FORT WASHINGTON, Md. — It is envisioned in 2004, in the nosebleeds of Madison Square Garden. 11-year-old Dusty Hernandez-Harrison and his dad, by the retelling of both men, are at the Mecca of boxing to watch Felix Trinidad; Dusty being Puerto Rican meant "Tito" was automatically his favorite boxer. Father Buddy tells his young son, […]

If you’re one of the people who think that Mike Alvarado was “soft” for “quitting” on the weekend, then boxing probably isn’t the sport for you. Maybe you need something tougher, like Nigerian boxing or “Dembe,” a sport in which itinerant fighters beat each other with hands wrapped in rope. Also, you’re a sicko. If not, welcome […]

(Ruslan Provodnikov, left, in pursuit of Mike Alvarado; photo credit: Chris Farina/Top Rank) Usually the Queensberry Rules Radio preview post opens up with some nonsensical picture or reference, if not some borderline infuriating non sequitur. But this week, Ruslan Provodnikov and Mike Alvarado should simply get more and more attention, when possible. It was an […]

(photo credit: Chris Farina, Top Rank) It was like a Rocky movie gone terribly wrong. The hometown hero had been in control. His Russian opponent had looked frustrated and even a little primitive. But junior welterweight Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KO) has the kind of power and determination that reconfigures Hollywood endings. "I knew what […]

(Juan Santiago, left, Juan Diaz, right; credit: Chris Farina, Top Rank) Juan Diaz once fought like a swarm of angry bees. Unable to hurt anyone with a single punch, he came forward relentlessly and stung as many times as possible. Few can forget the look of utter despair on Acelino Freitas’ face when he quit […]

(Jeremy Parodi, left, Carl Frampton, right; via) In a sport that may have courted the prefix “professional” in a bid to ward off repeated suspicions to the contrary, there can be few boxers as meticulous as Carl Frampton. That the Belfast junior featherweight manages to be as diligent as he is, while simultaneously electrifying an […]

(Andre the Giant, left, Bobby Chacon, right; via) There was some outstanding boxing in the 1980s. But as in every other decade of boxing, rankings and sanctioning bodies who created them really mimicked what was loosely considered the fashion of the times: funky, eccentric, and downright embarrassing in hindsight. The years have been kind to […]

"I think of all the education that I missed," David Lee Roth once sang for Van Halen, "but then my homework was never quite like this." It's a real pleasure to write a preview for a fight like Mike Alvarado-Ruslan Provodnikov, because it means I was forced to study up on each man's ouevre. And […]

Juan Manuel Marquez was falling down Saturday, yet from the

(Frolicking above, one of Tim Bradley’s relatives. Maybe; via) By now it should be clear that nobody will be stealing Tim Bradley’s Lucky Charms. Not Juan Manuel Marquez, not those bratty kids in the commercial …and perhaps not even Floyd Mayweather? Discussing the possibility of harnessing Bradley’s prosperity, putting it toward winning some type of […]

(Juan Manuel Marquez, left; Timothy Bradley, right) You can’t fault Tim Bradley for the way in which he beat Juan Manuel Marquez the other night. It was the blueprint that everyone agreed would work. The big question was whether or not he could stick to it and whether or not Marquez could disrupt it. As […]