Main Bout 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). 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.
Top Rank Boxing on ESPN 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. 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. In July 2017, Top Rank began to soft launch a new broadcasting agreement with ESPN, beginning with
Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn, followed by two more cards in August. 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. On August 2, 2018, ESPN extended the agreement through 2025. This coverage ended in 2025.
Announcers •
Kenneth Anderson (a.k.a. Mr. Kennedy / Mr. Anderson)
Blow-by-blow •
Sal Marchiano (1980–1983) •
Sam Rosen (1983–1986) •
Al Bernstein (1986–1996) •
Don Chevrier (1987–1988) • Tom Kelly (1988–1989) •
Barry Tompkins (1989–1994, 2010–2011) •
Bob Papa (1996–2003) •
Joe Tessitore (2003–2025) •
Bob Sheridan (2010–2016) •
Brian Kenny (2012, 2016)
Color commentators •
Al Bernstein (1980–1986, 1987–1998) •
Donald Curry (1985) • Dave Bontempo (1986–1998) •
Teddy Atlas (1998–2017) •
Larry Merchant (2013–2014) •
Timothy Bradley (2016–2025) •
Andre Ward (2017–2023) •
Mark Kriegel (2017–2025) ==Current boxers ==