BoxRec

Anyone else collect "The Ring" magazine?

I did.

I used to buy it all the time between 1986 - 1992, then stopped when the quality started to dip.

Dunno if collect is the right word. I stopped buying it regularly in the late 90s.

I found a huge box (and I mean huge) of Ring and BI mags from the 60s and 70s in a mate's shop. He had zero interest in boxing so let me have them. Interesting read.

orbtastic wrote:Dunno if collect is the right word. I stopped buying it regularly in the late 90s.

I found a huge box (and I mean huge) of Ring and BI mags from the 60s and 70s in a mate's shop. He had zero interest in boxing so let me have them. Interesting read.

wow thats like finding a box of gold got to wonder how many boxing treasures are lying about in peoples attics/cellars

I used to in the 90s along with Boxing News but haven't bought a copy for about 15-20 years.

I did, but I always preferred KO MAGAZINE instead.

I had every ring & ko from 76-90 or so. Ton of boxing illustrated and world boxing too. Plus every si. I tossed them all when I moved out of my dad's. It was like 9 huge boxes full.

I bought my first issue of THE RING back in the summer of 1976 when I was 14 years old.
Believe it or not, I can still rather clearly remember going into that particular news shop looking for that week's new comic books & just browsing around until I spotted that issue of THE RING alongside that month's issue of BOXING ILLUSTRATED as well.
Both of them had Ali & Ken Norton on the cover ( the latter of whom had just recently become my favorite fighter ) to tout their upcoming rubber match in September. So, I added them to my pile of comics & headed home. That was the beginning of my complete run of both from that point on until BI folded & I stopped buying THE RING once Golden Boy took it over & began to charge $10 a pop for it.
I still collect back issues of both however & have a complete run of THE RING from '70 onward with a plethora of others going back as far as 1949. Though I haven't bought any RINGs in a while. Lately, I've been buying back issues of BI trying to bridge the gap back to 1960.
I also used to collect all the other boxing magazines as well such as WORLD BOXING, BOXING INTERNATIONAL, BIG BOOK OF BOXING & KO, but ran out of room to store them all due to the rest of my collections of mags, boxing memorabilia & comics. So, back in 2004 I sold off the WORLDs, INTERNATIONALs & BIG BOOKs. I hung onto my KOs though because I have a complete collection from the first issue to the last.
The only current boxing magazine that I continue to purchase & collect is the UK's BOXING MONTHLY.

I bought my first issue of THE RING back in the summer of 1976 when I was 14 years old.
Believe it or not, I can still rather clearly remember going into that particular news shop looking for that week's new comic books & just browsing around until I spotted that issue of THE RING alongside that month's issue of BOXING ILLUSTRATED as well.
Both of them had Ali & Ken Norton on the cover ( the latter of whom had just recently become my favorite fighter ) to tout their upcoming rubber match in September. So, I added them to my pile of comics & headed home. That was the beginning of my complete run of both from that point on until BI folded & I stopped buying THE RING once Golden Boy took it over & began to charge $10 a pop for it.
I still collect back issues of both however & have a complete run of THE RING from '70 onward with a plethora of others going back as far as 1949. Though I haven't bought any RINGs in a while. Lately, I've been buying back issues of BI trying to bridge the gap back to 1960.
I also used to collect all the other boxing magazines as well such as WORLD BOXING, BOXING INTERNATIONAL, BIG BOOK OF BOXING & KO, but ran out of room to store them all due to the rest of my collections of mags, boxing memorabilia & comics. So, back in 2004 I sold off the WORLDs, INTERNATIONALs & BIG BOOKs. I hung onto my KOs though because I have a complete collection from the first issue to the last.
The only current boxing magazine that I continue to purchase & collect is the UK's BOXING MONTHLY.

I remember my first ring too. Benitez/curry 1 was in it. I was 8.

I used to sneak in the magazine stands in the pharmacy and read The Ring and KO magazines back in the 80s.

My first issue of The Ring was in 1989 and had the great Sugar Ray Robinson on the cover. It was a tribute to him when he died that year. It rated all the middleweight champions with the exception of Marvelous.

But, I used to love KO Magazine more than the The Ring, though. I believe at the time that KO was a more in-depth and much more fun as a magazine than The Ring.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I had every ring & ko from 76-90 or so. Ton of boxing illustrated and world boxing too. Plus every si. I tossed them all when I moved out of my dad's. It was like 9 huge boxes full.

Oh, that's got to hurt now, huh?
You're trying to rebuild your collection of THE RING now I take it?
If so, how are you progressing?
In years past it was as difficult as hell to find any used boxing magazines, but since the advent of the internet & especially e-bay, it's a lot easier. Although some folks really seem to think that they're going to get rich off of them judging by the prices they're trying to get folks to pay for them. Especially anything with Ali or Tyson on the cover. Needless to say, I stay as far away as possible from them. Although, I might pay a bit of a premium for a particular issue or two if it would fill a need in my collection. Depending on my mood & my finances, of course. LOL.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I remember my first ring too. Benitez/curry 1 was in it. I was 8.

8?!!
Wow, someone started you off early.
Your dad I take it?

Damn, some of you guys are old!

elmersalsa wrote:I used to sneak in the magazine stands in the pharmacy and read The Ring and KO magazines back in the 80s.

My first issue of The Ring was in 1989 and had the great Sugar Ray Robinson on the cover. It was a tribute to him when he died that year. It rated all the middleweight champions with the exception of Marvelous.

But, I used to love KO Magazine more than the The Ring, though. I believe at the time that KO was a more in-depth and much more fun as a magazine than The Ring.

think that was my first ring mag also

sweetviolenturge wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I had every ring & ko from 76-90 or so. Ton of boxing illustrated and world boxing too. Plus every si. I tossed them all when I moved out of my dad's. It was like 9 huge boxes full.

Oh, that's got to hurt now, huh?
You're trying to rebuild your collection of THE RING now I take it?
If so, how are you progressing?
In years past it was as difficult as hell to find any used boxing magazines, but since the advent of the internet & especially e-bay, it's a lot easier. Although some folks really seem to think that they're going to get rich off of them judging by the prices they're trying to get folks to pay for them. Especially anything with Ali or Tyson on the cover. Needless to say, I stay as far away as possible from them. Although, I might pay a bit of a premium for a particular issue or two if it would fill a need in my collection. Depending on my mood & my finances, of course. LOL.

I won't lie and say i don't miss it here and there but I honestly wouldn't pay a nickel for any issues.

sweetviolenturge wrote:

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I remember my first ring too. Benitez/curry 1 was in it. I was 8.

8?!!
Wow, someone started you off early.
Your dad I take it?

I was just a boxing junkie. My dad's biggest role was taking me to see rocky in the cinema over 50 times and tossing on gloves with me. Poor bastard almost list it when he sent me midair to the canvas trying to pull an uppercut. He was a fan, but nothing like I was. Just my thing, kids love cartoons, I loved boxing, baseball, dinosaurs & snakes. Perfect storm with Rocky and the 76 Olympics. I still have the scar from mimicking diving off of the top of the couch and landing perfectly on the corner of the coffee table. Lol, I was actually 7. Some kids learn the president's, I knew the heavyweight champs.

I've bought it a few times here in the UK but the issues always seem to to months out of date, like at least three months old by time they hit the shelves. I've checked in a few places too

DannyMCR wrote:I've bought it a few times here in the UK but the issues always seem to to months out of date, like at least three months old by time they hit the shelves. I've checked in a few places too

That's exactly how outdated they are, at the time it was magical. No internet for results, you'd get a copy and the fight reports were your only way of knowing some major fights occurred.

I bought Ring Magazine a few times, but preferred KO Magazine. I liked KO's writing better.

I'm always looking for old copies to complete my collection - the issue I've got which I like the best is the one with Arturo Gatti & Micky Ward on the cover holding baseball bats - I was lucky enough to meet Micky and get him to sign it

RScarf1 wrote:I bought Ring Magazine a few times, but preferred KO Magazine. I liked KO's writing better.

Another one that thinks like me between the two magazines.

I also loved KO's exclusive interviews with the fighters of the times and what they thought about boxing, life and their future opponents. I even loved the color pinup posters of the present champions with their pro record. They were priceless to me.

elmersalsa wrote:

RScarf1 wrote:I bought Ring Magazine a few times, but preferred KO Magazine. I liked KO's writing better.

Another one that thinks like me between the two magazines.

I also loved KO's exclusive interviews with the fighters of the times and what they thought about boxing, life and their future opponents. I even loved the color pinup posters of the present champions with their pro record. They were priceless to me.

I think a lot of people preferred KO over Ring. I read that KO was selling more magazines than Ring in their heyday. KO inspired me to be a boxing writer as well. I liked the color pinup posters and exclusive interviews too. I gave one of my KO Magazines to someone, but it was for a good reason. I was interviewing former WBA cruiserweight champion Robert Daniels. An article about him is in the March 1991 issue of KO. That was the one with Evander Holyfield delivering the knockout punch to Buster Douglas. I brought the magazine with me and showed him the article about him and asked him if he had the magazine. He said no, so I gave it to him and he thanked me. That meant more to me than keeping that issue. I can buy another one on ebay, but that issue is more valuable because of Holyfield winning the title on the cover. How could I have known that I would buy the magazine in 1991 and then give it to a boxer in 2016 who is written about in that magazine?

That's pretty cool. I noticed a Robert daniels, jr on the schedule a while ago. Is that his son?

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:That's pretty cool. I noticed a Robert daniels, jr on the schedule a while ago. Is that his son?

Yes, he is his son. He is 2-0, 2 KOs. I have been to both of his fights and his dad was one of his cornermen. His son has tremendous punching power and his father had a lot of KOs in his career, so I guess he inherited it.