Decades ago, before the emergence and popularity of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), boxing and wrestling were considered the ultimate combat disciplines, at least, they were the most visible, especially on the United States scene.
The two sports were so intertwined that there were magazines dedicated to both, like the obviously named “Boxing and Wrestling.” Do a Google search for this classic mag, and you’ll see covers with great boxers of the era – Rocky Marciano, Jersey Joe Walcott, Carmen Basilio. Under the nameplate was the subhead: “Two Magazines in One. America’s Greatest Combat Magazine.”
It harkens back to a long-gone era. A simpler era when a combat practitioner either hammered your ass to the mat with a takedown or knocked you silly with a left hook.
Welcome back to simpler times.
With the launch of Abraham Gonzalez’s new “Fights Around The World” website – aka FightsATW – boxing and wrestling are partners once again.
If you have any association with boxing and writing, you know Abe. For the past decade, he has worked his way to respectability the old-fashioned way. A blue-collar guy and a proud Marine, Abe felt his way around a tough industry under the tutelage of Michael Woods (NY Fights) and eventually garnered the experience, guts, and means to strike out on his own. His new venture will combine his two loves: boxing and wrestling. His reasons are simple. Everyone has a story. Not just the headliners. Not just the champions and contenders. And not just the boxers.
He recognizes that there is a wrestling component out there that isn’t being covered. Gobs of news and stories right there for the taking. He’s ready to take it, and he’s in good company in his admiration of the two classic disciplines.
Everyone from Nat Fleischer, legendary founder, president, publisher, and editor of The Ring Magazine, to Stanley Weston, who launched Boxing Illustrated/Wrestling News and was also a former owner of The Ring, had passions for both boxing and wrestling. Weston owned a host of wrestling and boxing magazines over the course of his career, and Fleischer did his best to keep wrestling meaningful in an era when boxing was eclipsing its popularity.
“When I was a kid, I loved pro wrestling and argued with anyone who said it was fake,” said another legendary editor of The Ring, Nigel Collins, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015. “My favorite was Buddy Rogers. But by the time I was a teenager, I had fallen in love with boxing. I usually bought Boxing Illustrated instead of The Ring. Part of that was because it carried wrestling, and I was delighted when it was dropped. Nat Fleischer was responsible for keeping a wrestling section in The Ring. When he was a young man, wrestling was semi-legit, with stars like Frant Gotch, Joe Stecher, and Ed ‘Strangler’ Lewis. I think Nat was, to a certain degree, stuck in the past.”
Later, wrestling would come back in a big way. Names like Hulk Hogan, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Ric Flair, and, of course Vince McMahon made professional wrestling one of the unlikely phenomenons of the 1980s. And that momentum carried right on into the 90s, 00s, and 10s with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, John Cena, and the guy who’s everywhere these days – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Regardless of era, everyone seems to have a wrestling story.
My brother, five years older, was a fan of “Dirty” Dick Murdoch, a Texas-based wrestler who once partnered with the popular Dusty Rhodes. In our room was a fight poster with a photo of Dirty Dick, blood grotesquely streaming down his snarling face. For a preschooler, that photo and particularly the sight of blood was a bit terrifying – but also a bit fascinating. It may have been the first time this future fight scribe was ever aware of combat sports and their mesmerizing appeal.
A few years later, I saw “Rocky,” and a love affair with boxing was born. Yet, looking back, it may have all started with wrestling and that poster.
Of course, there was another guy who was inspired by a wrestler. Muhammad Ali adopted the antics of 1940s and 50s wrestler Gorgeous George, known for his flamboyant personality. He was a huge star at the time and one that counted Ali (then Cassius Clay) as a fan.
George famously told a 19-year-old Ali: “A lot of people will pay to see someone shut your mouth. So keep on bragging, keep on sassing, and always be outrageous.”
It seemed to work.
And if you want to go way, way back, the internet says the blending of boxing and wrestling can be traced back to ancient times. It says both were also popular during the Roman Era through the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance Period. Modern boxing and wrestling came to the fore in the early 20th century, and, most recently, MMA implements elements of both – along with many other combat disciplines.
All are multimillion-dollar businesses now, despite their many faults. Proof that whatever the form and whatever the century, boxing and wrestling just keep on keeping on.
FightsATW vows to chronicle the next chapter of this historic pairing.
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