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.
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 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
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. 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[3]
In July 2017, Top Rank began to soft launch a new broadcasting agreement with ESPN, beginning with Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn,[4][5] followed by two more cards in August.[6] 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.[7][8] On August 2, 2018, ESPN extended the agreement through 2025.[9]
Legal disputes
Top Rank was involved in a legal dispute with Golden Boy Promotions (owned by De La Hoya, whom the company formerly promoted) involving eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao which was settled to allow for future Top Rank fighters facing Golden Boy Promotions fighters starting in October 2007 with Pacquiao vs. Barrera 2, Cotto vs. Mosley in November 2007, Pacquiao vs. Marquez 2 in March 2008, Hopkins vs. Pavlik in November 2008, De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao in December 2008, Mosley vs. Margarito in January 2009, and Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton in May 2009.
Top Rank owner Bob Arum has also had a long-standing feud with owner of Don King Productions, Don King. The two have been accused of having a strangle hold over the sport of boxing and have had several altercations over the forty plus years they have been competing with each other.
Current boxers
| Boxer | Nickname | Nationality | Weight | Record | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Adames |  | Welterweight | 14–0 (11 KO) | ||
| Joseph Adorno | "Blessed Hands" |  | Lightweight | 9–0 (9 KO) | |
| Mike Alvarado | "Mile High" |  | Welterweight | 39–4 (27 KO) | |
| Jerwin Ancajas | "Pretty Boy" |  | Super flyweight | 30–1–1 (20 KO) | IBF Super Flyweight champion |
| Arnold Barboza Jr. | | Light welterweight | 20–0 (7 KO) | ||
| Raymundo Beltrán | "Sugar" |  | Lightweight | 35–8–1 (21 KO) | |
| José Benavidez | "Merciless" | | Welterweight | 27–0 (18 KO) | |
| Alexander Besputin |  | Light middleweight | 10–0 (8 KO) | ||
| Carlos Castro | | Super bantamweight | 20–0 (9 KO) | ||
| Jeyvier Cintrón | "Perrito" | | Bantamweight | 6–0 (4 KO) | |
| Michael Conlan | "Mick" |  | Super bantamweight | 8–0 (5 KO) | |
| Robson Conceição |  | Lightweight | 8–0 (5 KO) | ||
| Terence Crawford | "Bud" | | Welterweight | 33–0 (24 KO) | WBO Welterweight champion |
| Erick De Leon | | Super featherweight | 17–0–1 (10 KO) | ||
| Christopher Díaz | "Pitufo" | | Featherweight | 23–1 (15 KO) | |
| Isaac Dogboe | "Brave-Son" |  | Super bantamweight | 20–0 (14 KO) | WBO Super Bantamweight champion |
| Esquiva Falcão | | Super middleweight | 20–0 (14 KO) | ||
| Paul Fleming | "Showtime" | .svg.png){kind=small} | Super featherweight | 25–0 (17 KO) | |
| Gabriel Flores Jr. | | Lightweight | 13–0 (6 KO) | ||
| Tyson Fury | "Gypsy King" |  | Heavyweight | 30–0-1 (21 KO) | WBC, Ring & Lineal Heavyweight champion |
| Fazliddin Gaibnazarov |  | Welterweight | 4–0 (2 KO) | ||
| Jesse Garcia | | Featherweight | 6–0 (4 KO) | ||
| Jose Gonzalez | "Chocolatito" | | Featherweight | 9–0–2 (2 KO) | |
| Oleksandr Gvozdyk | "The Nail" |  | Light heavyweight | 16–0 (13 KO) | WBC & Lineal Light Heavyweight champion |
| Jeff Horn | "The Hornet" | | Welterweight | 18–1–1 (12 KO) | |
| Jesse Hart | "Hard Work" | | Super middleweight | 24–1 (20 KO) | |
| David Kaminsky |  | Light middleweight | 2–0 (1 KO) | ||
| Bryant Jennings | "By-By" | | Heavyweight | 23–2 (13 KO) | |
| Egidijus Kavaliauskas |  | Welterweight | 20–0 (16 KO) | ||
| Vasyl Lomachenko | "Hi-Tech" | | Super featherweight | 12–1 (9 KO) | WBA (Super), WBO & The Ring Lightweight champion |
| José López | "Chino" | | Light welterweight | 11–1 (9 KO) | |
| Teófimo López | "El Brooklyn" | .svg.png){kind=small} | Lightweight | 10–0 (8 KO) | |
| Bryan Lua | | Lightweight | 5–0 (2 KO) | ||
| Quilisto Madera | "Quilo the Kid" | | Middleweight | 10–1 (7 KO) | |
| Jessie Magdaleno | | Super bantamweight | 25–1 (18 KO) | ||
| Miguel Marriaga | "The Scorpion" |  | Featherweight | 26–3 (22 KO) | |
| Mikaela Mayer | | Light welterweight | 6–0 (3 KO) | ||
| Trevor McCumby | | Light heavyweight | 23–0 (18 KO) | ||
| Ryōta Murata |  | Middleweight | 14–1 (11 KO) | WBA (Regular) Middleweight champion | |
| Steve Nelson | | Light heavyweight | 11–0 (9 KO) | ||
| Isidro Ochoa | | Lightweight | 5–0 (1 KO) | ||
| Manny Pacquiao | "Pac Man" | | Welterweight | 60–7–2 (39 KO) | |
| Víctor Padilla | | Lightweight | 4–0 (4 KO) | ||
| José Pedraza | "Sniper" | | Lightweight | 25–2 (12 KO) | |
| Konstantin Ponomarev | "Talant" | | Welterweight | 34–0 (13 KO) | |
| Gilberto Ramírez | "Zurdo" | | Super middleweight | 38–0 (25 KO) | WBO Super Middleweight champion |
| Jose Ramírez | | Light welterweight | 22–0 (16 KO) | WBC Light Welterweight champion | |
| Casey Ramos | "The Wizard" | | Super featherweight | 24–1 (6 KO) | |
| Mike Reed | "Yes Indeed" | | Light welterweight | 23–2 (12 KO) | |
| Jean Carlos Rivera | | Featherweight | 15–0 (10 KO) | ||
| Julian Rodriguez | "Hammer Hands" | | Light welterweight | 16–0 (10 KO) | |
| Alex Saucedo | "El Cholo" | | Welterweight | 28–0 (18 KO) | |
| Jason Sosa | "El Canito" | | Super featherweight | 20–3–4 (15 KO) | |
| Genesis Servania | "Kashimi" | | Featherweight | 31–1 (14 KO) | |
| Shakur Stevenson | "Sugar" | | Bantamweight | 7–0 (4 KO) | |
| Nicholas Walters | "Axe Man" |  | Super featherweight | 26–1–1 (21 KO) | |
| Óscar Valdez | | Featherweight | 24–0 (19 KO) | WBO Featherweight champion | |
| Danny Valdivia | | Light middleweight | 14–2 (10 KO) | ||
| Antonio Vargas | "No Respect" | | Super flyweight | 6–0 (3 KO) | |
| Bryan Vázquez | "El Tiquito" |  | Super featherweight | 36–3 (20 KO) | |
| Andy Vences | "The Shark" | | Lightweight | 21–0–1 (12 KO) | |
| Félix Verdejo | "El Diamante" | | Lightweight | 23–1 (15 KO) | |
| Henry Lebrón | "Moncho" | | Lightweight | 6–0 (4 KO) | |
| Lenny Zappavigna | "Lenny Zappa" | | Light welterweight | 37–4 (27 KO) | |
| Xander Zayas | | Welterweight | 1–0 (1 KO) | ||
| Vijender Singh |  | Super middleweight | 11-0 (8 KO) | ||
Notable
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Other events
Early in its history, Top Rank promoted the Snake River Canyon jump of daredevil Evel Knievel in September 1974.[10][11] The event, at Twin Falls, Idaho, was shown live on paid closed circuit television in hundreds of theaters, for about ten dollars each.[12][13][14] The steam-powered Skycycle X-2 had a premature deployment of its parachute and Knievel survived.[13]
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.
- "No longer fighting, Top Rank, ESPN talk about fights". ESPN.com. ESPN Inc. 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. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- "Vasyl Lomachenko, Terence Crawford to headline live ESPN cards in August". ESPN.com. ESPN Inc. 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.
- "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.