The Ring timeline

1922 – Sports journalist Nat Fleischer, with the financial backing of promoter Tex Rickard, launches The Ring magazine on Feb. 15. Jack Dempsey receives the first Ring belt shortly after the launch.

1925 – Fleischer institutes the first boxing ratings, which are sponsored by Rickard and inspired by Walter Camp’s All-America football team.

1926 – Rickard agrees to sells the ratings for $5,000 to a national magazine but nixes the deal when The Ring threatens to take him to court.

1928 – The Ring initiates a tradition by naming Gene Tunney Fighter of the Year. More awards are added over time.

1929 – Rickard dies, after which Jimmy Johnston briefly takes over as sponsor. However, over time, sponsorship is dropped entirely.

1938 – Fleischer writes and publishes “Black Dynamite: The Story of the Negro in Boxing,” a pioneering work. The final, comprehensive edition is published in 1947.

1960s – Fleischer continues to recognize Muhammad Ali as champion after Ali refuses to be inducted into the U.S. Armed Forces.

1972 – Fleischer dies of heart disease on June 25. He is replaced as editor by his son-in-law, Nat Loubet.

1976 – The Ring enters into a 10-year agreement with a Venezuelan company to publish a Spanish-language version of the magazine.

1977 – The magazine’s integrity is compromised when the Tournament of Champions, in which it played a role, was canceled amid corruption charges.

1979 – The Ring is purchased by a group of investors, headed by basketball star Dave DeBusschere. Noted author Bert Randolph Sugar becomes editor and publisher.

1984 – Randy Gordon replaces Sugar during a time of financial difficulty but remains on the job for less than a year.

1985 – Nigel Collins, the current editor, begins his first stint at the helm.

1988 – The policy of awarding Ring championship belts is reinstated.

1990 – The Ring is purchased by Stanley Weston, who had worked for Fleischer in his youth. He moves the magazine’s offices from Manhattan to Long Island, N.Y., and Steve Farhood is named editor.

1993 – Kappa Publishing buys the magazine and moves the offices to Blue Bell, Penn., outside Philadelphia.

1997 – Collins becomes editor for the second time.

2000 – The magazine switches to a glossy, all-color format.

2005 – The Ring joins the internet age with its original website.

2007 – The Ring is purchased in August by Sports & Entertainment Publications, the publishing arm of Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Enterprises.

2008 – The Ring enters into a partnership with Yahoo! Sports to produce and operate a world class website (thering-online.com).