Art Garfunkel made a surprise appearance at Madison Square Garden on May 29, joining Charlie Puth onstage for a duet of “The Boxer.” Garfunkel told the crowd that Puth was “my student,” crediting the younger singer’s debt to the catalog he built with Paul Simon, as Billboard reported.
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.
1. “The Boxer,” Simon & Garfunkel (1969)
Paul Simon wrote “The Boxer” 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’s signature recordings.
2. “Black Superman (Muhammad Ali),” Johnny Wakelin and the Kinshasa Band (1974)
English songwriter Johnny Wakelin built this reggae-styled tribute around Muhammad Ali’s 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 “In Zaire,” another retelling of the same fight, which became a UK top-five hit.
3. “Hurricane,” Bob Dylan (1976)
Co-written by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy and released on the 1976 album Desire, “Hurricane” recounts the case of middleweight contender Rubén Carter, convicted in the 1966 killing of three people in a New Jersey bar. Dylan’s lyrics argue that Carter was framed and denied a fair trial. Carter’s conviction was set aside by a federal judge in 1985.
4. “Gonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky),” Bill Conti (1976)
Composed by Bill Conti for the original Rocky, “Gonna Fly Now” 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’s training run up the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps, is among the most recognizable pieces of music associated with the sport.
5. “The Greatest Love of All,” George Benson (1977)
Written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed, “The Greatest Love of All” was the theme for The Greatest, the 1977 biopic in which Muhammad Ali played himself. George Benson’s original reached No. 2 on the R&B chart and No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. Whitney Houston’s 1986 version later turned it into a standard.
6. “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” Pat Benatar (1980)
Written by Eddie Schwartz and recorded by Pat Benatar in 1980, “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” 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.
7. “Eye of the Tiger,” Survivor (1982)
Sylvester Stallone commissioned “Eye of the Tiger” for Rocky III after he was unable to license Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” for the film. Survivor’s 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.
8. “Boom Boom Mancini,” Warren Zevon (1987)
Warren Zevon, whose father had worked as a boxer, wrote “Boom Boom Mancini” 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’s lyric pushes back at those who blamed Mancini for the tragedy.
9. “Mama Said Knock You Out,” LL Cool J (1990)
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.
10. “The Hitter,” Bruce Springsteen (2005)
One of the bleakest entries in Bruce Springsteen’s catalog, “The Hitter” 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’s 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.
