Top Rank

This article is about the boxing promotion company Top Rank, Inc. For other uses, see Top Rank (disambiguation).

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

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

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, Jared Anderson, Nico Ali Walsh, 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] This coverage ended in 2025.[11]

Announcers

Blow-by-blow
Color commentators

Current boxers

Boxer Nationality Weight Record Title
Jared Alexander American Heavyweight 17-1 (15 KO)
Ali Feliz American Heavyweight 5-0 (4 KO)
Bakhodir Jalolov Uzbekistani Heavyweight 14-0 (14 KO)
Damian Knyba Polish Heavyweight 15-0 (9 KO)
Richard Torrez Jr. American Heavyweight 10-0 (10 KO)
Janibek Alimkhanuly Kazakhstani Middleweight 15-0 (10 KO) WBO, IBF World Champion
Jahi Tucker American Middleweight 11-1-1 (5 KO)
Christian Mbilli Canadian Super middleweight 27-0 (23 KO)
Xander Zayas Puerto Rican Junior middleweight 19-0 (12 KO)
Art Barrera Jr. American Welterweight 6-0 (4 KO)
Brian Norman Jr. American Welterweight 26-0 (20 KO) WBO World Champion
Giovani Santillan American Welterweight 32-1 (17 KO)
Lindolfo Delgado Mexican Junior welterweight 20-0 (15 KO)
Tiger Johnson American Junior welterweight 13-0 (6 KO)
Teofimo Lopez American Junior welterweight 21-1 (13 KO) WBO World Champion
Rohan Polanco Dominican Junior welterweight 13-0 (8 KO)
Emiliano Fernando Vargas American Junior welterweight 11-0 (9 KO)
Keyshawn Davis American Lightweight 11-0 (7 KO)
Abdullah Mason American Lightweight 14-0 (12 KO)
Raymond Muratalla American Lightweight 21-0 (16 KO)
Robson Conceição Brazilian Junior lightweight 19-2-1 (9 KO) WBC World Champion
O'Shaquie Foster American Junior lightweight 22-3 (12 KO) Former WBC World Champion
Emanuel Navarrete Mexican Junior lightweight 39-2-1 (32 KO) (1 nc) WBO World Champion
Demler Zamora American Junior lightweight 13-0 (9 KO)
Bruce Carrington American Featherweight 12-0 (8 KO)
Rafael Espinoza Mexican Featherweight 25-0 (21 KO) WBO World Champion
Albert Gonzalez American Featherweight 10-0 (6 KO)
Julius Ballo American Featherweight 0-0
Steven Navarro American Junior bantamweight 2-0 (1 KO)
Floyd Diaz American Bantamweight 12-0 (3 KO)

Notable fighters

Other events

Early in its history, Top Rank promoted the Snake River Canyon jump of daredevil Evel Knievel in September 1974.[20][21] The event, at Twin Falls, Idaho, was shown live on paid closed circuit television in hundreds of theaters, for about ten dollars each.[22][23][24] The steam-powered Skycycle X-2 had a premature deployment of its parachute and Knievel survived.[23]

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. September 3, 2009. 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. June 19, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  7. ^ "Vasyl Lomachenko, Terence Crawford to headline live ESPN cards in August". ESPN.com. ESPN Inc. June 30, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  8. ^ "Top Rank signs exclusive 4-year deal with ESPN". ESPN. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  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 (August 2, 2018). "ESPN Sets Landmark Boxing Deal With Top Rank Through 2025". Deadline. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  11. ^ https://awfulannouncing.com/boxing/top-rank-departs-linear-tv-espn.html
  12. ^ Alfano, Peter (July 12, 1983). "Embarrassing Night in Boxing". The New York Times.
  13. ^ a b c Winderman, Ira (May 13, 1986). "ESPN's Bernstein Won't Go Down Without a Fight". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  14. ^ "Roundup Baseball". The Globe and Mail. September 24, 1987.
  15. ^ Sarni, Jim (November 18, 1988). "Saturday is Dream for Football Fanatics". Sun Sentinel.
  16. ^ Lindquist, Jerry (August 22, 1994). "Berman's Forecast on Redskins: Wait Till Next Year". Richmond Times - Dispatch.
  17. ^ Katz, Michael; Johnson, Roy S. (October 19, 1982). "Announcer Loses". The New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  18. ^ Myslenski, Skip; Kay, Linds (August 29, 1985). "Odds & INS". Chicago Tribune.
  19. ^ Pugmire, Lance (December 13, 2017). "Boxing analyst Teddy Atlas is removed by ESPN from live fights". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  20. ^ "Is he an athlete, daredevil, promoter, hoax, or a nut?". Spartanburg Herald. South Carolina. Associated Press. June 25, 1974. p. B2.
  21. ^ "Congressman says Evel bad influence on kids". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. September 4, 1974. p. 2.
  22. ^ "Evel Knievel canyon leap today". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. September 8, 1974. p. 16.
  23. ^ a b Sellard, Dan (September 9, 1974). "Evel Knievel's leap at canyon ends in draw". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 1B.
  24. ^ "Snake River Canyon Jump". Chicago Tribune. (advertisement). September 6, 1974. p. 2, section 3.
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