{"id":707899,"date":"2026-06-01T08:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T08:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/707899\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T08:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T08:40:08","slug":"10-pop-culture-songs-about-boxing-worth-revisiting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/707899\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Pop Culture Songs About Boxing Worth Revisiting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Art Garfunkel made a surprise appearance at Madison Square Garden on May 29, joining Charlie Puth onstage for a duet of \u201cThe Boxer.\u201d Garfunkel told the crowd that Puth was \u201cmy student,\u201d crediting the younger singer\u2019s debt to the catalog he built with Paul Simon, as Billboard reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The moment was a reminder that boxing has long held a place in popular songwriting, well beyond the entrance music that plays before a title fight. Across folk, reggae, soul, rock and hip-hop, songwriters have used the ring as a setting for stories about ambition, violence, race and survival. The following ten songs put boxing, or a specific fighter, at their center.<\/p>\n

1. \u201cThe Boxer,\u201d Simon & Garfunkel (1969)<\/p>\n

Paul Simon wrote \u201cThe Boxer\u201d and released it as a Simon and Garfunkel single in March 1969, before it appeared on the 1970 album Bridge Over Troubled Water. The lyrics shift between a first-person account of poverty in New York and a third-person portrait of a fighter who carries the marks of every punch. Simon has said the song was largely autobiographical, written while he felt he was being unfairly criticized. It reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and remains one of the duo\u2019s signature recordings.<\/p>\n

\n2. \u201cBlack Superman (Muhammad Ali),\u201d Johnny Wakelin and the Kinshasa Band (1974)<\/p>\n

English songwriter Johnny Wakelin built this reggae-styled tribute around Muhammad Ali\u2019s 1974 win over George Foreman in Kinshasa, the bout known as the Rumble in the Jungle. The single reached No. 7 on the UK chart and No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Wakelin returned to Ali two years later with \u201cIn Zaire,\u201d another retelling of the same fight, which became a UK top-five hit.<\/p>\n

\n3. \u201cHurricane,\u201d Bob Dylan (1976)<\/p>\n

Co-written by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy and released on the 1976 album Desire, \u201cHurricane\u201d recounts the case of middleweight contender Rub\u00e9n Carter, convicted in the 1966 killing of three people in a New Jersey bar. Dylan\u2019s lyrics argue that Carter was framed and denied a fair trial. Carter\u2019s conviction was set aside by a federal judge in 1985.<\/p>\n

\n4. \u201cGonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky),\u201d Bill Conti (1976)<\/p>\n

Composed by Bill Conti for the original Rocky, \u201cGonna Fly Now\u201d became a hit in its own right, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977. The brass-driven instrumental, tied to the image of Sylvester Stallone\u2019s training run up the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps, is among the most recognizable pieces of music associated with the sport.<\/p>\n

\n5. \u201cThe Greatest Love of All,\u201d George Benson (1977)<\/p>\n

Written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed, \u201cThe Greatest Love of All\u201d was the theme for The Greatest, the 1977 biopic in which Muhammad Ali played himself. George Benson\u2019s original reached No. 2 on the R&B chart and No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. Whitney Houston\u2019s 1986 version later turned it into a standard.<\/p>\n

\n6. \u201cHit Me With Your Best Shot,\u201d Pat Benatar (1980)<\/p>\n

Written by Eddie Schwartz and recorded by Pat Benatar in 1980, \u201cHit Me With Your Best Shot\u201d is a relationship song built entirely on boxing imagery, from squaring up to trading blows. It reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, her first top-ten single in the United States, and remains a staple of her catalog. The boxing metaphor, rather than the sport itself, is the point.<\/p>\n

\n7. \u201cEye of the Tiger,\u201d Survivor (1982)<\/p>\n

Sylvester Stallone commissioned \u201cEye of the Tiger\u201d for Rocky III after he was unable to license Queen\u2019s \u201cAnother One Bites the Dust\u201d for the film. Survivor\u2019s recording topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks in 1982 and won a Grammy. It remains shorthand for training montages and underdog comebacks far outside boxing.<\/p>\n

\n8. \u201cBoom Boom Mancini,\u201d Warren Zevon (1987)<\/p>\n

Warren Zevon, whose father had worked as a boxer, wrote \u201cBoom Boom Mancini\u201d for his 1987 album Sentimental Hygiene. The song traces the career of lightweight champion Ray Mancini, including his first-round knockout of Arturo Frias and his 1982 title defense against Duk Koo Kim, who died from injuries suffered in the fight. Zevon\u2019s lyric pushes back at those who blamed Mancini for the tragedy.<\/p>\n

\n9. \u201cMama Said Knock You Out,\u201d LL Cool J (1990)<\/p>\n

LL Cool J has said the title came from his grandmother, who urged him to answer his critics. The title track of his 1990 album frames a career comeback in the language of the ring, and its music video, shot in stark black and white, is set inside a boxing gym. It won a Grammy for best rap solo performance.<\/p>\n

\n10. \u201cThe Hitter,\u201d Bruce Springsteen (2005)<\/p>\n

One of the bleakest entries in Bruce Springsteen\u2019s catalog, \u201cThe Hitter\u201d appears on the 2005 acoustic album Devils & Dust and dates to his mid-1990s Ghost of Tom Joad period. Sung in the first person, it follows an aging fighter who returns to his mother\u2019s door late at night and recounts a brutal life spent being paid to hurt other men. There is no redemption in the telling, only exhaustion.<\/p>\n

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