0 comments by Matthew Swain on 3/8/2020
There is a reproductive strategy in some animals called Neoteny. In these animals, larval characteristics are retained by sexually mature adults. One of the best-known examples is the Axolotl, a tiger salamander that lives only in Mexico and retains its larval gills and fully aquatic lifestyle throughout its life because the environment around the lake […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 2/21/2020
Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, heavyweights Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury will meet in a rematch televised on an ESPN/Fox joint pay per view. In their first meeting, Fury, recently returned from a two-year layoff, boxed effectively for long stretches before getting caught and dropped in the 12th round. […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 1/19/2020
Redemption arcs are one of mankind’s favorite forms of entertainment. Our daring protagonist has to rebuild after enduring a devastating early setback. We become emotionally attached to their struggle because it fills some deep-seated belief that with a little luck, we too can come back from failure. In boxing, often these two waves of redemption […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 1/18/2020
“My business is not prognosis, but diagnosis. I am not engaged in therapeutics, but in pathology.” H.L. Mencken wrote that in his 1926 book, “Notes on Democracy.” Here we are nearly 100 years later and it’s still true. One of the weird things about boxing, and life for that matter, is that if you spend […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 12/31/2019
The 1st and 12th rounds were the same, Tim Bradley in mortal danger, just about out on his feet, punching back with all his might. When the final bell rang, Ruslan Provodnikov dropped to his knees and pounded the mat in tears of rage, agony, lust, and joy. Minutes later, Bradley admitted to HBO’s Max […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain
“He’s not gettin’ up, Jim!” That’s all anyone has to say. You know what they’re talking about. In a single moment on Dec. 8, 2012, and with a single punch, Manny Pacquiao was rendered unconscious and mortal. And he was rendered so by the only man in eight years who’d managed to withstand him. The […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 12/26/2019
Brutality. Finality. Significance. Those are the three criteria on which we judge knockouts. The knockout of the year is seldom the most cartoonish because, well, anyone can poleaxe a 10-17 club fighter. In fact, if you’ve made it to the upper echelons of the sport, chances are extremely high that you’ve done that a few […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 12/15/2019
Young fighters need rounds. There is absolutely no substitute for in-ring experience. That was the idea Friday night at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California. Brad Solomon (28-2, 9 KO), a veteran with a long reach and naught else but a disputed 4-year-old split decision win over Adrian Granados to his name, was supposed to […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 12/5/2019
The fight is being contested in Saudi Arabia, how do you feel about the 3 p.m. start time and venue? Swain: It seems a bit weird, but I like the afternoon start time. I understand the cash grab for the site fee, and I’m sure Ruiz’s team wanted a neutral site, but an open-air stadium […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 11/11/2019
Not everything has to mean something. A fight can sometimes just be a fight. The meaning it holds can be personal, not universal. And it can be a shared experience that makes it so. Saturday night, a day before the Marine Corps’ 244th birthday, and two days before Veterans Day, at Chukchansi Park in Fresno, […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 11/8/2019
If you aren’t prepared to be a hermit, no matter where you go, you’ll have to deal with complaints. It doesn’t matter how good life is, there will be someone bitching about some aspect of what’s going on. This is obviously amplified by social media, but it generally is a safe assumption that the whiners […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 10/29/2019
The gap between belief and knowledge can be vast. Or it can be 12 rounds. Last Saturday night, the World Boxing Super Series junior welterweight final on DAZN produced a compelling case study in what the difference looks like. American Regis Prograis entered the bout eager to test himself so that he could find out, […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 10/3/2019
Boxing is one of the most physically degrading sports in the world. It’s not just the fights themselves, but the rigors of making weight and training that accumulate over time. Elite athletes are left, often at a young age, in a diminished state that cannot be reversed. Common also, to the point of being stereotypical, […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 9/15/2019
Boxing is a cruel sport. We love to tell ourselves that it’s poetic and has the power to uplift its participants, but at its core, boxing is about hurting another human being with your fists. Obviously, there are rules, and we expect them to be enforced, but it’s always enjoyable to see a serial rule-breaker […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 9/3/2019
Vasiliy Lomachenko is limited. He’s mortal. He’s short, and his punching power isn’t otherworldly. He doesn’t so much conquer as he assimilates. At 31 years old, and in his third weight class, he has to convince opponents that he’s the better man, rather than have it be a simple statement of fact. The question seems […]
