MAKING a good entrance is an art in itself. Get it right, and you will turbo charge not only yourself, but the crowd around you. Get it wrong, and you will be on the back foot before you’ve even disrobed. Over the years we’ve been treated to some truly epic efforts, as well as some that turned out hugely embarrassing. There are those who subvert expectation with unlikely songs, those who genuinely mange to intimidate their foes and those who simply make a beeline for the ring.
In the modern era, there seems to be two schools of thought: Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions series has done away with ring walks all together, whilst in the UK the trend seems to be towards having ever more live performers step into the ring before the main event. As such, we take a look at ten ring walks that are memorable for very different reasons.
Click below for 10 of the most notable ringwalks in boxing
10. Monte Barrett vs David Haye, 2008
50 Cent – My Gun Go Off
In a textbook example of how not to do it, Barrett jumps the ropes… except he doesn’t, and ends up in a tangle on the canvas before his opponent is even in the ring.
9. Muhammad Ali vs Earnie Shavers, 1977
Meco – Star Wars Theme
There have been plenty of fitting and emotional tributes to The Greatest in the sombre wake of his passing. One of the many things he brought to the sport that has not been given due credit, though, is the fact he was the first to really use entrance music back in 1977. The track he used was the Stars Wars Theme, which with its stirring chords and implicit sense of victory-against-the odds was a perfect choice for this truly otherworldly talent.
8. Ricky Hatton v Jose Luis Castillo, 2007
Supra – Blue Moon
Brilliant or bonkers, it’s hard to decide on this one. Starting off with some classic snippets of Winston Churchill’s We Shall Fight on the Beaches and the always terrifying sounds of an air raid siren, Supra’s version of ‘Blue Moon’ then gets an already rowdy crowd even more riotous. Adding to the element of WTF is the fact Hatton is wearing a sombrero and a top blazoned with the slogan ‘Manchester Mexican’, which surely riled opponent and actual Mexican, Jose Luis Castillo, even further.
7. Bernard Hopkins vs Roy Jones, Jr. II, 2010
Frank Sinatra – My Way
Before he became The Alien, B-Hop was The Executioner, and in this battle with Roy Jones Jr. he fittingly sported a black executioner’s mask. Rather than add to the sense of intimidation with a scary soundtrack, though, he walked out to a special, boxing themed version of ‘My Way’. Complete with some in-ring backing singers cooing away, it has to be the oddest juxtaposition of them all.
6. George Groves vs Carl Froch, 2014
Kasabian – Underdog
Groves’s most masterful stroke in this rematch came not in the ring, but outside it. Sure, he lost the fight in conclusive fashion, but he used the big event to elevate himself from being a domestic level fighter to a crossover star even your mum knew about. His spectacular ring walk—complete with a reading of an epic passage from Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’, Kasabian’s song ‘Underdog’ and an open top red bus—sealed the deal and convinced the public he truly belonged in the top league.
5. Usman Ahmed vs Ashley Sexton, 2010
The Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow
British Flyweight Ahmed hardly lacked confidence whenever making his way to the action. Protracted dance routines, playing up to the camera and handbags with his opponents in the ring characterised most of his pre-fight antics. That’s all fine, just so long as you don’t get knocked out—literally in this case: he was half hanging out of the ring—in the first round.
4. Nigel Benn vs Steve Collins, 1996
Conroy Smith – ‘Dangerous’
The fearsome middleweight did a fine job of creating the sort of intimidating atmospheres that made Mike Tyson a favourite going into just about every fight. For this showdown there was a doom laden and apocalyptic atmosphere hanging heavy in the air from the off. As well as the ominous strikes of Big Ben and heavyweight reggae drums, Benn emerged from a shimmering corridor of green lasers that dehumanised him and made it seem like he was beamed down from a far away planet with simple instructions to seek and destroy.
3. Chris Eubank vs Steve Collins, 1995
Tina Turner – The Best
Not one but two things secure Chris Eubank’s place in the list: not only did he, unsurprisingly, have the temerity to announce his arrival with a big fan fare followed by Tina Turner’s anthemic hit ‘The Best’—itself an act of unshakable self confidence—but so too did he roll into this first contest with Collins on one of his beloved motorbikes. Namely a 1975 Harley Davidson Shovelhead, it was pure theatre complete with explosions of smoke, confetti and fireworks.
2. Prince Naseem Hamed vs Wayne Mccullough, 1998
Michael Jackson – Thriller
Prince Naz could occupy all ten places in this list, no doubts. Always compulsive viewing both in and out of the ring, for this one he had to walk out in a fireproof robe to ensure the initial explosions of fire that started his ring walk didn’t set him alight. Surrounded by a vast amount of production—opening tombs, animated skeletons, hellish organ players, all of which surely sucked up a large portion of his purse—and soundtracked by one of Jacko’s most enduring hits, it was a Halloween night to remember, for right or wrong.
1. Mike Tyson vs Michael Spinks, 1988
N/A
Iron Mike knew how feared he was and was more than happy to play up to the fact. Never was that more obvious than when he fought Michael Spinks: instead of choosing lyrically apt rap jams like ‘Road to Glory’ vs Frank Bruno, or ‘Time 4 Sum Aksion’ vs Peter McNeeley, he went with a found sound recording of dark, dirty and droning industrial noise that was truly foreboding and visibly shook Spinks. Listening back, the clanking metal sounds now seem eerily prescient of the prison chains that would hang from Tyson’s wrists a few years later.
Let us know your favourite boxing ringwalk, comment below
