A uniquely contemporary myth exists in boxing: To be one of the greats, so it goes, a fighter must choose one extreme of the likability spectrum – or at least allow it to be chosen for them. To take up permanent residence in the public consciousness – to put asses in seats – a fighter must... Continue Reading →
Today, hours before arguably the biggest and best prizefight boxing has seen in some years, a buddy offhandedly asked, as part of a never-ending bullshit session in a group text, for the lowdown on the matchup. It was a tongue-in-cheek question because, well, my friend is a jackass. Although I'm the resident boxing "expert" in... Continue Reading →
This won't take a minute. Because tomes have already been written and endless terabytes of audio and video exhausted in the Cannonball Run-style sprint to offer THE OPINION about Saturday's Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor Show of Shite, the less I pile onto the steaming heap the better. Still, there's this: It's not a fight. Tonight's main... Continue Reading →
One of history's all-time great heavyweight champions retired today. But don't hold your breath for the hero's sendoff. More like, Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. So it went for Wladimir Klitschko, who announced Thursday that, after 20-plus years of professional prizefighting, he is moving on. For the... Continue Reading →
Bernard Hopkins would be compelling theater even if he weren't pushing a half-century on this Earth and still beating contenders in their fighting primes. And yet here's the great irony of the man: Hopkins' fights, almost without exception, bore to tears. This is as it must be. Hopkins, a skilled boxer and master strategist, can't match the power... Continue Reading →
Guts, sand, grit, chutzpah. Whatever your preferred variant of the concept, we all get what "heart" is supposed to mean -- particularly it's definition when viewed through the prism of prizefighting. And what of Nonito Donaire Jr., who will face Nicholas Walters tonight in Carson, California. Does he have it, heart? Judge for yourself: As... Continue Reading →
The boxing-as-professional wrestling trope is a go-to move for far too many modern fight writers, but I understand the easy connection -- especially in the case of an orchestration like Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s under-cover-of-darkness tweet in the wee hours of Friday morning. Mayweather's coy original tweet -- "Alex Ariza stretching the Champ before his 3... Continue Reading →
Two hours ago, I didn't know Yoshihiro Kamegai from Adam. Now? Dude's my new best friend. Earlier this afternoon, I was chopping it up with my brother-in-law -- a guy who, from what I understand, was a pretty good amateur fighter back in the day -- about Saturday's Carson, California card when I opened my big mouth:... Continue Reading →
Mess with the bull, and you'll get the horns -- especially when you have the audacity to try to out-gore the damn thing. Yet that's just what Mike Alvarado did when he tangled with Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday in Los Angeles' revived Forum -- a venue that, if walls could talk, would have plenty of old... Continue Reading →
