 Logo used since 2012. | |
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Boxingpromotion |
| Predecessor | Main Bout |
| Founded | 1973; 52 years ago (1973) |
| Founder | |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Bob Arum (CEO) |
| Website | www |
Top Rank, Inc. is aboxing promotional company founded byJabir Herbert Muhammad andBob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based inLas Vegas,Nevada.
Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, includingMuhammad 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 andTyson 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 promotedGeorge Foreman's comeback to regain the world championship, culminating in the knockout of thenIBF/WBA championMichael Moorer on November 5, 1994.
The precursor to Top Rank wasMain Bout, a company founded byMuhammad Ali in 1966 to promote his fights. Along with Muhammad Ali, other early equity owners of the company includedJabir Herbert Muhammad,Bob Arum, and John Ali (chief aide toNation of Islam leaderElijah Muhammad).[1] The company was founded after theMuhammad Ali vs. Floyd Patterson fight, and the company mainly handled Ali's boxing promotions andpay-per-viewclosed-circuit television broadcasts in the late 1960s. The company's stockholders included several other fellow Nation of Islam members.[2]
In the early 1980s, Top Rank Boxing and then-fledglingESPN 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, inAtlantic City, when middleweight Frank Fletcher decisioned Ben Serrano.[3] The originalTop 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 withFriday Night Fights—a new series that would feature fights from other promotions and aired onESPN2.[4]
In July 2017, Top Rank began to soft launch a new broadcasting agreement with ESPN, beginning withManny 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 serviceESPN+), and an option to carry events on pay-per-view.[8][9] On August 2, 2018, ESPN extended the agreement through 2025.[10]
| Boxer | Nationality | Weight | Record | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Efe Ajagba |  Nigerian | Heavyweight | 20-1 (14 KO) | |
| Jared Anderson (boxer) |  American | Heavyweight | 17-1 (15 KO) | |
| Sonny Conto | American | Heavyweight | 13-0 (10 KO) | |
| Ali Feliz | American | Heavyweight | 5-0 (4 KO) | |
| Tyson Fury |  British | Heavyweight | 34-1-1 (24 KO) | Former WBC World Champion |
| Bakhodir Jalolov |  Uzbekistani | Heavyweight | 14-0 (14 KO) | |
| Damian Knyba |  Polish | Heavyweight | 15-0 (9 KO) | |
| Arslanbek Makhmudov |  Canadian | Heavyweight | 19-1 (18 KO) | |
| Brandon Moore | American | Heavyweight | 14-1 (8 KO) | |
| Richard Torrez Jr. | American | Heavyweight | 10-0 (10 KO) | |
| Guido Vianello |  Italian | Heavyweight | 12-2-1 (10 KO) | |
| Artur Beterbiev | Canadian | Light heavyweight | 20-0 (20 KO) | WBC, WBO, IBF World Champion |
| Nico Ali Walsh | American | Middleweight | 11-1-1 (5 KO) | |
| Janibek Alimkhanuly |  Kazakhstani | Middleweight | 15-0 (10 KO) | WBO, IBF World Champion |
| Troy Isley | American | Middleweight | 13-0 (5 KO) | |
| Javier Martinez | American | Middleweight | 10-1-1 (3 KO) | |
| Jahi Tucker | American | Middleweight | 11-1-1 (5 KO) | |
| Christian Mbilli | Canadian | Super middleweight | 27-0 (23 KO) | |
| Xander Zayas |  Puerto Rican | Junior middleweight | 19-0 (12 KO) | |
| Vito Mielnicki Jr. | American | Junior middleweight | 20-1-1 (13 KO) | |
| Art Barrera Jr. | American | Welterweight | 6-0 (4 KO) | |
| Mikaela Mayer | American | Welterweight | 19-2 (5 KO) | Former IBF, WBO, Lineal World Champion |
| Brian Norman Jr. | American | Welterweight | 26-0 (20 KO) | WBO World Champion |
| Giovani Santillan | American | Welterweight | 32-1 (17 KO) | |
| Kelvin Davis | American | Junior welterweight | 13-0 (7 KO) | |
| Lindolfo Delgado |  Mexican | Junior welterweight | 20-0 (15 KO) | |
| Tiger Johnson | American | Junior welterweight | 13-0 (6 KO) | |
| Teofimo Lopez | American | Junior welterweight | 21-1 (13 KO) | WBO World Champion |
| Sandor Martin |  Spanish | Junior welterweight | 42-3 (15 KO) | |
| Hugo Micallef |  Monégasque | Junior welterweight | 10-0 (2 KO) | |
| Jose Pedraza | Puerto Rican | Junior welterweight | 29-6 (14 KO) | Former IBF World Champion |
| Josh Taylor (boxer) |  Scottish | Junior welterweight | 19-2 (13 KO) | Former WBC, IBF, WBA, WBO, Lineal World Champion |
| Rohan Polanco |  Dominican | Junior welterweight | 13-0 (8 KO) | |
| Charlie Sheehy | American | Junior welterweight | 10-0 (4 KO) | |
| Emiliano Fernando Vargas | American | Junior welterweight | 11-0 (9 KO) | |
| Elvis Rodriguez | Dominican | Junior welterweight | 16-1-1 (13 KO) | |
| Keyshawn Davis | American | Lightweight | 11-0 (7 KO) | |
| Alan Garcia | American | Lightweight | 14-0 (12 KO) | |
| Vasiliy Lomachenko |  Ukrainian | Lightweight | 18-3 (12 KO) | IBF World Champion |
| Abdullah Mason | American | Lightweight | 14-0 (12 KO) | |
| Raymond Muratalla | American | Lightweight | 21-0 (16 KO) | |
| Robson Conceição |  Brazilian | Junior lightweight | 19-2-1 (9 KO) | WBC World Champion |
| Andres Cortes | American | Junior lightweight | 22-0 (12 KO) | |
| O'Shaquie Foster | American | Junior lightweight | 22-3 (12 KO) | Former WBC World Champion |
| Emanuel Navarrete | Mexican | Junior lightweight | 38-2-1 (31 KO) | WBO World Champion |
| Abraham Nova | Puerto Rican | Junior lightweight | 23-3 (16 KO) | |
| Oscar Valdez | Mexican | Junior lightweight | 32-2 (24 KO) | WBO Interim World Champion |
| Demler Zamora | American | Junior lightweight | 13-0 (9 KO) | |
| Bruce Carrington | American | Featherweight | 12-0 (8 KO) | |
| Rafael Espinoza | Mexican | Featherweight | 25-0 (21 KO) | WBO World Champion |
| Albert Gonzalez | American | Featherweight | 10-0 (6 KO) | |
| Arnold Khegai | Ukrainian | Featherweight | 22-1-1 (14 KO) | |
| Isaac Dogboe |  Ghanaian | Featherweight | 24-4 (15 KO) | Former WBO World Champion |
| Luis Alberto Lopez | Mexican | Featherweight | 30-3 (17 KO) | Former IBF World Champion |
| Robeisy Ramirez |  Cuban | Featherweight | 14-2 (9 KO) | Former WBO World Champion |
| Julius Ballo | American | Featherweight | 0-0 | |
| Naoya Inoue |  Japanese | Junior featherweight | 29-0 (26 KO) | WBO, WBC, IBF, WBA, Lineal World Champion |
| Jason Moloney |  Australian | Junior featherweight | 27-3 (19 KO) | Former WBO Champion |
| Andrew Moloney | Australian | Junior bantamweight | 26-4 (16 KO) | |
| Steven Navarro | American | Junior bantamweight | 2-0 (1 KO) | |
| Seniesa Estrada | American | Minimumweight | 26-0 (9 KO) | WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, Lineal World Champion |
| Floyd Diaz | American | Bantamweight | 12-0 (3 KO) |
Early in its history, Top Rank promoted theSnake River Canyonjump of daredevilEvel Knievel in September 1974.[19][20] The event, atTwin Falls, Idaho, was shown live on paid closed circuit television in hundreds of theaters, for about ten dollars each.[21][22][23] The steam-poweredSkycycle X-2 had a premature deployment of its parachute and Knievel survived.[22]