0 comments by Matthew Swain on 7/14/2016
Ahead of successfully defending his alphabet straps in Ekaterinburg, Russia yesterday, light heavyweight Sergey Kovalev participated in a videotaped interview and feature with Yahoo’s Chris Mannix. Since Kovalev’s bout against Isaac Chilemba was his first time fighting in Russia since 2011, it made sense to revisit his last bout in his home country. The bout […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 5/6/2016
“I like you. You have a goal, and you have the balls to reach that goal. You have this blind, stupid belief in yourself.” -Reverend Fred Sultan Whether it’s an unscrupulous boxing promoter in “The Great White Hype” speaking to the guy trying to take him down, or me thinking about Amir Khan, the point […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 4/29/2016
Having your post fight interview be the most entertaining aspect of your performance is fine if you’re Victor Ortiz, but Andre Dirrell is no Vinny Facelube in the entertainment department in or out of the ring. Friday night from the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, Dirrell (25-2-0, 16 KO) got a unanimous decision against […]
RODRIGUEZ VS SEALS
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 12/30/2015
The Round of the Year is often a small piece of a contender for Fight of the Year. The criteria for both are the same: momentum swings and sustained action. However, within many fights that are otherwise merely good, or even blowouts, there are three-minute spans that contain the kind of drama that boxing fans […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 12/16/2015
George Foreman reputedly once said, “Boxing is like jazz. The better it is the less people appreciate it.” While that’s true in many cases, there are degrees to it. Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue” is almost universally regarded as the great jazz album of all time, much as Joe Louis is regarded by many as the greatest heavyweight […]
LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 24: Current WBC champion Miguel Cotto (L) and contender Canelo Alvarez, Former WBC and WBA Super Welterweight World Champion, pose after a news conference announcing their upcoming WBC middleweight title bout on August 24, 2015, in Los Angeles, California. The WBC middleweight title bout will take place November 21 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 11/20/2015
Very few of us view our jobs with any romance. They’re something we do because we must. We work to live. We don’t live to work. Sports provide an escape from the drudgery of day-to-day routine and it’s easy to mythologize them. We see heartbreak and triumph in the feats of the athletically gifted, and […]
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 26: Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez faceoff during Miguel Cotto Vs Canelo Alvarez Press Conference at Wyndham New Yorker Hotel on August 26, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 11/19/2015
The only thing better than Ron Burgundy assembling the news team is the TQBR crew coming together to discuss a big fight. Since Cotto vs Canelo most assuredly qualifies as a big fight, we did that. Canelo Alvarez has been known to rehydrate to 170 lbs. by fight night. Will his size bother Miguel Cotto? […]
LAS VEGAS, NV – AUGUST 09: Former boxer Evander Holyfield (L) is inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame by former boxer Mike Tyson at the second annual induction gala at the New Tropicana Las Vegas on August 9, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 11/10/2015
For a time in the early and mid 90s, there were two major professional sports in Atlanta: Braves Baseball and Evander Holyfield. If you were a young fight fan in the south, The Real Deal was your guy. Undersized for a heavyweight, he won with tenacity and an absurd work rate. ESPN’s new documentary “30 […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 10/21/2015
Emile Griffith was a five-time world champion in two weight divisions, ranked the 29th greatest fighter of all time by Bert Sugar. Yet he is known largely for two things: that Benny Paret died after their third fight, and that he was gay. The boy who willingly entered a home for wayward youths and orphans to escape an […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 10/17/2015
Pay-per-view undercards rarely get much attention, especially given the gruel that boxing’s power brokers have ladled forth over the past few years, but, Saturday night from Madison Square Garden, one of the sport’s most unique talents takes the stage in the chief supporting bout: Nicaragua’s Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (left) meets Brian Viloria (right) for Gonzalez’s flyweight […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 8/29/2015
(Jonathan Maicelo, left, Brandon Bennett, right; Joe Tarlecky/King’s Promotions) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Walter E. Washington Convention Center feels like an unlikely place to hold a boxing card. It’s too clean and new. There is an almost antiseptic aura about the place. You walk in and think, “This is where bankers hold a convention. How the […]
TAMPA, FL – JULY 11: Keith Thurman (L) exchanges blows with Luis Collazo during their WBA Welterweight fight on July 11, 2015 at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Keith Thurman; Luis Collazo
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 7/11/2015
Fighting with one eye is better than not fighting at all. — Pawel Wolak (@PawelWolak)
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 4/30/2015
When you work with explosives the worst moment is just after you pop smoke. Did I get the time fuse right? Did I use the right amount of C4? Did I crimp the blasting cap tightly enough? Will it go off too soon? Will it go off at all? Then you relax just a little. […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain
Depending on whom you ask, this is the biggest fight since Marvin Hagler-Sugar Ray Leonard or Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier. I’m not quite sure where it ranks on a biggest fights list, but Mayweather vs Pacquiao damn sure the biggest fight of this young century. The two best fighters of their generation are finally facing each […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 3/7/2015
Friday night from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, junior middleweight Tony Harrison used his blistering hand speed to stop shopworn Antwone Smith in two rounds on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights. Harrison (20-0, 17 KO) knocked Smith down with a long right hand late in the first. Smith (23-6, 12 KO) beat the count, […]
