In the book “Boxing Scene” by Thomas Hauser, Lou Duva, a former trainer of Evander Holyfield, said, circa early 2007: “If he stops fighting now, he could be our greatest ambassador. But when he keeps fighting, it downgrades the sport. And God forbid something really bad should happen to him.” In a Dec. 4 article, […]

With the boxing year effectively completed, every day this week at The Queensberry Rules we’ll be presenting nominees for 2008 year-end awards, followed the next day by our actual award recipients. The categories are: Round of the Year; Knockout of the Year; Fight of theYear; and Fighter of the Year. Sean and I will provide […]

When Israel Vasquez and Rafael Marquez first agreed to terms to fight each other back in March 2007, you knew it would result in something special. But in no way could even the most ardent fan have predicted an all-time classic trilogy would have sprouted from the encounter. With both fighters each taking one victory […]

2008 barely began before Edison Miranda gave us its Knockout of the Year. Among all the best KOs, there were body shots that ended things abruptly and even knockouts that were punctuated with jabs; there were victims who were just cold unconscious and those who mustered some stumbling around on their knees as they tried […]

So it sounds like a go: Vitali Klitschko vs. David Haye in June, which instantly becomes one of the most significant, and most promising, heavyweight fights in years. When I say promising, I of course mean only that it offers promise. At the same time, it holds tremendous potential to be a letdown. With the […]

With the boxing year effectively completed, every day this week at The Queensberry Rules we’ll be presenting nominees for 2008 year-end awards, followed the next day by our actual award recipients. The categories are: Round of the Year; Knockout of the Year; Fight of theYear; and Fighter of the Year. Sean and I will provide […]

“Pulsating.” Yes, that’s it. That’s the best single word I’ve read to describe our 2008 Round of the Year, the 1st round of the rematch between junior welterweights (140 lbs.) Kendall Holt and Ricardo Torres in July. Using more words, a commentator for the international broadcast said: “That was one of the most unbelievable things […]

I’ll have a lot more to say about this story — where David Haye claims Vitali Klitschko has agreed to a deal for a heavyweight fight in London in June — when and if Klitschko’s people confirm anything. Right now, it’s more than a little strange that Haye’s the only one talking. Per ESPN: “However, […]

I was all prepared after watching the Versus show to write up a sappy official farewell to one of my all-time favorite fighters, James Toney. I’ve thought Toney should retire for a year or more now, and with what appeared to be a fairly clear defeat at the hands of heavyweight Fres Oquendo — who […]

What kind of photographs of HBO executives in compromising positions does Wladimir Klitschko have? The world’s #1-ranked heavyweight knocked out Hasim Rahman in the 7th round of a complete mismatch after the ref stopped the bout. It wasn’t Klitschko’s fault he was so much better than the over-the-hill Rahman. But did HBO have to put […]

Both trainers for the Manny Pacquiao-Oscar De La Hoya fight last weekend have now (warning: obvious pun ahead) “weighed in” on De La Hoya’s weight for the match. Asked in the above video when he knew Pacquiao would win, trainer Freddie Roach answered (video h/t: Boxing FanHouse): “Before the fight started. When he gained two […]

ESPN’s Dan Rafael has some good news: Fox Sports Net, which has had sporadic boxing coverage since the demise of the live “Sunday Night Fights” a few years ago, will begin airing notable overseas title bouts on a tape-delay basis about once per month as part of “Best Damn Sports Show Period.” Boxing’s a global […]

Merry Christmas (!) from two heavily-tattooed men who plan to punch the snot out of each other Saturday night on Showtime — Kendall Holt, left, and Demetrius Hopkins, right, fighting for Holt’s junior welterweight (140 lbs.) alphabet title belt.  (Photo: Tom Casino/Showtime)

For those boxing fans without Versus — and I know too many who go without — Thursday night heralded its official arrival as a real player on the boxing scene with its broadcast of a great card headlined by the tremendous cruiserweight (200 lbs.) championship fight between Tomasz Adamek and Steve Cunningham. Every boxing fan […]

I have to admit that I am having a bit of an emotional letdown in light of the recent announcement that the much anticipated rubber match between Kendall Holt and Ricardo Torres was called off due to Torres coming down with an illness.  The previous two fights of this burgeoning rivalry were filled with enough […]