Elliot Worsell

5 days ago | boxingscene.com | Elliot Worsell

A boxer’s career is never linear. It goes round and round, and up and down, and one minute they are young and coming up and the next they are old and going down. Around them the faces may change, and the names may change, but the goals and the structure itself remain the same.

1 week ago | boxingscene.com | Elliot Worsell

A win is a win, they often say, but still it must feel like a win. If a win feels like a defeat, or requires a rematch to clear up uncertainty, the feeling in the aftermath is not so much pride as relief; not so much victory as escape. For proof and for comfort, the winner will consult their record and direct you to the “W”, yet they will accept that it comes with an asterisk and that the “W” will have to be repeated, this time more convincingly, for people to forget whatever happened before.

2 weeks ago | boxingscene.com | Elliot Worsell

Although it is true that heavyweights tend to have a longer lifespan than most fighters, this does not mean they are immune to deterioration and the passing of time. Often, in fact, the demise of a heavyweight is rather quick and spectacular, with the damage done by the heaviest of punches and the distance between falling and standing back up that much greater. In the UK, we have in recent years become accustomed to seeing British heavyweights roam the upper echelons of the heavyweight division.

2 weeks ago | boxingscene.com | Elliot Worsell

Because it is just two people punching each other at the end of day, there are plenty who feel entitled to offer their opinion on a sport like boxing and speak as though they know what they are talking about. This has become more evident in recent years, too, when boxing, like everything else in life, has pivoted from valuing expertise and insight to prioritising attention, speed, and whatever fits the algorithm.

3 weeks ago | sports.yahoo.com | Elliot Worsell

As the tributes poured in, one of the many things we learned following the death of George Foreman was that his opponents were also his collaborators. We learned, for example, that it wasn’t possible to tell the story or explain the greatness of Big George without mentioning the following: Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and Michael Moorer. For the full picture, and a complete understanding, there were others too: Ken Norton, Ron Lyle, Jimmy Young, Evander Holyfield, Tommy Morrison, and so on.