Top Rank
![]() Logo used since 2012. | |
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Boxing promotion |
| Predecessor | Main Bout |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Founder | |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Bob Arum (CEO) |
| Website | www |
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, 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
[edit | edit source]Main Bout
[edit | edit source]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
[edit | edit source]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
[edit | edit source]- Kenneth Anderson (a.k.a. Mr. Kennedy / Mr. Anderson)
Blow-by-blow
[edit | edit source]- Sal Marchiano (1980–1983)[12]
- Sam Rosen (1983–1986)[13]
- Al Bernstein (1986–1996)
- Don Chevrier (1987–1988)[14]
- Tom Kelly (1988–1989)
- Barry Tompkins (1989–1994, 2010–2011)[15]
- Bob Papa (1996–2003)[16]
- Joe Tessitore (2003–present)
- Bob Sheridan (2010–2016)
- Brian Kenny (2012, 2016)
Color Commentator
[edit | edit source]- Al Bernstein (1980–1986, 1987–1998)[13]
- Tommy Hearns (1980)[13]
- Randy Gordon (1980–1982)[17]
- Donald Curry (1985)[18]
- Dave Bontempo (1986–1998)
- Teddy Atlas (1998–2017)[19]
- Larry Merchant (2013–2014)
- Timothy Bradley (2016–present)
- Andre Ward (2017–2023)
- Mark Kriegel (2017–present)
Current boxers
[edit | edit source]| Boxer | Nationality | Weight | Record | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Efe Ajagba | Nigeria Nigerian | Heavyweight | 20-1 (14 KO) | |
| Jared Alexander | United States American | Heavyweight | 17-1 (15 KO) | |
| Sonny Conto | United States American | Heavyweight | 13-0 (10 KO) | |
| Ali Feliz | United States American | Heavyweight | 5-0 (4 KO) | |
| Tyson Fury | United Kingdom British | Heavyweight | 34-1-1 (24 KO) | Former WBC World Champion |
| Bakhodir Jalolov | Uzbekistan Uzbekistani | Heavyweight | 14-0 (14 KO) | |
| Damian Knyba | Poland Polish | Heavyweight | 15-0 (9 KO) | |
| Arslanbek Makhmudov | Canada Canadian | Heavyweight | 19-1 (18 KO) | |
| Brandon Moore | United States American | Heavyweight | 14-1 (8 KO) | |
| Richard Torrez Jr. | United States American | Heavyweight | 10-0 (10 KO) | |
| Guido Vianello | Italy Italian | Heavyweight | 12-2-1 (10 KO) | |
| Artur Beterbiev | Canada Canadian | Light heavyweight | 20-0 (20 KO) | Former WBC, WBO, IBF World Champion |
| Nico Ali Walsh | United States American | Middleweight | 11-1-1 (5 KO) | |
| Janibek Alimkhanuly | Kazakhstan Kazakhstani | Middleweight | 15-0 (10 KO) | WBO, IBF World Champion |
| Troy Isley | United States American | Middleweight | 13-0 (5 KO) | |
| Javier Martinez | United States American | Middleweight | 10-1-1 (3 KO) | |
| Jahi Tucker | United States American | Middleweight | 11-1-1 (5 KO) | |
| Christian Mbilli | Canada Canadian | Super middleweight | 27-0 (23 KO) | |
| Xander Zayas | Puerto Rico Puerto Rican | Junior middleweight | 19-0 (12 KO) | |
| Vito Mielnicki Jr. | United States American | Junior middleweight | 20-1-1 (13 KO) | |
| Art Barrera Jr. | United States American | Welterweight | 6-0 (4 KO) | |
| Mikaela Mayer | United States American | Welterweight | 19-2 (5 KO) | Former IBF, WBO, Lineal World Champion |
| Brian Norman Jr. | United States American | Welterweight | 26-0 (20 KO) | WBO World Champion |
| Giovani Santillan | United States American | Welterweight | 32-1 (17 KO) | |
| Kelvin Davis | United States American | Junior welterweight | 13-0 (7 KO) | |
| Lindolfo Delgado | Mexico Mexican | Junior welterweight | 20-0 (15 KO) | |
| Tiger Johnson | United States American | Junior welterweight | 13-0 (6 KO) | |
| Teofimo Lopez | United States American | Junior welterweight | 21-1 (13 KO) | WBO World Champion |
| Sandor Martin | Spain Spanish | Junior welterweight | 42-3 (15 KO) | |
| Hugo Micallef | Monaco Monégasque | Junior welterweight | 10-0 (2 KO) | |
| Jose Pedraza | Puerto Rico Puerto Rican | Junior welterweight | 29-6 (14 KO) | Former IBF World Champion |
| Josh Taylor | Scotland Scottish | Junior welterweight | 19-2 (13 KO) | Former WBC, IBF, WBA, WBO, Lineal World Champion |
| Rohan Polanco | Dominican Republic Dominican | Junior welterweight | 13-0 (8 KO) | |
| Charlie Sheehy | United States American | Junior welterweight | 10-0 (4 KO) | |
| Emiliano Fernando Vargas | United States American | Junior welterweight | 11-0 (9 KO) | |
| Elvis Rodriguez | Dominican Republic Dominican | Junior welterweight | 16-1-1 (13 KO) | |
| Keyshawn Davis | United States American | Lightweight | 11-0 (7 KO) | |
| Alan Garcia | United States American | Lightweight | 14-0 (12 KO) | |
| Vasiliy Lomachenko | Ukraine Ukrainian | Lightweight | 18-3 (12 KO) | IBF World Champion |
| Abdullah Mason | United States American | Lightweight | 14-0 (12 KO) | |
| Raymond Muratalla | United States American | Lightweight | 21-0 (16 KO) | |
| Robson Conceição | Brazil Brazilian | Junior lightweight | 19-2-1 (9 KO) | WBC World Champion |
| Andres Cortes | United States American | Junior lightweight | 22-0 (12 KO) | |
| O'Shaquie Foster | United States American | Junior lightweight | 22-3 (12 KO) | Former WBC World Champion |
| Emanuel Navarrete | Mexico Mexican | Junior lightweight | 39-2-1 (32 KO) (1 nc) | WBO World Champion |
| Abraham Nova | Puerto Rico Puerto Rican | Junior lightweight | 23-3 (16 KO) | |
| Oscar Valdez | Mexico Mexican | Junior lightweight | 32-2 (24 KO) | WBO Interim World Champion |
| Demler Zamora | United States American | Junior lightweight | 13-0 (9 KO) | |
| Charly Suarez | Philippines Filipino | Junior lightweight | 18-0 (10 KO) (1 nc) | |
| Bruce Carrington | United States American | Featherweight | 12-0 (8 KO) | |
| Rafael Espinoza | Mexico Mexican | Featherweight | 25-0 (21 KO) | WBO World Champion |
| Albert Gonzalez | United States American | Featherweight | 10-0 (6 KO) | |
| Arnold Khegai | Ukraine Ukrainian | Featherweight | 22-1-1 (14 KO) | |
| Isaac Dogboe | Ghana Ghanaian | Featherweight | 24-4 (15 KO) | Former WBO World Champion |
| Luis Alberto Lopez | Mexico Mexican | Featherweight | 30-3 (17 KO) | Former IBF World Champion |
| Robeisy Ramirez | Cuba Cuban | Featherweight | 14-2 (9 KO) | Former WBO World Champion |
| Julius Ballo | United States American | Featherweight | 0-0 | |
| Naoya Inoue | Japan Japanese | Junior featherweight | 29-0 (26 KO) | WBO, WBC, IBF, WBA, Lineal World Champion |
| Jason Moloney | Australia Australian | Junior featherweight | 27-3 (19 KO) | Former WBO Champion |
| Andrew Moloney | Australia Australian | Junior bantamweight | 26-4 (16 KO) | |
| Steven Navarro | United States American | Junior bantamweight | 2-0 (1 KO) | |
| Seniesa Estrada | United States American | Minimumweight | 26-0 (9 KO) | WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, Lineal World Champion |
| Floyd Diaz | United States American | Bantamweight | 12-0 (3 KO) |
Notable fighters
[edit | edit source]- Muhammad Ali
- Mikey Garcia
- Miguel Cotto
- Floyd Mayweather
- Oscar De La Hoya
- 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
[edit | edit source]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
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- ^ https://awfulannouncing.com/boxing/top-rank-departs-linear-tv-espn.html
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External links
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- Professional boxing promotion companies
- ESPN original programming
- Boxing television series
- 1980 American television series debuts
- 1996 American television series endings
- 2017 American television series debuts
- 1980s American sports television series
- 1990s American sports television series
- 2000s American sports television series
- 2020s American sports television series
- Companies based in Paradise, Nevada
- Entertainment companies established in 1973
- American companies established in 1973
- 1973 establishments in Nevada
