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.
 Logo used since 2012. | |
| Type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Boxing promotion |
| Predecessor | Main Bout |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Founder | |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Bob Arum (CEO) |
| Website | www |
Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muhammad Ali, Alexis Argüello, Terence Crawford, Oscar De La Hoya, Roberto Durán, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Marvin Hagler, Juan Manuel Márquez, Manny Pacquiao, Sugar Ray Leonard, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Érik 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, Guido Vianello and Tyson Fury.
The company has promoted such superfights as Hagler vs Leonard, Chávez 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 the 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
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]
Announcers
Kenneth Anderson AKA (Mr. Kennedy Aka Mr. Anderson)
Blow-by-blow
- Sal Marchiano (1980–1983)[11]
- Sam Rosen (1983–1986)[12]
- Al Bernstein (1986–1996)
- Don Chevrier (1987–1988)[13]
- Tom Kelly (1988–1989)
- Barry Tompkins (1989–1994)[14]
- Bob Papa (1996–2003)[15]
- Joe Tessitore (2003–present)
Color Commentator
- Al Bernstein (1980–1986, 1987–1998)[12]
- Tommy Hearns (1980)[12]
- Randy Gordon (1980–1982)[16]
- Donald Curry (1985)[17]
- Dave Bontempo (1986–1998)
- Teddy Atlas (1998–2017)[18]
- Andre Ward (2017–present)
- Mark Kriegel (2017–present)
- Timothy Bradley (2020–present)
Current boxers
| Boxer | Nickname | Nationality | Weight | Record | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Adames |  Dominican | Welterweight | 20-1 (16 KO) | ||
| Joseph Adorno | "Blessed Hands" |  Puerto Rican | Lightweight | 14–0–2 (12 KO) | |
| Mike Alvarado | "Mile High" |  American | Welterweight | 40–5 (28 KO) | |
| Efe Ajagba | "The Silent Roller" |  Nigerian | Heavyweight | 15–1 (12 KO) | |
| Jerwin Ancajas | "Pretty Boy" |  Filipino | Super flyweight | 32–2–2 (22 KO) | |
| Jared Anderson | “Big Baby” | American | Heavyweight | 10–0 (10 KO) | |
| Arnold Barboza Jr. | American | Light welterweight | 26–0 (10 KO) | ||
| Raymundo Beltrán | "Sugar" |  Mexican | Lightweight | 36–9–1 (22 KO) | |
| José Benavidez | "Merciless" | American | Welterweight | 27–1 (18 KO) | |
| Alexander Besputin |  Russian | Welterweight | 15–0 (11 KO) | ||
| Artur Beterbiev | Russian | Light heavyweight | 16–0 (16 KO) | WBC, IBF, and lineal light heavyweight champion | |
| Jeyvier Cintrón | "Perrito" | Puerto Rican | Bantamweight | 11–1 (5 KO) | |
| Michael Conlan | "Mick" |  Irish | Super bantamweight | 17–1 (8 KO) | |
| Robson Conceição |  Brazilian | Super featherweight | 17–2 (8 KO) | ||
| Christopher Díaz | "Pitufo" | Puerto Rican | Featherweight | 26–3 (16 KO) | |
| Isaac Dogboe | "Brave-Son" |  Ghanaian | Featherweight | 22–2 (15 KO) | |
| Esquiva Falcão | Brazilian | Super middleweight | 28–0 (20 KO) | ||
| Gabriel Flores Jr. | American | Lightweight | 20–1 (7 KO) | ||
| Tyson Fury | "Gypsy King" |  British | Heavyweight | 32–0–1 (23 KO) | WBC, The Ring & lineal heavyweight champion |
| Fazliddin Gaibnazarov |  Uzbek | Welterweight | 9–1 (5 KO) | ||
| Jesse Garcia | American | Featherweight | 9–0 (5 KO) | ||
| Jose Gonzalez | "Chocolatito" | American | Featherweight | 15–0–2 (5 KO) | |
| Oleksandr Gvozdyk | "The Nail" |  Ukrainian | Light heavyweight | 17–1 (14 KO) | |
| Jeff Horn | "The Hornet" | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australian | Welterweight | 20–3–1 (13 KO) | |
| Jesse Hart | "Hard Work" | American | Super middleweight | 26–3 (21 KO) | |
| Naoya Inoue | "Monster" |  Japanese | Super Bantamweight | 25–0 (22 KO) | WBC and WBO Super bantamweight champion |
| David Kaminsky |  Israeli | Light middleweight | 6–1 (3 KO) | ||
| Bryant Jennings | "By-By" | American | Heavyweight | 24–4 (14 KO) | |
| Egidijus Kavaliauskas |  Lithuanian | Welterweight | 22–2–1 (18 KO) | ||
| Vasiliy Lomachenko | "Loma" | Ukrainian | Lightweight | 15–2 (11 KO) | |
| José López | "Chino" | Puerto Rican | Light welterweight | 12–1 (10 KO) | |
| Teófimo López | "El Brooklyn" | American | Lightweight | 16–1 (12 KO) | |
| Bryan Lua | American | Lightweight | 8–0 (3 KO) | ||
| Jessie Magdaleno | American | Super bantamweight | 28–1 (18 KO) | ||
| Miguel Marriaga | "The Scorpion" |  Colombian | Featherweight | 30–4 (26 KO) | |
| Mikaela Mayer | American | Light welterweight | 15–0 (5 KO) | ||
| Trevor McCumby | American | Light heavyweight | 25–0 (19 KO) | ||
| Kieran Molloy | Irish | Welterweight | 4–0 (3 KO) | ||
| Andrew Moloney | "The Monster" | Australian | Super flyweight | 22–2–1 NC (14 KO) | |
| Jason Moloney | "Mayhem" | Australian | Bantamweight | 26–2 (19 KO) | WBO bantamweight Champion |
| Ryōta Murata | Japanese | Middleweight | 16–3 (13 KO) | ||
| Emanuel Navarrete | "Vaquero" | Mexican | Featherweight | 34–1 (29 KO) | WBO featherweight champion |
| Steve Nelson | American | Light heavyweight | 17–0 (14 KO) | ||
| José Pedraza | "Sniper" | Puerto Rican | Lightweight | 29–3 (14 KO) | |
| Duke Ragan | American | Featherweight | |||
| Jose Ramírez | American | Light welterweight | 26–1 (17 KO) | ||
| Casey Ramos | "The Wizard" | American | Super featherweight | 24–1 (6 KO) | |
| Mike Reed | "Yes Indeed" | American | Light welterweight | 25–2 (13 KO) | |
| Jean Carlos Rivera | Puerto Rican | Featherweight | 16–2 (11 KO) | ||
| Julian Rodriguez | "Hammer Hands" | American | Light welterweight | 21–1 (14 KO) | |
| Alex Saucedo | "El Cholo" | American | Welterweight | 30–2 (19 KO) | |
| Joe Smith Jr. | "Irish Bomber" | American | Light heavyweight | 27–3 (21 KO) | WBO light heavyweight champion |
| Jason Sosa | "El Canito" | American | Super featherweight | 23–4–4 (16 KO) | |
| Genesis Servania | "Kashimi" | Filipino | Featherweight | 34–4 (16 KO) | |
| Shakur Stevenson | "Sugar" | American | Lightweight | 19–0 (9 KO) | |
| Josh Taylor | "Tartan Tornado" | British | Light welterweight | 18–0 (13 KO) | IBF, WBA (Super), WBC, WBO light welterweight champion |
| Nicholas Walters | "Axe Man" |  Jamaican | Super featherweight | 26–1–1 (21 KO) | |
| Óscar Valdez | Mexican | Super featherweight | 31–2 (23 KO) | ||
| Félix Verdejo | "El Diamante" | Puerto Rican | Lightweight | 27–2 (17 KO) | |
| Henry Lebrón | "Moncho" | Puerto Rican | Lightweight | 14–0 (9 KO) | |
| Xander Zayas | Puerto Rican | Light middleweight | 15–0 (10 KO) | ||
| Charly Suarez | "King's Warrior” | Filipino | Super featherweight | 16–0 (9 KO) |
Notable fighters
- Muhammad Ali
- Mikey Garcia
- Mike Alvarado
- Jorge Arce
- Urbano Antillon
- José Benavidez
- Timothy Bradley
- Iván Calderón
- José Luis Castillo
- Martín Castillo
- Julio César Chávez Jr
- Omar Chávez
- Joshua Clottey
- Bernabe Concepcion
- Terence Crawford
- Kid Diamond
- David Díaz
- Nonito Donaire
- Esquiva Falcão
- Yuri Foreman
- Yuriorkis Gamboa
- Miguel Angel Garcia
- Kendall Holt
- Demetrius Hopkins
- Miguel Angel Huerta
- Nobuhiro Ishida
- Jesus Soto Karass
- Vasiliy Lomachenko
- Juan Manuel Lopez
- Francisco Lorenzo
- Steven Luevano
- Antonio Margarito
- Raul Martinez
- Vanes Martirosyan
- Egor Mekhontsev
- Fernando Montiel
- Tommy Morrison
- Ryota Murata
- Manny Pacquiao
- Arnold Barboza Jr.
- Kelly Pavlik
- Anthony Peterson
- Lamont Peterson
- Hasim Rahman
- Brandon Rios
- Marco Antonio Rubio
- Andy Ruiz
- Mario Santiago
- Giovanni Segura
- Jorge Solís
- Ulises Solís
- Glen Tapia
- Anthony Thompson
- Ricardo Torres
- Brian Viloria
- José Luis Zertuche
- Shiming Zou
Other events
Early in its history, Top Rank promoted the Snake River Canyon jump of daredevil Evel Knievel in September 1974.[19][20] The event, at Twin Falls, Idaho, was shown live on paid closed circuit television in hundreds of theaters, for about ten dollars each.[21][22][23] The steam-powered Skycycle X-2 had a premature deployment of its parachute and Knievel survived.[22]
References
- "Risk vs. Reward". Top Rank Boxing. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
- Ezra, Michael (2013). The Economic Civil Rights Movement: African Americans and the Struggle for Economic Power. Routledge. p. 105. ISBN 9781136274756.
- "40 Years of Top Rank Boxing on ESPN". Big Fight Weekend. April 10, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
- "No longer fighting, Top Rank, ESPN talk about fights". ESPN.com. ESPN Inc. 3 September 2009. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
- "Pacquiao-Horn To Air Live on ESPN, 9PM ET/6PM PT". Boxing Scene. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- "ESPN to televise Manny Pacquiao's next fight as part of new Top Rank agreement". Bloody Elbow (SB Nation). Vox Media. 19 June 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- "Vasyl Lomachenko, Terence Crawford to headline live ESPN cards in August". ESPN.com. ESPN Inc. 30 June 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
- "Top Rank signs exclusive 4-year deal with ESPN". ESPN. Retrieved 2017-08-28.
- 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.
- Hayes, Dade (2018-08-02). "ESPN Sets Landmark Boxing Deal With Top Rank Through 2025". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
- Alfano, Peter (July 12, 1983). "Embarrassing Night in Boxing". The New York Times.
- Winderman, Ira (May 13, 1986). "ESPN's Bernstein Won't Go Down Without a Fight". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
- "Roundup Baseball". The Globe and Mail. September 24, 1987.
- Sarni, Jim (November 18, 1988). "Saturday is Dream for Football Fanatics". Sun Sentinel.
- Lindquist, Jerry (August 22, 1994). "Berman's Forecast on Redskins: Wait Till Next Year". Richmond Times - Dispatch.
- Katz, Michael; Johnson, Roy S. (October 19, 1982). "Announcer Loses". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
- Myslenski, Skip; Kay, Linds (August 29, 1985). "Odds & INS". Chicago Tribune.
- Pugmire, Lance (December 13, 2017). "Boxing analyst Teddy Atlas is removed by ESPN from live fights". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
- "Is he an athlete, daredevil, promoter, hoax, or a nut?". Spartanburg Herald. South Carolina. Associated Press. June 25, 1974. p. B2.
- "Congressman says Evel bad influence on kids". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. September 4, 1974. p. 2.
- "Evel Knievel canyon leap today". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. September 8, 1974. p. 16.
- Sellard, Dan (September 9, 1974). "Evel Knievel's leap at canyon ends in draw". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 1B.
- "Snake River Canyon Jump". Chicago Tribune. (advertisement). September 6, 1974. p. 2, section 3.