There are moments in life where you feel like you’ve really done something. Today is one of those days for me.
On page 24 of this November issue of Ring magazine, the Bible of Boxing, you’ll find a feature penned by yours truly, a profile of middleweight boxing prospect Edwin Rodriguez. I don’t think I could have written a bad feature on him if I tried. Rodriguez has an amazing life story, and he’s starting to come into his own between the ropes, too, where he fights in a crowd-pleasing style.
It’d mean a lot to me if you bought a copy. I was told it would hit the stands Oct. 1, but I just spoke to Rodriguez’ manager and he said he’d seen it on the stands already. I had an advance copy, and I also recommend Eric Raskin’s excellent take on whether Arturo Gatti “saved” boxing, and a run down by Jim Bagg — despite his annoying stylistic tics — of the best fights of the 00s that never happened. The image I’ve attached at right is what the cover looks like.
As proud as I am of this, and as immodest as I’m being about it, I must issue a brief note on ethics. Ring magazine is owned by Golden Boy Promotions, and while I believe they’ve done an effective job of maintaining their journalistic integrity and creating layers of editorial separation, it means I indirectly have received payment from GBP. I trust you’ll see that I have been, and I expect you’ll find I will continue to be, critical of GBP when I think they deserve it. (Generally speaking, I’ve argued GBP has a worse rap than it deserves, but I spent some time this week savaging them for their handling of Weight-Gate and other issues related to last weekend’s pay-per-view card.)
As a blogger, I also think I have a responsibility to critique traditional journalism. I trust you’ll see that I have been, and I expect you’ll find I will continue to be, critical of Ring magazine when I think they deserve it. (Generally speaking, I support their championship policy and think they do great work overall, but I sometimes disagree with their rankings or things they write, as I did most recently here.)
