Watching two rounds of Paulie Malignaggi’s first junior welterweight (140 lbs.) title defense, I saw Malignaggi jabbing Herman Ngoudjo to pieces and thought, “Yup, this is going to be as easy as I expected.” To quote a certain owner of a miraculous hamster, “Not so.”

One busy Friday night, one recantation and one ending to an ongoing saga. Quick Jabs, comin’ up!:

Paulie Malignaggi has something of a persecution complex, but as Nirvana once said: “Just because you’re paranoid/don’t mean they’re not after you.” After winning a junior welterweight (140 lbs) belt in a June performance on HBO that won the admiration of its wizened ringside commentators, Malignaggi had every expectation that he’d be back on the […]

There have been few examples of a complete free-fall from prominence to obscurity quite like to Dominick Guinn has in his seven years as a practitioner of the sweet science. Exploding onto the scene with a three year undefeated streak highlighted by his seven round destruction of Michael Grant (Grant’s and Guinn’s career share some […]

Type a few simple words into YouTube while looking for something specific — like, say, “amazing knockout” and a fighter’s name — and you’ll end up with more than you bargained for. There are all manner of strange and entertaining boxing clips out there, it turns out. The aforementioned method is how I stumbled across […]

No time for blogging when you’re traveling through Ohio to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (yes, really) and making snow angels out of your Christmas presents (boxing-related book received: “The 12 Greatest Rounds of Boxing”). But I’m back in business. Out of the “promotional tricks I expect would backfire” toolbox this week came a cameo by […]

Nigerian news-site, Vanguard is reporting that WBC interim heavyweight titlist Samuel “The Nigerian Nightmare” Peter was threatened with a shotgun by in-laws over a reported “minor domestic dispute”.  The incident reportedly took place on December 15th  at Le Meridien Hotel in Uyo, Akwa, Nigeria.

To those faithful readers of “Ring Report” I would like to extend warm holiday blessings to you and yours. With the end of 2007 near boxing seems to be taking a breather until next month but that is not to say that all is quiet in the world of the Sweet Science. Cintron wants Margarito […]

This is so… exasperating. Here boxing is, climbing back to the top of the world, and its newest transcendent star, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., is talking about moving to mixed martial arts. It’s hard to tell how serious any of this chatter is; ESPN’s reporting on it is fairly credulous, and I’m sure the talks are […]

I had originally planned to post a year end type review of sorts but my highly respected colleague Tim beat me to the punch and if you have not read it yet I insist you do so.  In one word, it’s freaking awesome and you can take that to the lake!! (Special thanks to Eugene Dammrod […]

While we’re all catching our breath following the wrap-up to a stellar 2007 for boxing and getting ready for a Christmastime largely free of professional punching-in-the-face, please consider the following “Quick Jabs”: Tonight’s Vs. card pitting welterweight (147 lbs.) contender Joshua Clottey against unproven but undefeated Shamone Alvarez is about the last important fight on […]

Today, HBO announced that it had broken its record in 2007 for both pay-per-view buys (4.8 million) and pay-per-view dollars ($225 million), toppling its records set eight years ago. It simultaneously announced that about 850,000 people bought the Dec. 8 Floyd Mayweather, Jr. – Ricky Hatton fight, a tad short of predictions, but enough to […]

Oh me oh my. Exciting young Jorge Linares (featherweight, 126 lbs.) landed one right on the button of Gamaliel Diaz last night. Rush over and check out the KO here before someone gets all Soviet on the copyright defense. I’m sticking by my pick for “KO of the year,” but this one’s a legit candidate.

There have been insinuations here and there that anyone who gave more than a round to Ricky Hatton when he fought Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (welterweight, 147 pounds) last weekend was blind. Respected boxing writer Michael Woods backtracked a little here upon watching the tape. After watching a replay, I will not. And I promise I […]

I’ve little to say in disagreement with Sean about his awards for “trainer of the year” and “worst decision of the year,” and I hardly have anything interesting to say about either (just short of unloading every metaphor and synonym for “historically bad” I can think of as it pertains to the judges who somehow […]