The Royal Albert Hall Should Be On Every Boxing Fan’s Bucket List

Globally, there are some bucket list venues for fights that any fight fan would want to see. From a big stadium fight in Dallas or Wembley to more intimate venues like the Casino in Monaco or York Hall (worlds apart in glamour, obviously).

Earlier this month, Lauren Price outboxed Natasha Jonas at the Royal Albert Hall to claim the IBF and WBC belts, adding to her WBA welterweight world championship—making her a unified champion.

For me, the fight card was an opportunity to see what is perhaps the oldest venue used at least semi-regularly for boxing.

Inaugurated in 1871, it is half a century older than any other venue possibly on that list. The opera and theatre venue hosted its first boxing event in 1918.

That’s five years before the first Wembley Stadium and more than a decade before York Hall in East London opened their doors. That goes as well for Estadio Luna Park in Argentina. The closest in age might would be Madison Square Garden, which originally opened in 1879. However, the current venue only dates to 1968, so really the name has been the only constant.

While many new boxing venues feel more like a Costco Warehouse, the Royal Albert Hall is a Victorian gem with Roman arches in its upper reaches and intimate hallways which feel more like parlours than stadium hallways.

The first boxing event in 1918 was a tournament between American and British servicemen in the context of WW1. A similar USA vs. UK armed forces amateur card took place almost 100 years later in 2011.

One display at the venue goes out of its way to mention that Nina Simone once sang there. However, it should be noted that the venue, while hosting numerous fights 1920s and 1930s, a ban prevented boxers from minority groups from competing.

Post World War II it hosted numerous British title fights. Muhammad Ali boxed in some exhibitions there, as did Georges Carpentier decades earlier. Naseem Hamed and Lennox Lewis fought there as well. Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, and Albert Einstein all gave speeches there.

The Price-Jonas card also featured Caroline Dubois in a bout against South Korea’s Bo Mi Re Shin. Dubois had an impressive ring entrance to Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust.” However, I figured Re Shin would be a tough customer and likely would not be biting the dust. In fact, Re Shin was competitive down the stretch and came on strong in the final rounds.

The card was impressive enough to earn front page teaser coverage from the Guardian. This was the first all-female fight card at the venue, but not the first to feature female fighters. For example, Nicola Adams defeated Isabel Millan in 2018 for the interim WBO world flyweight title.

That fight was the first world title fight at the venue since 1999. From 1999 until 2012 a legal dispute with residents meant no boxing at the venue was allowed (though bizarrely it hosted a UFC event in 2002).

The venue has hosted paddle sports, basketball, and even sumo wrestling. For Ben Shaloam of BOXXER, hosting this card at the historic venue was about showcasing that women’s boxing belongs at the heart of our discussions about boxing and indeed all sports.

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