Top Rank

Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Top Rank, Inc.
TypePrivately held company
IndustryBoxing promotion
PredecessorMain Bout
Founded1973 (1973)
Founder
Headquarters,
United States
Key people
Bob Arum (CEO)
Websitewww.toprank.com

Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muhammad Ali, Alexis Argüello, Oscar De La Hoya, Roberto Durán, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Marvin Hagler, Juan Manuel Marquez, Manny Pacquiao, Sugar Ray Leonard, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Erik Morales, Thomas Hearns, Paulie Ayala, Iran Barkley, Michael Carbajal, Larry Holmes, Ray Mancini, Carlos Monzón, Terry Norris, Gabriel Ruelas, Rafael Ruelas, James Toney, Kubrat Pulev and Tyson Fury.

The company has promoted such superfights as Hagler vs Leonard, Chavez vs De La Hoya, Holyfield vs Foreman, Foreman vs Moorer, Leonard vs Hearns, Hagler vs Hearns, Ali vs Frazier II and both Ali vs Spinks fights. The company also promoted George Foreman's comeback to regain the world championship, culminating in the knockout of then IBF/WBA champion Michael Moorer on November 5, 1994.

History

Main Bout

The precursor to Top Rank was Main Bout, a company founded by Muhammad Ali in 1966 to promote his fights. Along with Muhammad Ali, other early equity owners of the company included Jabir Herbert Muhammad, Bob Arum, and John Ali (chief aide to Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad).[1] The company was founded after Muhammad Ali vs. Floyd Patterson fight, and the company mainly handled Ali's boxing promotions and pay-per-view closed-circuit television broadcasts in the late 1960s. The company's stockholders included several other fellow Nation of Islam members.[2]

Top Rank Boxing on ESPN

Top Rank Boxing on ESPN
GenreBoxing telecasts
Created byBob Arum
Presented byVarious
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Production locationVarious boxing stadiums
Running timeVarious
Production companies
Release
Original networkESPN
Picture format
Original release
  • First run:
    April 10, 1980 (1980-04-10) – 1996 (1996)
  • Second run:
    July 2, 2017 (2017-07-02) - present (present)
External links
Website

In the early 1980s, Top Rank Boxing and then-fledgling ESPN formed a partnership to bring a weekly boxing to the cable network which culminated with the first regularly televised boxing series since 1964. The first event was held on April 10, 1980 in Atlantic City, when middleweight Frank Fletcher decisioned Ben Serrano.[3] The original Top Rank Boxing on ESPN was the longest-running cable series and weekly boxing series in history, after celebrating its 16th consecutive year in 1996. ESPN broke away from the contract afterward, replacing it with Friday Night Fights—a new series that would feature fights from other promotions and aired on ESPN2.[4]

In July 2017, Top Rank began to soft launch a new broadcasting agreement with ESPN, beginning with Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn,[5][6] followed by two more cards in August.[7] That month, ESPN officially announced a multi-year agreement, calling for events airing across ESPN linear and digital properties (including its recently-launched subscription service ESPN+), and an option to carry events on pay-per-view.[8][9] On August 2, 2018, ESPN extended the agreement through 2025.[10]

Current boxers

BoxerNicknameNationalityWeightRecordTitle
Carlos Adames DominicanWelterweight14–0 (11 KO)
Joseph Adorno"Blessed Hands" Puerto RicanLightweight9–0 (9 KO)
Mike Alvarado"Mile High" AmericanWelterweight39–4 (27 KO)
Jerwin Ancajas"Pretty Boy" FilipinoSuper flyweight30–1–1 (20 KO)IBF Super Flyweight champion
Jared Anderson Big Baby American Heavyweight 4–0 (4 KOs)
Arnold Barboza Jr. AmericanLight welterweight20–0 (7 KO)
Raymundo Beltrán"Sugar" MexicanLightweight35–8–1 (21 KO)
José Benavidez"Merciless" AmericanWelterweight27–1 (18 KO)
Alexander Besputin RussianLight middleweight10–0 (8 KO)
Carlos Castro AmericanSuper bantamweight20–0 (9 KO)
Jeyvier Cintrón"Perrito" Puerto RicanBantamweight6–0 (4 KO)
Michael Conlan"Mick" IrishSuper bantamweight8–0 (5 KO)
Robson Conceição BrazilianLightweight8–0 (5 KO)
Terence Crawford"Bud" AmericanWelterweight33–0 (24 KO)WBO Welterweight champion
Erick De Leon AmericanSuper featherweight17–0–1 (10 KO)
Christopher Díaz"Pitufo" Puerto RicanFeatherweight23–1 (15 KO)
Isaac Dogboe"Brave-Son" GhanaianSuper bantamweight20–0 (14 KO)WBO Super Bantamweight champion
Esquiva Falcão BrazilianSuper middleweight20–0 (14 KO)
Paul Fleming"Showtime" AustralianSuper featherweight25–0 (17 KO)
Gabriel Flores Jr. AmericanLightweight13–0 (6 KO)
Tyson Fury"Gypsy King" BritishHeavyweight30–0-1 (21 KO)WBC, Ring & Lineal Heavyweight champion
Fazliddin Gaibnazarov UzbekWelterweight4–0 (2 KO)
Jesse Garcia AmericanFeatherweight6–0 (4 KO)
Jose Gonzalez"Chocolatito" AmericanFeatherweight9–0–2 (2 KO)
Oleksandr Gvozdyk"The Nail" UkrainianLight heavyweight16–0 (13 KO)WBC & Lineal Light Heavyweight champion
Jeff Horn"The Hornet" AustralianWelterweight18–1–1 (12 KO)
Jesse Hart"Hard Work" AmericanSuper middleweight24–1 (20 KO)
David Kaminsky IsraeliLight middleweight2–0 (1 KO)
Bryant Jennings"By-By" AmericanHeavyweight23–2 (13 KO)
Egidijus Kavaliauskas LithuanianWelterweight20–0 (16 KO)
Vasyl Lomachenko"Hi-Tech" UkrainianSuper featherweight14–2 (10 KO)
José López"Chino" Puerto RicanLight welterweight11–1 (9 KO)
Teófimo López"El Brooklyn" HonduranLightweight16–0 (12 KO)WBC, WBA (Super), WBO, IBF, and The Ring Lightweight champion
Bryan Lua AmericanLightweight5–0 (2 KO)
Quilisto Madera"Quilo the Kid" AmericanMiddleweight10–1 (7 KO)
Jessie Magdaleno AmericanSuper bantamweight25–1 (18 KO)
Miguel Marriaga"The Scorpion" ColombianFeatherweight26–3 (22 KO)
Mikaela Mayer AmericanLight welterweight14–0 (5 KO)
Trevor McCumby AmericanLight heavyweight23–0 (18 KO)
Ryōta Murata JapaneseMiddleweight14–1 (11 KO)WBA (Regular) Middleweight champion
Steve Nelson AmericanLight heavyweight11–0 (9 KO)
Isidro Ochoa AmericanLightweight5–0 (1 KO)
Víctor Padilla Puerto RicanLightweight4–0 (4 KO)
José Pedraza"Sniper" Puerto RicanLightweight25–2 (12 KO)
Konstantin Ponomarev"Talant" RussianWelterweight34–0 (13 KO)
Kubrat Pulev"The Cobra" BulgarianHeavyweight28-1 (14 KO)
Duke Ragan American Featherweight 0–0
Jose Ramírez AmericanLight welterweight22–0 (16 KO)WBC Light Welterweight champion
Casey Ramos"The Wizard" AmericanSuper featherweight24–1 (6 KO)
Mike Reed"Yes Indeed" AmericanLight welterweight23–2 (12 KO)
Jean Carlos Rivera Puerto RicanFeatherweight15–0 (10 KO)
Julian Rodriguez"Hammer Hands" AmericanLight welterweight16–0 (10 KO)
Alex Saucedo"El Cholo" AmericanWelterweight28–0 (18 KO)
Jason Sosa"El Canito" AmericanSuper featherweight20–3–4 (15 KO)
Genesis Servania"Kashimi" FilipinoFeatherweight31–1 (14 KO)
Shakur Stevenson"Sugar" AmericanBantamweight7–0 (4 KO)
Nicholas Walters"Axe Man" JamaicanSuper featherweight26–1–1 (21 KO)
Óscar Valdez MexicanFeatherweight24–0 (19 KO)WBO Featherweight champion
Danny Valdivia MexicanLight middleweight14–2 (10 KO)
Antonio Vargas"No Respect" AmericanSuper flyweight6–0 (3 KO)
Bryan Vázquez"El Tiquito" Costa RicanSuper featherweight36–3 (20 KO)
Andy Vences"The Shark" AmericanLightweight21–0–1 (12 KO)
Félix Verdejo"El Diamante" Puerto RicanLightweight23–1 (15 KO)
Henry Lebrón"Moncho" Puerto RicanLightweight6–0 (4 KO)
Lenny Zappavigna"Lenny Zappa" AustralianLight welterweight37–4 (27 KO)
Xander Zayas Puerto RicanWelterweight1–0 (1 KO)
Vijender Singh IndianSuper middleweight12-0 (8 KO)

Notable

Other events

Early in its history, Top Rank promoted the Snake River Canyon jump of daredevil Evel Knievel in September 1974.[11][12] The event, at Twin Falls, Idaho, was shown live on paid closed circuit television in hundreds of theaters, for about ten dollars each.[13][14][15] The steam-powered Skycycle X-2 had a premature deployment of its parachute and Knievel survived.[14]

References

  1. "Risk vs. Reward". Top Rank Boxing. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  2. Ezra, Michael (2013). The Economic Civil Rights Movement: African Americans and the Struggle for Economic Power. Routledge. p. 105. ISBN 9781136274756.
  3. "40 Years of Top Rank Boxing on ESPN". Big Fight Weekend. April 10, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  4. "No longer fighting, Top Rank, ESPN talk about fights". ESPN.com. ESPN Inc. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  5. "Pacquiao-Horn To Air Live on ESPN, 9PM ET/6PM PT". Boxing Scene. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  6. "ESPN to televise Manny Pacquiao's next fight as part of new Top Rank agreement". Bloody Elbow (SB Nation). Vox Media. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  7. "Vasyl Lomachenko, Terence Crawford to headline live ESPN cards in August". ESPN.com. ESPN Inc. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  8. "Top Rank signs exclusive 4-year deal with ESPN". ESPN. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
  9. Ramos, Dino-Ray (August 26, 2017). "ESPN And Top Rank Announce Multi-Year Agreement For New Fight Series". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  10. Hayes, Dade (2018-08-02). "ESPN Sets Landmark Boxing Deal With Top Rank Through 2025". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  11. "Is he an athlete, daredevil, promoter, hoax, or a nut?". Spartanburg Herald. South Carolina. Associated Press. June 25, 1974. p. B2.
  12. "Congressman says Evel bad influence on kids". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. September 4, 1974. p. 2.
  13. "Evel Knievel canyon leap today". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. September 8, 1974. p. 16.
  14. Sellard, Dan (September 9, 1974). "Evel Knievel's leap at canyon ends in draw". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 1B.
  15. "Snake River Canyon Jump". Chicago Tribune. (advertisement). September 6, 1974. p. 2, section 3.
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