“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. […]

HBO’s new mini-documentary focusing on boxing’s out of the ring personalities, “Cornered,” debuted earlier in the week. The first instalment focused on Mr “let’s get ready to rumble” himself, ring announcer Michael Buffer. The Buff (as I will now call him) seems like an interesting guy. His chiselled jawline and John Boehneresque complexion certainly belie […]

(Richard Abril punches Sharif Bogere; photo credit: Tom Casino, Showtime) Richard Abril may have won the unanimous decision Saturday on Showtime over Sharif Bogere, but he might never truly thrive in boxing, so cringe-worthy is his style. Bogere was a willing partner in the mauling and fouling, unfortunately, to collaborate for an ugly, ugly, ugly […]

(Evgeny Gradovich, left, Billy Dib, right; photo credit: Ed Diller, DiBella Entertainment) Evgeny Gradovich snatched the IBF featherweight belt from Billy Dib Friday in a fight dirtier than a 50 Cent verse. In its second consecutive week of title competition, ESPN Friday Night Fights aired a rough-and-tumble affair that resulted in a split decision in […]