The friendly-looking patriot to your right is heavyweight prospect Devin Vargas, who’s featured on ESPN2′s Friday Night Fights this weekend. He leads off a shortish (by TQBR standards) Round and Round column this week. There wasn’t much non-fights-in-the-works news this week that I haven’t covered already. Other than, like, congratulating lightweight Juan Diaz for graduating […]

I spoke too soon.

As Renaissance Men go, Manny Pacquiao puts Thomas Jefferson to shame. And in case you missed it, the pound-for-pound king and new junior welterweight champion just added two more professions to his long list this week. 

(Andre Ward; photo credit Jan Sanders, Goossen Tutor Promotions) Do you remember 2004? Usher, assisted by Ludacris and Lil Jon, was tearing up the charts with his single “Yeah!” (Usher: “She’s ready to blow.” Lil Jon: “WATCH OUT!”). Ronald Reagan and Ol’ Dirty Bastard died. Two teams ago, Ron Artest stormed into the stands at […]

For a weekend where the only major televised bout was a wholly unnecessary rematch between light heavyweights Chad Dawson and Antonio Tarver, there sure was a lot of boxing stuff between approximately Friday and Sunday. Like more information on Manny Pacquiao’s plans. Or the sudden reappearance of the Versus network to the boxing game. Or […]

While you were watching Chad Dawson-Antonio Tarver II Saturday night — you can read my take on that here — I was watching a live local show deep in Virginia, chatting with a referee who wears one of his fingers on a necklace, mingling among cheering sections that were rooting on (alternately) a 45-year-old white […]

Antonio Tarver was a little better Saturday night than last time, but the scorecards were about the same — a resounding Chad Dawson decision win in a rematch between two top light heavyweights. If you didn’t like Dawson yet, this probably wasn’t going to change your mind. He’s not going to suddenly transmogrify into a […]

Mostly quick takes on the three bouts on ESPN2′s Friday Night Fights, in chronological order, then some thoughts on Bernard Hopkins’ studio work:

There are good things you can say about Floyd Mayweather, Jr., but only some of them are correct. His ring return has prompted some very fanboyish poster-worshiping, fawning behavior from people who may be very well affixed as if by glue to his fur-lined jockstrap, judging from the way they’re defending Mayweather on the incorrect […]

The man above on the right, light heavyweight Beibut Shumenov (photo from Cyber Boxing Zone), is the most advanced “prospect” you’ve probably never heard of, and he’s fighting this weekend. We’ll get to him in a second, along with the other subjects in the headline, plus a look at some bouts in the works, the […]

There is just an incredible volume of news out there in the aftermath of Saturday night’s junior welterweight championship fight between Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton, ranging from items on SportsCenter coverage of the fight to where Pacquiao felt the majestic knockout punch he landed to the positively evil behavior by Hatton trainer Floyd Mayweather, […]

The needle scratches on the record this weekend. Boxing’s 2009, less than halfway through, has been making beautiful music so far, giving fans quality match-up after quality match-up with nary a penny paid by HBO for an unwanted mismatch. No one wanted the rematch airing on HBO Saturday between light heavyweights Chad Dawson and Antonio […]

If you don’t remember Bayan Jargal from his appearance on Versus last year, here are a couple reasons I wanted to interview him: 1. Know how he got that Versus gig? He gave good work to Paul Williams — yes, THAT Paul Williams — during Williams’ sparring for the Versus main event, and it earned […]

One must never say never in boxing, especially when contemplating affairs of the negotiating table. Ever seen “The Lion In Winter?” Negotiations for boxing matches put it to shame for sheer conniving, manipulating brinkmanship. That said, there is legitimate cause for worry that Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather, Jr., which would be the most important fight in […]

Crikey. Today, The Wall Street Journal today linked to and posted excerpts from a blog post by The Queensberry Rules and I totally missed it somehow. I’m usually such an egomaniac I definitely notice this kind of thing. Cory Humes, one of the benevolent kingpins here at the MVN family, informs me that the column […]