0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 4/6/2019
Let’s just get this out of the way right off the bat: It’s OK to cry. It’s good to cry. I’m crying right now, mostly about Verne Troyer’s death and how I never got to prove my theory that with enough duct tape and personal lubricant you could fit him inside a Pringles can. But […]
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 3/10/2019
Since his ascension to the pro ranks after a superlative amateur career, in which he reportedly went 268-15, Dmitry Bivol (16-0, 11 KO) has had a slight “shit or get off the pot” aura surrounding him. Sublimely talented but perfectly content to underwhelm, watching Bivol fight is like watching the world’s greatest lumberjack ply his […]
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 2/3/2019
Sergey Kovalev got his redemption, whether he wanted it or not. Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 KO) has carried himself of late like a man losing his battle with gravity. His entire aura has just seemed, well, heavier. It’s as if he’s been forced by an unforgiving god to walk through life with one of Chris Arreola’s […]
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JANUARY 19: Manny Pacquiao (R) throws a right on Adrien Broner during the WBA welterweight championship at MGM Grand Garden Arena on January 19, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 1/22/2019
One of the only assurances in this life is that there are no assurances. Plan all you want but, the universe gets its kicks reminding you who’s actually in charge. If the weatherman says 80 and sunny, prepare to be scraping ice off the windshield of your Ford Fiesta. If your friend says to meet […]
NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 19: Manny Pacquiao (L) and Adrien Broner face off during a press conference at Gotham Hall in preparation for their upcoming match on November 19, 2018 in New York City. The match is set to take place on January 19, 2019 in Las Vegas. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 1/16/2019
Well, here we are. The year is 2019 and we’re somehow discussing Adrien Broner as a principle participant in a somewhat meaningful PPV fight. I shouldn’t have to do this. We shouldn’t have to do this. Coming up with a fresh narrative every time Broner decides to put down the nachos, slap on some gloves, […]
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 1/12/2019
Prospect. Contender. Champion. Star. That’s the arc. Sure, an Olympic pedigree or a famous last name can expedite the process but for anyone who has ever strapped on a pair of gloves and asked to be paid for it, this is the assigned career path. And let’s be honest, most fighters will never make it […]
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 12/23/2018
Let’s do some role playing for a minute. No, not that kind, weirdo. Take off the executioner mask and put the cakemixer down. Let’s pretend you run a boxing promotional outfit and you’re using the first card of a new multi-year bajillion dollar deal with national television networks to showcase two extremely marketable twin brothers […]
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 12/2/2018
If you saw it in a movie you wouldn’t buy it. You would roll your eyes and bemoan the director’s inability to avoid rote, boxing movie clichés. A story, a fight, and a moment like this could only come from the minds of writers with just the faintest exposure to actual prizefighting. But this was […]
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 11/12/2018
What is it about a concussive knockout that brings people together? How does a left hand thrown from the depths of hell turn a normally vicious shit talker such as Tony Bellew into a gushing superfan of the man who threw it? Why would an arena packed with bloodthirsty Brits stand and applaud the man […]
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 9/16/2018
In boxing, nothing is ever over. There is no finality. Every gesture is open-ended, every thought unfinished. The setup is the punch line, the buildup the payoff. In boxing, the medium is the message. Like some type of sadistic Rube Goldberg device, every fight sets up the next. There’s always a rematch or a rubber […]
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 9/8/2018
Amir Khan is like a puppy chewing on a hand grenade: He’s a threat to anyone who comes near him but he’s just as likely to blow himself to high hell in the process. His ability to create dangerous situations for his opponent is rivaled only by the more precarious ones he creates for himself. […]
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 6/4/2018
If sports were restaurants, boxing would be the rustic, old steakhouse that hasn’t changed so much as a side dish since prohibition. The kind that bills its own reluctance to adapt to modern ideas as “classic.” Sure, the filet mignon is boiled and there’s rats in the bathroom the size of campground raccoons but hey, […]
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 4/14/2018
The Six Greatest Self-Punches In Boxing History If football is a game of inches, as my friends who enjoy spending their Sundays being hopelessly bored assure me it is, then boxing is a game of seconds. Each tick of the clock is accompanied by countless subconscious computations which direct a fighter’s body to make the […]
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 3/28/2018
If you’re going to get your ass kicked, you might as well get paid for it. Statistically, most of us will have our dicks knocked in the dirt at least once in our lives and we won’t make a cent from it. Hell, some people pay good money to have the shit kicked out of […]
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 3/11/2018
Making truth claims about a sport as unpredictable and fluid as boxing can be journalistic suicide but I’m about to do it, consequences be damned. Before I do however, I want to stress that I’m in no way attempting to talk over your head or use technical jargon meant to intimidate or belittle you. This […]
