(Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, circa 2002) (Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, circa 2010) The news conference punch, the bad blood spilled in the ring, the Mexico City/Tijuana rivalry… it’s all gone. Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales say they’re pals now (per BoxingScene, usual warnings apply about clicking on links). I know […]

In January, Andre Berto was supposed to fight Shane Mosley in a huge welterweight bout. In July, Celestino Caballero might fight Yuriorkis Gamboa in what would be a huge featherweight bout. As the A-sides in an HBO doubleheader Saturday, Berto and Caballero are facing opponents that aren’t on that level, but then, they aren’t exactly […]

To begin with, he does not resemble a prizefighter. There is the receding hairline, unusual for such a young man, but you can almost imagine a puckish little cowlick plastered on his forehead whenever he is away from the gym. Then there is a hint of mischief in his look; his pursed lips almost seem […]

As we round into the stretch run of the first iteration of the TQBR Prediction Game, the difference between winning and losing could come down to one wrong call, or one slightly more accurate call. There is a slight dilemma for said stretch run, however. There are two fights this weekend that are game-worthy: The […]

Fans of Friday Night Fights are accustomed to Teddy Atlas providing his honest opinion of the fights on the card, pulling no punches when he considers a fighter in against a mismatched opponent. Atlas is a pillar of integrity for his blunt honesty but he leans a little too tough sometimes, as I feel he […]

It’s not Gus Johnson calling a boxing match, but the above video (NSFW?) does ring familiar for those of us accustomed to listening to him on Showtime. In these Quick Jabs, we take the subjects in the headline and mix it up with some other tidbits and some fights in the works (Peterson brothers! Showtime […]

Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson Wil Haygood 461 pp. Alfred A. Knopf, December 2009 The time is right for a new look at the life of Sugar Ray Robinson, the signature fighter of boxing’s golden era. Robinson, born Walker Smith, Jr. in Detroit in 1921, was by consensus the greatest […]

(David Haye, via The Daily Mail) It’s hard to believe we’re coming into David Haye-John Ruiz Saturday and the ultra-aggressive Haye is the one who drew criticism after his last fight for being too ugly and passive, while the famously huggy Ruiz in his last fight bucked his reputation as a grind-it-out mauler. But both […]

Man, last fall when the talks got serious, I was this close to thinking Roy Jones Jr.-Bernard Hopkins II this Saturday on pay-per-view stood a chance of being worthwhile, even if it was a decade late and Jones was well past his best days. Jones wasn’t as vital a force as Hopkins remained, but this […]

We’ll be doing full previews of both Roy Jones-Bernard Hopkins II and David Haye-John Ruiz, but because the boxing schedule gets started early this week with a fight featuring David Tua (pictured above in a pimped-out mini; h/t to friend of the site PJ), we’ll hit everything but Jones-Hopkins II and Haye-Ruiz now. David Tua-Friday […]