Q&A: Inside The Ring Magazine Comic Book ‘The Man Who Beat The Man’ With Douglas Fischer

Many of you know me as a die-hard boxing writer—someone who lives and breathes the sweet science and spends most weekends watching and dissecting the fight game. What fewer people know is that long before I was covering fights, I was an avid comic book collector, spending hours sifting through comic book boxes hunting down classics and indulging in new releases.

This past June, while browsing my local comic shop for a fresh stash of books, I came across something that immediately made me stop in my tracks: a title I’ve known my whole life, but in a place, I never expected to see it. Staring at me from the rack was the iconic logo of the world’s most famous boxing publication, The Ring Magazine, adorned with beautiful cover artwork from Dark Horse Comics. Seeing my two greatest passions collide filled me with excitement. Like a true comic book collector, I purchased two copies of “The Man Who Beat The Man“—one to read, and one to send off for grading and encapsulation.

That night, I retreated to my study, accompanied by a hot cup of coffee, and dove into the pages. The moment I finished, I knew I had no choice: I had to reach out to The Ring Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Douglas Fischer, to uncover the story behind this comic book.

Here is my exclusive Q&A with Doug Fischer on The Ring’s groundbreaking leap onto the comic book scene.

FightsATW: What inspired The Ring to launch this comic book series at this time, and how did the collaboration with Dark Horse Comics come together? 

Doug Fisher: It was His Excellency’s idea. Turki is almost as much of a comic book enthusiast as he is a fan of boxing. We are alike in that regard. There was a time when I thought that most boxing fans were not into comics or even looked down on the medium/art as “nerdy sh*t.” I assumed this was the case when I was a kid and adolescent during the 1980s and even up through the 2000s as a maturing adult. But the general culture has changed a lot in the last 15-20 years as comic book characters and classic story arcs have become very much mainstream in films, TV and games. And I think comic book fandom has changed a lot since I started collecting (in the early ’80s). The readers have grown up and while they still read comics, they want more than superhero tales. They’re interested in other comic genres and eagerly looking beyond the big two companies (D.C. and Marvel).

FATW: A few years ago, I was listening to a podcast, and if I remember correctly, you mentioned being a comic book fan. How much of your personal love for comic books is reflected in this project? 

DF: My personal love for comics is what’s making this project very special. The thrill I had seeing my name among the staff credits in issue #1 is on par with the jolt I got seeing one of my letters published in a boxing magazine for the first time (that year was 1990, by the way, right after Tyson was upset by Buster Douglas). However, my contribution to the project has less to do with my passion for comics and more to do with making sure the characters and story don’t deviate too much from the real boxing world.

Don’t get me wrong, the characters and story are closer to the exaggerated themes we see in the Rocky franchise than the gritty realism we got with Raging Bull and other modern boxing films. It’s not superhero level exaggeration but it’s not the way things are in real life either. It’s still a comic book. But my job is to look over the scripts and art and point out anything that might be egregiously wrong or out of place. I’m part of the approval process, which has been educational. I’m learning how comic books are made and that’s awesome.

FATW: How much of the series draws directly from real boxing history and figures versus original fictional elements? (The cover depicts Neil Leifer’s iconic 1965 photograph of Muhammad Ali towering over a fallen Sonny Liston.) 

DF: The covers will pay homage to legendary boxing photos and Ring magazine covers, but the characters are all original creations that are based more on archetypes than any particular historical figures. There’s a manga quality to the boxers in particular. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if a manga version of these characters is next, followed by an anime series. Having said that, history is depicted in the form of prologues in each comic, not always boxing history, but prize fighting history going way before the gloved era.

FATW: The story starts in the year 5000 BC and covers an immense amount of ground—from deeply personal issues affecting fighters to how traditional boxing journalism must compete with social media influencers and crossover boxing platforms. What do you hope boxing fans, as well as brand-new readers, take away from “The Man Who Beat the Man”? 

DF: I just want them to be entertained — not just boxing fans; I want comic book fans to read and enjoy the series. My hope is that the reader identifies or at least empathizes with the struggles the characters go through, not just the boxers but the families and teams of the fighters as well as the two journalists who kind of chronicle the entire journey. The writer Gail Simone has done a great job creating the personalities and motivations of the characters, as well as the situations that bring them to life, and the two artists — Elisa Romboli and Iolanda Zanfardino — have gloriously illustrated them. I just want the reader to appreciate the craft involved in the series and to enjoy the soap opera.

FATW: The comic’s title, “The Man Who Beat the Man,” obviously refers to boxing’s most important accolade: the lineal championship. Since 1922, The Ring Magazine world title has been the most widely recognized championship, awarding a physical belt to highlight that lineage. Was launching this comic The Ring’s way of informing and reminding the world what the true title is—especially in the era of “alphabet soup” belts and now with Zuffa Boxing establishing its own world title? 

DF: Yeah, that’s what the boxers are literally fighting for — both in and outside of the ring — the Ring Magazine championship belt. But more importantly, they’re fighting for that recognition — being THE MAN. They’re giving everything to prove first to themselves that they are who they believe they are, and then to the world. They’re also striving to better understand themselves and their situations, especially within the boxing industry. The series is still being written, but it looks like they’re trying to figure out how to break free from the exploitative nature of the business.

FATW: This issue is part of an 8-issue series. Are there any plans for future arcs, crossovers, or additional Ring-related comic projects down the line? Perhaps even turning some of the artwork into physical trading cards?

DF: I think so. This project was to create IP that could be used in a variety of ways. That could be more comics involving these characters or a manga series that could serve to inform an anime series, and you could also see the characters used in a game. Trading cards, T-shirts, hoodies, that kind of stuff goes without saying if the series catches on. I hope it does because I think there’s a lot of potential for other Ring Magazine-Dark Horse collaborations, such as illustrated fight fiction taken from vintage issues of The Ring (going back to the 1920s and ’30s) and more-realistic comic book depictions of historical boxing figures. Dark Horse Comics is among the best and most respected publishers in the business. I’m sure they have ideas about future boxing comics and in a perfect world I’d be a part of those projects (perhaps beyond a consultant role).

My Take

In just 32 pages, The Ring and Dark Horse have intellectually and beautifully succeeded in merging two distinct worlds. “The Man Who Beat the Man” delivers eye-catching, vibrant artwork paired with a narrative that pulls no punches—capturing both the thrill of fight night and the tragic, all-too-common dysfunction that plagues a fighter’s life behind closed doors. It also expertly highlights the friction between classic, hard-nosed boxing journalism and today’s chaotic media landscape of social media influencers and endless podcasting. By seamlessly meshing combat sports journalism with the fun, exuberant art of comic book storytelling, this debut issue proves that the sweet science and comic books belong in the exact same ring. I’m excitedly waiting for the next issue to be released.

Jacob Rodriguez

Born in Caguas, Puerto, and raised in the Bronx, New York City, Jacob fell in love with boxing when he saw Mike Tyson destroy Michael Spinks in 1988. In 2020, Jacob retired from the United States Army and pursued his passion for boxing as a writer. In addition to contributing to FighstATW, Jacob has been writing for NYFights.com since 2021 and is currently the NYS Editor at NYF.

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