of THE RING going back to 1949 for about a quarter apiece.
Needless to say, I was thrilled & I was grinning ear to ear as my mom drove us back home to Lockport with the car's back seat piled high with ( what to me was ) gold.
And, I've continued my love affair with the boxing magazine ever since then, right up til today some four long decades later.

I'd love to hear other's stories about their own relationship with boxing mags & ( if applicable ) their own collections.

Peace.
- Jim

Great post Jim

My dad collected Ring and KO magazine from the 70's uptill the 2000's when they were so far behind reality it wasn't worth reading them. I learned so much about the old timers through reading them all as a kid. Ketchel, Greb, Tom Sharkey, Jim Jeffries and Sam Langford were my favourite characters when I was growing up. It's over for the magazines now, I hope your collection is worth some good money some day

[vatech1983]

Do you remember a 1984 article on Tony Tucker.... His record was around 23 wins with 0 losses. It described him as a rising heavyweight........There were several pictures.....any idea what issue and Magazine that article came out in....This would be his break out introduction to the boxing public Please post any responses.................. ........................

[Cholo_cws]

Do you remember a 1984 article on Tony Tucker.... His record was around 23 wins with 0 losses. It described him as a rising heavyweight........There were several pictures.....any idea what issue and Magazine that article came out in....This would be his break out introduction to the boxing public Please post any responses.................. ........................

Might be Boxing Illustrated April 1984. There was a feature on rising heavyweights. Tucker featured prominently along with the likes of Bonecrusher Smith, Eddie Gregg, Joe Thomas and others I think.

[hhascup]

I have most of the Ring Magazines including the very 1st one back in 1922. I also have 2 copies of all the Ring Record Books.

[sweetviolenturge]

Do you remember a 1984 article on Tony Tucker.... His record was around 23 wins with 0 losses. It described him as a rising heavyweight........There were several pictures.....any idea what issue and Magazine that article came out in....This would be his break out introduction to the boxing public Please post any responses.................. ........................

Hmmm... That particular issue doesn't ring a bell my friend.
As far as Tucker goes, I remember his first bit of national exposure being his being featured on the cover of an early issue of KO magazine along with some of the others of NBC's "Tomorrow's Champions" like Bobby Czyz, Tony Ayala Jr., "Bump City" Bumphis & Mitch Green back in '80 or '81.

- Jim

[nobleart1978]

I have got a great collection of Ring magazines from 1950 thru to 1989.
I love looking at them. Unlike a book it is written at the time and gives you a feel for that period in particular.
I wish it was as in depth now as it was then. Over 7000 results in every issue!
I still look on ebay for copies i hav'nt got.

[Tony1244]

The first boxing magazine I bought was The Ring issue covering the Ali-Wepner fight. June 1975. 75c

"Father Time Laughs At Ali"

It's on my wall in a cheap frame.

[wouter]

I'm feeling a bit like a newbie here. This is the first issue I bought:

http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Ring_ ... tober_1988

[sweetviolenturge]

I'm feeling a bit like a newbie here. This is the first issue I bought:

http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Ring_ ... tober_1988

No shame in that pal, we all had to begin somewhere.