For over a century, The Ring has stood apart by recognising what boxing fans already knew – the fighters who were true champions.
No politics, just authority earned between the ropes. Work regarded most over outside noise, to truly define a legacy.
The launch of The Ring x BOXRAW Collection honours many of the greatest World Champions in history with new legends shirts.
This collection carries the names of fighters who, not only won belts, but shaped what boxing artistry looked like when the lights burned brightest, and the pressure mounted heaviest.
Look back at the illustrious careers of these legendary World Champions featured in the collection, including Manny Pacquiao, Riddick Bowe, Roberto Duran, Roy Jones Jr and Larry Holmes.
Five champions. Five legacies. One standard of greatness.
Manny Pacquiao: The Impossible Rise
No fighter in history stormed through the weight classes like Manny Pacquiao, as he incredibly became the first and only eight-division World Champion from flyweight to light-middleweight.
Rising from extreme poverty in the Philippines to the pinnacle of the sport, Pacquiao’s journey rewrote what was thought possible inside the ring.
Turning professional at just 16 years old, Pacquiao fought his way out of hardship at home with relentless aggression and fearless ambition, becoming a rising prodigy through major sacrifice.
Across an unprecedented eight divisions, ‘Pacman’ captured world titles with his now globally acclaimed hand speed, awkward angles and devastating power carried up in weight.
He didn’t just climb through divisions – he tore through them. High-profile victories over Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya cemented his status as a global icon and a Hall of Fame inductee.
Outside the ring, Pacquiao also carried the weight of a nation. Becoming one of the most iconic fighters of all time, he moved into the world of politics and proudly served as senator of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022.
But inside the squared circle, he remained a freak, continuously breaking records later in his career and inspiring future generations.
Pacquiao wasn’t just a legendary champion. He was proof that belief, backed by relentless hard work, can outgrow any boundary boxing, or life, tries to impose.
Riddick Bowe: Heavyweight Giant
When Riddick Bowe was fit and focused, there were few heavyweights who could stand up against him at his peak.
Standing at a towering 6’5” with rare agility for his size, Bowe possessed natural gifts of fluid movement, thunderous power, and elite inside fighting abilities.
At the top of his game, he blended violence with finesse. His rivalry with Evander Holyfield defined one of boxing’s greatest heavyweight trilogies, as they battled across three fights of endless punishment and pure attrition.
The first bout crowned ‘Big Daddy’ as undisputed heavyweight champion, handing Holyfield his first professional loss in a clash that demanded everything from both men.
Bowe could be a destructive force or fall flat from a lack of focus. He could outfight rivals up close or box patiently from range.
The challenge wasn’t in his ability, but rather his discipline. His career became a story of extremes: supreme talent colliding with inconsistency and brilliance overshadowed by inner demons.
Yet his feats still can’t be erased. Bowe reached the elite level in boxing’s glamour division, with few able to match his combination of size, skill and spite in the ring.
Roberto Duran: Hands of Stone
Some fighters rely on technique, while others rely on heart. Roberto Duran had both in abundance, combining an unmatched tenacity.
Raised in the streets of Panama City, Duran brought a streetfighter’s mentality into the ring, with pressure being a tactic and a way of life.
He ruled the lightweight division with ferocity, becoming one of the most dominant champions ever. His ability to cut off the ring, rip the body and impose his will made him feared across continents.
Duran’s legacy transcended weight classes, as he fearlessly moved up to challenge Sugar Ray Leonard and produce one of the greatest performances in boxing history.
Outmuscling and outthinking America’s rising superstar to claim the welterweight title, Duran added to his previous lightweight legacy with further ring mastery at 147 pounds.
While history often fixates on moments, fighters understand Duran by his incredible body of work. He became a four-weight World Champion in a career which spanned over five decades.
Duran was a dominant force and one of the most feared fighters ever, striking terror into opponents with his cold glare and thudding power, which earned him the moniker of ‘Manos de Piedra’.
‘Hands of Stone’ wasn’t a nickname. It was a warning for anyone who entered the ring with him.
Roy Jones Jr: Being Superman
There was boxing before Roy Jones Jr and boxing after. Jones dismantled convention with his hands down, utilising superhuman-like reflexes and carrying knockout power, seemingly without effort.
He bent the rules of fundamentals with a unique style which captured attention and helped him reign from middleweight to heavyweight.
Against a prime Jones, opponents trained to survive him, not beat him.
Achieving what few dared to even attempt, he moved all the way up to heavyweight and claimed a world title by overcoming John Ruiz – conquering the sport’s summit with a historic feat.
Possessing blistering speed, confidence that never wavered, and athleticism that redefined what was believable in the ring, Jones was almost disrespectful to limitations.
Critics often struggled to explain him, while fighters struggled to land on him. At his peak, Jones was a pound-for-pound king and virtually untouchable.
Larry Holmes: Heavyweight Greatness
Larry Holmes carried the heavyweight crown through a dangerous era and never blinked.
Armed with perhaps the greatest jab in boxing history, Holmes ruled with precision rather than spectacle, breaking opponents down, piece by piece.
Victories over Ken Norton, Gerry Cooney, Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks and Muhammad Ali, among others, defined a reign built on consistency and confidence, never dodging challenges that came to him.
Often overshadowed by the era before him and reigning after the impact Ali had left, Holmes remained unshakeable and held the line during a transitional heavyweight period to still emerge as one of the division’s finest.
Even late in his career and past his prime years, Holmes proved his depth by pushing champions decades younger and showing that fundamentals, when perfected, don’t age.
Ruthless and relentlessly effective, Holmes wasn’t flashy but correct and left a legacy of being one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
The Ring x BOXRAW Collection
The Ring x BOXRAW collection exists to honour fighters who earned everything the hard way – through discipline, sacrifice and truth inside the ropes.
These five legends from different eras, styles and backgrounds all shared true greatness and respect.
