10 Amazing Boxing Facts
As boxing becomes more accessible than ever before, since the birth of Smart TV's, mobile phone apps, and live streaming devices such as using the VeePN search bar on your Fire TV or Fire Stick, there has been an influx of new fight fans flocking to the sport. The recent introduction of YouTuber boxing has also brought a wider fanbase along, but the hardcore crowd are sceptical that these new followings are not really that knowledgeable or here to stay.
So here's 10 top facts every new fan should learn about boxing:
1. American boxer John L. Sullivan competed in a bare-knuckle boxing match that went 75 rounds before he won. Known as the "Boston Strong Boy", he became the first ever heavyweight champion of the gloved era.
2. Hollywood actor Liam Neeson was an Irish amateur boxing champion. He was crowned champion of Northern Ireland three times and won around 30 from 40 bouts, known for his excellent jab.
3. Mike Tyson was known for being short for a heavyweight at just 5' 10", but the shortest ever heavyweight world boxing champion was Canadian Tommy Burns at 5' 7". "The Little Giant of Hanover" won the world heavyweight title in 1908. Burns weighed just 175lbs for the fight and his opponent Marvin Hart was over 192lbs.
4. Boxing's longest reigning world light-heavyweight champion of all time, Archie Moore, holds the record for the most career knockouts in professional boxing – 131 KOs in 219 fights. Known as "The Mongoose", Moore has knocked down his opponents a record 141 times.
5. Wilfred Benitez is the youngest boxer ever to win a world title. He did it at the age of 17.
6. Len Wickwar, of Great Britain, has fought the maximum number of boxing matches (463) and won the maximum number of boxing matches (336).
7. The legendary Sugar Ray Robinson, often regarded as the greatest boxer of all-time, once backed out of a fight because he had a worrying dream that he was going to kill his next opponent, Jimmy Doyle, during the bout. After a minister and a priest convinced him to fight, he went into the ring and killed his opponent.
8. Manny Pacquiao holds the record for number of titles won – 12 major world titles in eight different weight divisions.
9. At 46 years, 4 months, 6 days, Bernard Hopkins became the oldest man in history to win a world title, supplanting George Foreman (45 years, 10 months), who had previously held the record.
10. The longest recorded unbeaten streak was 103 fights, compiled by Welshman Jimmy "The Mighty Atom" Wilde between 1910-1915.
Bonus Fact: For a brief period of time in 1938, Henry Armstrong reigned as the undisputed world champion at featherweight, lightweight and middleweight, all at the same time. In an era when there was only one world champ per division, Armstrong was the unquestioned king from 126 to 147 pounds.