Kevin Iole
Kevin Iole is a 2025 Boxing Hall of Fame journalist who covered combat sports' greatest moments for 46 years while operating by one principle: "sunshine is the best disinfectant."
The first person in his family to attend college, Kevin grew up poor in Pittsburgh. As a kid, he'd lay in bed interviewing himself as a star athlete, then write about it on an old typewriter the next morning. "I always made myself the hero of the game."
His introduction to boxing came through his father, a World War II veteran. At age 5, his dad took him to Pittsburgh's Civic Arena under the pretense of a birthday gift—it turned out to be Sugar Ray Robinson's final fight.
Kevin's career took him from covering fights at a Howard Johnson's hotel in Pittsburgh to Vermont (driving hours to Montreal for title fights) to Las Vegas, where he became Yahoo Sports' most trusted combat sports voice. But the defining moment came at a Mike Tyson hearing: "The only person I think in my career that I was starstruck was the first time I met Muhammad Ali in person. That was like I saw God."
Kevin witnessed history's greatest moments—and its darkest. Diego Corrales told him before the Jose Luis Castillo fight: "I will walk through the fires of hell to win this fight." Two years to the day later, Kevin found Diego's body on the road, his wife Michelle standing there, Mandalay Bay visible in the distance. Kevin covered seven fighters who died in the ring in person.
At Mayweather-Pacquiao, Kevin turned to Tim Dahlberg 20 minutes before the ring walks: "This is our Ali-Frazier—we're the modern boxing writers and this is our Ali-Frazier."
The Mike Tyson phone incident became legend: Kevin hung up on who he thought was a terrible impersonator. Weeks later, Tyson confronted him at the gym with Meg Ryan squeezed in a corner: "I called you trying to be nice, and you hung up on me." Years later, Tyson said on air: "That was the greatest story anybody ever wrote about me."
Kevin also survived a plane crash with Bob Arum en route to covering De La Hoya vs. Vargas—the plane's wings caught fire after skidding into a dry lakebed. And he was confronted by Steve Jobs at an Apple Store, who refused to shake his hand and questioned Kevin's teaching methods.
His journalism idol? Jim Murray. Kevin sat next to him at Tyson-Holyfield II: "It was like sitting next to Babe Ruth." But Kevin's philosophy: "I did not want to be Jim Murray. I wanted to be the best Kevin Iole I could be."
After 46 years, Kevin retired in 2025. His WBC Hall of Fame belt features Ali, Leonard, and Mayweather. His home office displays signed gloves from Holyfield and Arguello, Leroy Neiman paintings, and cufflinks from President Obama.
His advice to young journalists: "Do it and believe in yourself, but be aware of what it takes. Be diverse in your skills. Show you can do it."
Kevin Iole spent nearly five decades asking difficult questions with class, holding the powerful accountable, and sitting ringside—10 feet from greatness—telling the stories of warriors who stepped into the ring.