Boxing Monthly is back. Boxing News lives on. Together, they will become the world’s biggest and best boxing magazine
The brightest of boxing legends are based on resilience and longevity. The most vivid boxing stories often involve comebacks. And usually, such longevity is achieved, and such comebacks are successful, because of an understanding of the importance of reinvention, and thanks to some unlikely partnerships.
Bernard Hopkins competed at the highest level until his 50s, and became the sport’s oldest male world champion, because he adapted his fighting style in the ring and aligned himself promotionally with former rival Oscar De La Hoya outside it.
George Foreman’s comeback captured the public’s imagination when he reinvented himself as an affable everyman and then, when he regained the world heavyweight title, he did so with Angelo Dundee in his corner – the trainer who had opposed him when he lost the belt to Muhammad Ali 20 years earlier.
Frank Warren remains one of the world’s biggest promoters thanks to perfecting the art of reinvention, and then embracing the spirit of cooperation when, in a “hell froze over” moment, he began co-promoting with Eddie Hearn, leading to massive gains for both.
There was a time when boxing fans thought they’d never see Warren and Hearn side by side – nor Foreman and Dundee or Hopkins and De La Hoya. But boxing, as much as it is defined by the struggles and achievements of individuals, has always done its best work when those individuals work together.
There was a time, too, when boxing fans could not have imagined Foreman or Hopkins reigning again. But they did so by adopting of the twin pillars of persistence and partnerships.
Here, then, is boxing’s latest tale of resilience, of reinvention, of a comeback, and of a pact between former rivals.
Today, we announce the merger of Britain’s two biggest and best-loved boxing magazines; one that has been the very epitome of longevity, and one that is, like George Foreman, launching a comeback that nobody saw coming.
Today, we announce the merger of Boxing News and Boxing Monthly.
Boxing News is the world’s oldest fight sports magazine and the oldest sports magazine still in print, having been launched in 1909 and being continually published ever since.
Its resilience is proven in having survived world wars, printers’ strikes, the coronavirus pandemic and the rise of the internet. The magazine has changed names a couple of times – it started life as Boxing, and then became Boxing, Racing And Football in August 1927, and then Boxing News in May 1940. It has been a black and white newspaper, a full-colour tabloid and a glossy magazine, and in latter years has offered a digital edition and an excellent website, and is a social media juggernaut with 5.5 million followers.
But as much as we have changed with the times, what’s been even more important has been the constant of excellent, independent journalism, reflected in how many of our readers talk of how they’ve bought the magazine for decades, if not generations.
Now, though, the biggest change in Boxing News’ long and proud history is upon us.
After 116 years of weekly production, Boxing News is going monthly.
As much as we love turning out the weekly magazine, and as much as we know how this is cherished by so many of you, we must adapt to changing times and markets. The immediacy of the internet, combined with ever-rising costs of production, have called for a rethink.
After thoroughly examining every possible business permutation, we decided a monthly magazine would be our best form of reinvention, allowing us to keep our proud print tradition alive and its continuity unbroken, and not only that, but to improve and expand it.
But switching to monthly is a huge consideration, not to mention an unprecedented one. To make a success of this, we decided to bring back one of the best to ever do it: Boxing Monthly.
Boxing Monthly was launched in April 1989 and closed in May 2020 – many would say prematurely – when Covid-19 was raging and live sports the world over had been placed on hold.
While its 31-year history may pale next to that of Boxing News, its legacy is undeniable. As a monthly boxing magazine, it outlasted all its English-language competitors bar The Ring, and many readers on both sides of the Atlantic felt it was a superior product to any of the US offerings.
There will be those who’ll tell you, too, that Boxing Monthly was better even than Boxing News. Naturally, many fans routinely bought both, but the two magazines were quite different, and some readers preferred one or the other.
Boxing News and Boxing Monthly were, therefore, in direct competition. It was a good-natured rivalry, but a rivalry nonetheless. Still, there was no sense of triumph here when Boxing Monthly closed in May 2020.
Which is why Boxing News acquired the dormant Boxing Monthly brand in April 2023. We didn’t know what we’d do with it at the time, but it was at least a way to preserve the magazine’s archives, an important piece of British boxing history.
Now, that history is coming back.
Much like Hopkins and De La Hoya, Foreman and Dundee, Warren and Hearn, former rivals Boxing News and Boxing Monthly realised not only how much they have in common, but how their shared history can be combined and reinvented to usher in a new era that benefits both.
One is coming back. One is being strengthened. Shared values of fearless, world class journalism will be presented in the biggest version ever seen of either magazine, with familiar features, your favourite names, some exciting new ideas and evocative nostalgia.
Boxing News Monthly will launch in the new year.
Your weekly fix of Boxing News will continue as normal until December 18, when we will present our traditional bumper-sized Christmas edition.
If you are already a subscriber, your existing deal will carry over to the new Boxing News Monthly. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss renewal options, or if you’re not yet a subscriber but would like to sign up for Boxing News Monthly, please call +44 1293 312184 or email boxingnews@subscriptionhelpline.co.uk.
In the meantime, if you have any feedback or suggestions for what you would (or even wouldn’t) like to see in Boxing News Monthly, we’d love to hear from you – you can email us at submissions@boxingnewsonline.net.
Whatever happens, we are sincerely grateful to each and every reader of the weekly magazine, and we very much hope you will continue your journey with us as we embark on this exciting new chapter.
