0 comments by Matthew Swain on 6/13/2018
Boxing is full of mind games. Many times they are positive and necessary. Think of a trainer subtley tweaking a fighter’s insecurities to motivate them. Many times they are just necessary, as when fighters fuck with each other before a bout. Most of the time, though, they are tedious and obvious, and we as the […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 3/12/2018
Last Saturday night, from the rain soaked StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., Oscar Valdez did what he wanted to do. I’m not suggesting that he had his way with Scott Quigg in their featherweight bout on ESPN. Far from it. What he did was to assert his will over everything around him, most importantly over […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 3/9/2018
How do you say, “Hadouken!” in Cat? Anyone know? At any rate, we find ourselves with a stacked weekend, and not for the first time this year. 2018 is turning out quite nicely thus far. Let’s hope it continues unabated. Julius Indongo vs Regis Prograis. Friday, Showtime, 10 p.m. EST, Deadwood, S.D. Indongo (22-1, 11 KO) […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 3/5/2018
Say the word “awkward” out loud. Chances are pretty good that you’ll remember a moment in which you said something that was not well received, or just the entirety of your teenage years in my case. That’s how most of us relate to the word. It’s something embarrassing and inconvenient. It feels off. Awkward also […]
May 19, 2017; New York, NY, USA; Images from the HBO World Championship Boxing card featuring Terence Crawford vs Felix Diaz at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland/HBO
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 3/4/2018
Inasmuch as any card can be a commercial for the future, tonight’s HBO card from Madison Square Garden Theater in New York was that. For seven rounds, Sergey Kovalev (32-2-1, 28 KO) beat up his former amateur team mate Igor Mikhalkin. Mikhalkin (21-2, 9 KO), came into the fight with his only positive attributes being a […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 2/22/2018
In order to uphold the long, if temporarily forgotten, tradition of using animals boxing for the weekly schedule, I found myself frequently clicking on pictures in Google Image search that led me back to this very site, because we’d used them before. Nevertheless, I soldiered on and did what any truly lazy person would do: […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 2/21/2018
My undergraduate mentor always starts a piece of advice with, “My boy…” I’m 35 and he still does it. He spoke to me that way when I was a precocious 18 year old hell bent on fucking up his own life. He said it to me when I was a driven, if utterly directionless, 23 […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 2/17/2018
The World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) has been great for fans, and given the fighters involved a huge boost in marketability. Many of us had hoped that the semi finals of the super middleweight bracket would be as thrilling as those in the cruiserweight division, in which evenly matched fighters engaged in highly skilled brawls […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 12/30/2017
People hate gifts. Not receiving them, people love that, but watching others receive them without merit is anathema to us unless we wish to see others suffer. For that reason, there is always a dichotomous selection of outrage and schadenfreude when someone collectively considered great is a victim of gifted cards. The “greats” are supposed […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 9/23/2017
Last Month, four of the finest fighters of their generation: Floyd Mayweather, Wladimir Klitschko, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Timothy Bradley hung up their gloves and retired. TQBR Jefe Tim Starks covered the first two here. Tardy, but resolute, I have attempted not to slip into hagiography of my favorite fighter and look afresh at one […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 9/22/2017
There is an entire industry in America built around the concept of self esteem — how to build it, how to hold on to it, and how not to let it swell to the point that people start disliking you. It’s an odd concept to me. I’d rather people just be honest, but when given […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 7/3/2017
In the 1993 classic “Rookie Of The Year,” washed up major leaguer Chet Steadman, played by American treasure Gary Busey, tells child wunderkind and scientific anomaly Henry Rowengartner, “Henry, don’t take this serious. But it’s nothing to joke about. One day, your gift will be gone.” Steadman is way past his best, and exists as […]
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – JULY 01: Manny Pacquiao and Jeff Horn face off after the weigh in ahead of the title fight between Jeff Horn and Manny Pacquiao at Suncorp Stadium on July 1, 2017 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 7/1/2017
Saturday night at 9 p.m. EST, from Brisbane, Australia on ESPN, Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao will face unheralded Australian Jeff Horn in a welterweight bout. In order to get a better idea of what the bout will mean for the fighters, and their respective countries, Matthew Swain talked with TQBR’s
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 6/28/2017
This Saturday, from a 55,000 person stadium in Brisbane, Australia, Manny Pacquiao will face basically unknown Jeff Horn in a welterweight bout. It’s not the fight that most of us expected for the Filipino. Nothing about the fight is normal. Not the opponent, not the location, and not the fact that instead of being on […]
LAS VEGAS, NV – JUNE 16: WBA/IBF/WBO light heavyweight champion Andre Ward (L) and former champion Sergey Kovalev pose during their official weigh-in at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on June 16, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ward will defend his titles against Kovalev on June 17 in Las Vegas. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 6/16/2017
There is a certain amount of chaos that each of us is willing or able to deal with. Some people thrive on it, particularly creating it. Others need everything clamped down to the point that there are no surprises. Each of us is looking for a comfortable place to thrive as we navigate the space […]
