As time has accumulated, the Irish around the globe have accepted that St. Patrick’s Day has morphed into a kind of “every man’s drinking holiday.” And far be it from them to complain about a drop or two, but at its Celtic heart, it’s an Irish holiday, the celebration thereof apparently important enough to maintain […]

All's well that ends for British boxer Curtis Woodhouse and his Twitter troll, upon meeting face to face. Nice apology, nice acceptance, good insight from Curtis about how he shouldn't have to block anyone — that the onus is on the troll to stop with the abuse. It's remarkable, really, how much time people spend […]

(Grimsby’s Kevin Hooper as photographed by Jon Corken for The Grimsby Telegraph) Some fighters rattle on about hard work and dedication as if they hold a monopoly on them. Floyd Mayweather uses it as his gym mantra in fact but there aren’t many that can match Grimsby lightweight Kevin Hooper. He goes for the English […]

It’s just three days since 2013’s “boxing season” began in earnest, and the networks are of the impression that we haven’t realised that there’s not much on this week. Oh, we have. We’re just desperate after the long winter of boxing. Winter is a metaphor, because even though it actually was winter, it also wasn’t […]

“Laissez faire, telle devrait être la devise de toute puissance publique, depuis que le monde est civilisé.” – René-Louis de Voyer de Paulmy, marquis d’Argenson Years of leaving sleeping dogs where they lay have marched us into an economic singularity waiting to collapse inward, pulling the rest of us into a gravity from which we […]

Spoiling has stumbled back into fashion of late. After Cuban cephalopod Richard Abril put the dampeners on Ugandan Sharif Bogere within hours of England’s Matthew Hatton and South African Chris van Heerden hugging one another to professional death, fight fans were left to pine after a performance that might clear the airways. Unfortunately, the stink […]

(Tavoris Cloud [tiger trunks] and Bernard Hopkins [purple/silver trunks] trade punches during their light heavyweight bout at the Barclay’s Center. Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports) NEW YORK CITY – – Boos greeted Tavoris Cloud as he began his ringwalk into the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. East Coast legend Bernard Hopkins enjoyed a much warmer welcome […]

(Hugo Centeno, Jr. pops Keandre Leatherwood; photo credit: Tom Casino, Showtime) You would think that if one boxer beat another by a near shutout, he'd walk away shiny and glorious, especially if he was a prospect facing his most difficult opponent to date on ShoBox. Yet, Friday on Showtime's prospect-featuring program, junior middleweight Hugo Centeno, […]

“Hail to the Victors” was not the theme of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights on March 8 as junior welterweight Emmanuel Taylor defeated Victor Cayo by technical knockout in the main event from the Resorts Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, N.J. The scheduled 10-round match was a war of attrition that was both exciting and […]

America just don't know. That's Victor Ortiz in a publicity shot for Dancing With The Stars; he looks like he's got his VO FaceLube on in that very, very baby blue photograph, or else it's shopped to the max and DUDE WATCH OUT THERE ARE SOME FIREWORKS GOING OFF RIGHT BEHIND YOU. Although for now […]

Time waits for no man, except, perhaps, Bernard Hopkins. The 48-year-old has fought at a high level despite a decrepit-for-boxing age far later than he has had any right to, and probably better than anyone ever has in the history of the sport. As his Saturday showdown on HBO with Tavoris Cloud nears, though, one […]

There is history to be made, and there are echoes of the past. Tavoris Cloud is the tenth man in history — the tenth to share a commonality with the other nine men that spans 23 years: Men like Joe Calzaghe, Joe Lipsey, Jermain Taylor, Glen Johnson, Kelly Pavlik, Roy Jones Jr., and Felix Trinidad. […]