0 comments by Tim Starks on 4/27/2011
(Seemed appropriate, given how we get to arguing about pound-for-pound stuff. Via, and h/t to friend of the site Shae) This update of TQBR’s pound-for-pound list marks the dismissal of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. from the top 20. As of the beginning of next week, he will have been inactive for one year, the arbitrary time […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 4/26/2011
Getting drunk or snorting coke before a fight: Maybe it’ll help, but probably not. Getting stoned: Not a chance. Thus, this story about five different boxers — including boxer/Baltimore Raven Tom Zbikowski — testing positive for marijuana from this past Saturday in Oklahoma is being met with skepticism, and it’s not just all the boxers’ […]
0 comments by Tim Starks
Oof. That face-mangling might hurt almost as much as getting your ear bitten. Yes, there’s been another in-ring boxing ear snack incident — from this past weekend, per the video below. We might need to consider forming a separate sport for all these boxers who want to bite on ears. It ain’t called “competitive ear-biting,” […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 4/25/2011
Stephen Smith and John Simpson are products of their environment. Smith is a Scouser, they of the romantic heart, sardonic wit and swift, accented lilt. He fights as he speaks, in quick, vivace bursts – and he’s confident. An accomplished amateur and a prodigious talent, his fledgling career has yet to come within range of […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 4/24/2011
Look who was back up to his old tricks, as he promised he would be. Vic Darchinyan finally found his punching power at bantamweight Saturday on Showtime, then used it to smash the previously unsmashable Yonnhy Perez on his way to a five-round technical decision route. Coming off some shaky performances and a close loss […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 4/23/2011
Breidis Prescott isn’t very fast or remotely technically astute, but he looked it Friday on ESPN2 in comparison to the other junior welterweight in the ring. He got a lot of help from Bayan Jargal, the erratic Mongolian who barely could bring himself to throw punches, and when he did they were slow and ineffective. […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 4/22/2011
Everyone’s instinct is to dislike Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and everyone’s instinct is to dislike the musical projects of boxers. Here those instincts are right on the “money.” (Get it? Floyd likes money! Or, “money,” since he serially exaggerates how much of it he has.) Where to start with this trash? As a hip-hop fan, the […]
0 comments by Tim Starks
What a purty boxing-themed hockey goalie helmet. Or, at least, half of one. The other half has Sideshow Bob. Via. While the hockey playoffs will inevitably lead to much fisticuffs, here are some events in the works where fighting is the only idea. It’s been a couple weeks since we did this, so we’ll break […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 4/21/2011
Prior to Wednesday, one could be forgiven for doubting that the most anticipated fight in the heavyweight division — champion Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye — was really going to happen. Sure, they’d signed some contracts, but they didn’t have a location or a television deal, and such details had killed the fight over the […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 4/20/2011
When Roberto Ramirez jumped between Juan Manuel Lopez and Orlando Salido on Saturday night, many thought he was waving off featherweight’s time as one of the sport’s top divisions. It certainly looks like Bob Arum let JuanMa-Yuriorkis Gamboa go off, after marinating in the fridge for too long. But there’s good news, if you’re optimistically […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 4/19/2011
A rip-roaring April of big-time boxing effectively concludes on Saturday with what began the month as the one event you would not have wanted to miss: The final two bouts of Showtime’s bantamweight tourney. Yet, now, after three consecutive weeks of Fight of the Year candidates, unbelievable upsets and more drama than a teenage girl […]
0 comments by Tim Starks
There’s your 6th round of Victor Ortiz vs. Andre Berto, if you weren’t up on it yet. Maybe if Berto doesn’t flail so recklessly after dropping Ortiz, it doesn’t end up being such a great round, because one of the things that made it special is that Ortiz scored his own knockdown while still on […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 4/17/2011
The surprises keep coming in boxing, and they simply won’t let up. Saturday’s upsets weren’t as dramatic as last weekend’s absurdity, but the two seesaw main events on HBO and Showtime presented yet more exhibits in the case for this sport’s greatness. Victor Ortiz’ toughness, genuineness and everything else had rightly been the subject of […]
0 comments by Tim Starks
WALDORF, Md.–A capacity crowd filled the Waldorf Jaycees Community Center on Friday night to see boxers from Maryland and the District dominate their Virginia counterparts at the Washington Golden Gloves regional championships. After finishing our regular training session and scouring the lot for a patch of grass upon which to deposit the car, we made […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 4/16/2011
(Maybe it should have been “Provodnikovish” fashion, but so be it.) TV-friendly junior welterweight Ruslan Provodnikov returned to Friday Night Fights two fights removed from his first loss, and his opponent this go round was Ivan Popoca, a brawler with his own knack for bouncing back (see: Soto Karass, Jose Luis). Things were pretty competitive […]
