0 comments by Patrick Connor on 7/21/2014
When your average fighter misses a punch, perhaps the opponent might feel a soft draft or breeze. But when Gennady Golovkin misses a punch, 200-foot sinkholes happen — like the one above (via). With Tyson Fury vs. Dereck Chisora II being canceled, there is a bit more perceived pressure on Golovkin and his foe, Daniel […]
0 comments by Patrick Connor on 7/14/2014
Above, an artist depiction of Erislandy Lara’s performance against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, depending on who you ask (via). Okay, it wasn’t the blood-soaked war that nobody thought it was going to be, but Alvarez-Lara was one of those “necessary” fights, wasn’t it? Was it really the type of fight we want to see again right […]
0 comments by Patrick Connor on 7/7/2014
Come on now, Erislandy Lara. Any resemblance that pigeon bears to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is purely coincidental, and you know it. But finally us boxing fans get what we’ve been asking for: a fight that, on paper, is about as good as they get. From high level fighting and style contrasts, to no dearth of […]
0 comments by Patrick Connor on 7/3/2014
Chewing through life a mile a minute and leaving messy footprints is just what many fighters do. Or did. Few fighters make it to old age, marbles properly collected, and sometimes when they do, it makes no sense. They’re like the familial legends that saw a distant great uncle live to the ripe old age […]
0 comments by Patrick Connor on 6/30/2014
A pattern is emerging: 2014 is quickly becoming “the year where unlikely bouts become memorable struggles.” In two months, we had three fights with unlikely Fight of the Year smoke trails following them in Matthysse-Molina and Guerrero-Kamegai. And then Terence Crawford (above, right; via) toppling unbeaten Cuban almost-star Yuriorkis Gamboa had our blood flowing. As […]
0 comments by Patrick Connor on 6/23/2014
Robert Guerrero’s eye in the above picture (via) reminds us boxing fans that, for the second week in a row, we’ve seen a fighter win a main event bout and finish with his eye looking like something that resembles a sexual organ. And yes, that kind of humor is just what you’ll find here in […]
0 comments by Patrick Connor on 6/19/2014
Sports records are coveted accomplishments. Special victories, impressive feats and important “firsts” were all held sacred even in the ancient Olympic games. The first winner of the first Olympics in 776 B.C.E., Koroibos of Elis, was remembered, as have been many since. Records are no less intriguing or essential to boxing. Archie Moore’s 131 (or […]
0 comments by Patrick Connor on 6/16/2014
After a fight weekend, there’s bound to be an outcry over the things fight fans have been subjected to. There were quite a few upset people after this last weekend; the calls of “Man, that’s messed up!” still ring clean in the June air. And then those upset people remembered that that’s just how Adrien […]
0 comments by Patrick Connor on 6/12/2014
It’s often easy to peruse the ledger of great or even just well known fighters and highlight clear turning points in their careers. Quite commonly, the pivotal moments or occurrences are outside of the ring, or obvious. Mike Tyson’s prison stint altered his career in a huge way, Marco Antonio Barrera saw a stylistic shift […]
0 comments by Patrick Connor on 6/9/2014
We like writing fighters off. It’s similar to how we, as a society, seem to crave building a character up only to tear them down again. But in boxing, resurrections seldom happen the way they do in works of fiction and the sick worlds of celebrity and fame. The cerebral damage is carried out, and […]
0 comments by Patrick Connor on 6/2/2014
Well, well, well. It seems Oscar de la Hoya (above, left; via) and Richard Schaefer have gone from business partners, to tanning teammates, to cash swimming-pool-diving buddy system enthusiasts, to frenemies, and are now splitsville. If we were Oscar, we’d be upset about losing a nice banking and chocolate connection, but that’s just us. This […]
0 comments by Patrick Connor on 5/29/2014
Gauging the importance of a given fight in boxing is no easy task. It’s nigh impossible to put in stone exactly what it is that makes a bout important. There’s much to choose from, between attendance records and television views; world titles and simply how great the action is. Are fights that usher in new […]
0 comments by Patrick Connor on 5/27/2014
That’s it. We’re done. Hope is gone and humanity will fail. If the two jovial, carefree gentlemen in the photo above, rapper T.I. and Floyd Mayweather (via), cannot get along, then who can? Forget peace in the Middle East, TQBR Radio is just waiting for Brad Pitt and Jen Aniston to get back together. Boxing […]
0 comments by Patrick Connor on 5/26/2014
“War is thus an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will.” – On War, Carl von Clausewitz One of the more notable warriors in the sport of boxing, Matthew Saad Muhammad, had but one will when stepping through the ropes: lay waste to whatever was standing across from him at the […]
0 comments by Patrick Connor on 5/22/2014
A not-so-subtle Day of Thor theme in our throwback Thursday pieces, if you’ve been paying attention, has been rivalries that have rested just outside the normal plane of consciousness of boxing fans. Past a handful of big name fighters with known, established counterparts, others are often perceived as lacking nemeses or defining bouts, and sometimes that’s not true. Sometimes the important fights on […]
