0 comments by Tim Starks on 12/24/2017
It’s been a long time since we’ve done this, so, wow, have things changed a bunch. Beyond just a thinking and debating exercise, pound-for-pound lists have some value for a number of reasons. For one, a lot of fighters aspire to the greatness a consensus pound-for-pound king-dom symbolizes. For another, it’s a good snapshot at […]
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 04: Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia exchange punches during their WBA/WBC Welterweight unification Championship bout at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on March 4, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
0 comments by Tim Starks on 3/5/2017
One of the year’s most anticipated fights failed to deliver on its promise, as Keith Thurman on Saturday won a narrow decision in a mostly-limp showdown with Danny Garcia that aired on CBS. The long-awaited welterweight match-up started well enough, with Thurman coming out like old-school aggressive Thurman, and actually hurting Garcia, who doesn’t get […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 2/19/2017
Adrien Broner promised a new A.B., but he was still the same guy as always Saturday night on Showtime: a physical talent who looks like he’ll never deliver on his promise, as he nearly lost to a less-talented grinder, Adrian Granados. At least this kind of Broner ensures we get solid action. Broner won a […]
LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 05: Manny Pacquiao stands in the croner during his WBO welterweight championship fight against Jessie Vargas at the Thomas & Mack Center on November 5, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
0 comments by Tim Starks on 1/1/2017
Yeah, yeah, it’s “technically” not 2016 anymore, but this serves as the year-end list, mofos. We’ve got a lot of changes since the last update a couple months back, given some un-retirements and big fights that closed out the year. As always, the main standard is quality wins, especially of recent vintage. The eyeball test […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 11/11/2016
Maybe it’s no fair to evoke the “cherry picker” meme with Danny Garcia planning to face Keith Thurman next year, but for one more night, it’s legit. Danny Garcia vs Samuel Vargas, Saturday, Spike, Philadelphia. So, yeah, Garcia is facing a guy who was fed to a still-green welterweight Errol Spence, Jr. last year. And Spence, […]
LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 23: WBO junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford (L) lands a body shot on WBC champion Viktor Postol of Ukraine during their unification fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena on July 23, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Crawford won by unanimous decision. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images)
0 comments by Tim Starks on 10/30/2016
It’s the kind of pastime you either hate, love to hate, or just find mildly interesting to debate: pound-for-pound updates of the best fighters in the world, regardless of weight. And boy howdy, do we ever have some movement since last time we did one one of these. We have a new man cracking the […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 10/25/2016
I’m relatively certain that I’ve never written anything complimentary about Vanes Martirosyan. In fact, I’ve probably never given any in or out of the ring action of his more than a perfunctory eye roll. But it’s been a slow couple of weeks and fuck it, here we are. Yesterday, Martirosyan went on a miniature Twitter […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 9/16/2016
What does a fighter struggling, even in a win, say about his career? Answer: Not a fucking thing. Sometime in the last decade or two, the TV talking heads and social media have convinced us that every tiny aspect of every performance can be used to indict an athlete or that they prove greatness. It’s […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 7/20/2016
Unlike most major sports, boxing exists in an anarcho-capitalist wasteland. It’s the kind of environment that would give Ayn Rand a dusty orgasm and produce a raging semi in Ted Cruz that’s normally reserved for when he imagines Jesus power bombing a refugee child. Because of this, most fighters get paid based on how many […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 5/6/2016
“I like you. You have a goal, and you have the balls to reach that goal. You have this blind, stupid belief in yourself.” -Reverend Fred Sultan Whether it’s an unscrupulous boxing promoter in “The Great White Hype” speaking to the guy trying to take him down, or me thinking about Amir Khan, the point […]
SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – MARCH 26: Kell Brook prepares to enter the arena prior to the IBF World Welterweight Championship between Kell Brook and Kevin Bizier at Sheffield Arena on March 26, 2016 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
0 comments by Tim Starks on 5/4/2016
Welcome to our first pound-for-pound list of 2016. If it seems overdue, it’s because the first couple months offered little prospect for movement. The two most recent? That’s been more productive for the best fighters in the world regardless of weight. Manny Pacquiao’s departure shakes thing up a little, and Takashi Uchiyama’s loss leaves another […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 4/1/2016
Adrien Broner has had some… let’s say “trouble” in the build-up to his mismatch against Ashley Theophane Friday on Spike. There was the court case he caught for an alleged bowling alley assault and robbery, and then he didn’t bother making the junior welterweight limit. On top of it all he scooped his usual unnecessary […]
GENERAL SANTOS, PHILIPPINES – JANUARY 28: Manny Pacquiao trains at Pedro Acharon Sports Complex on January 28, 2016 in General Santos, Philippines. Pacquiao faces Timothy Bradley in the world welterweight championship bout at the MGM Grand casino on April 9 in Las Vegas. (Photo by Jeoffrey Maitem/Getty Images)
0 comments by Tim Starks on 2/21/2016
There are a couple remarkable things about Manny Pacquiao’s recent remarks on homosexuality. His views in opposition to gay marriage were already well-known; that’s not new, and it’s not cool, nor has it ever been. No, what’s remarkable is the virulent nature of how he’s expressed those views lately, and how unrelenting he has been in […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 1/29/2016
What in the living fu-. How is welterweight Danny Garcia regularly doing some of the best ratings that the “Premier Boxing Champions” series ever has done, even against Robert Guerrero in a match-up that not many people viewed as particularly competitive? I guess people like unconventional hairlines, cuz LeBron James is popular, too. It’s almost as […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 1/23/2016
It’s not a Danny Garcia fight unless he scrambles up “unimpressive” with “victory.” And Saturday on Fox, Garcia spent the first half of his bout with Robert Guerrero being unimpressive, only to take over thereafter and remind folk why we once viewed the welterweight as a potential top 10 pound-for-pound fighter. He came away with […]
