0 comments by Matthew Swain on 11/19/2021
Saturday night from the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas, welterweights Terence Crawford (37-0, 28 KO) and Shawn Porter (31-3, 17 KO) will meet in a 12 round bout televised on ESPN+ pay-per-view. In preparation, the intrepid TQBR crew crawled out from under their hangovers, diaper bags, and work obligations to discuss how they see […]
0 comments by Jamie Rebner on 10/12/2021
Like many boxing writers, I became a fan of the sport before I started putting pen to paper. My first voluntary exposure to boxing came in 2008 when I decided to read Evander Holyfield’s biography, Becoming Holyfield, after my local newspaper recommended it. I was blown away by The Real Deal’s remarkable achievements as an […]
Aug 21, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada; Manny Pacquiao waves to fans after losing in a world welterweight championship bout in a decision to Yordenis Ugas at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 9/30/2021
One of the best ever, Manny Pacquiao, retired this week. He ends his 26-year career with a record of 62-8-2. The TQBR gang examines him and his legacy. What was the first time you saw Manny Pacquiao fight, and what was your impression of him? Tim Starks: It was the Lehlo Ledwaba fight he […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 7/15/2021
Normally, we only do these roundtables as a way to collectively discuss the biggest fights, but given all the givens of the last 18 months, we decided to sit down and hash it out last summer, so we’re going to do it again. Quite a few things have changed in that time. Hedtke hatched an […]
0 comments by Jason Langendorf on 11/15/2020
Calculating precisely where Terence Crawford fits along the spectrum of boxing’s superstars is something of a fool’s errand and, if we’re being honest with ourselves, entirely beside the point. No sport is more tribal, more random in the focus of its fan adoration, nor more fickle in ascribing value to fundamentally flawed human beings — […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 10/12/2020
Boxing is a sport both immensely empowered by, and hamstrung by, its past. Its past dates back to at least the 8th century BC. Even now, the most important sporting figure of all time might just be Muhammad Ali. For much of the last century, the biggest-name boxer alive was often in contention for biggest […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 8/26/2020
“My name is Tim. Not ‘the son,’” a victorious Tim Tszyu declared after dispassionately removing Jeff “The Hornet” Horn’s stinger, wings, legs, gastrointestinal tract and half an antenna over eight rounds Wednesday in a junior middleweight bout from Townsville, Australia, televised on ESPN+. Point taken, and point made, Mr. Tszyu. Step up fights are critical […]
0 comments by Jason Langendorf on 6/17/2020
When it comes to grim irony, not even the back-stabbiest of Greek tragedies holds a candle to boxing. In this sport, titans fall, fortunes are squandered and, like clockwork, dreams are splintered on the rocks of reality — all inside a space as cozy as a Little Caesar’s lobby. Had he cared to look, bantamweight […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 5/31/2020
When most people think of the names “Paul Williams” and “Antonio Margarito” they don’t necessarily associate them with one another, but instead with a host of bizarre, thrilling and controversial moments from their respective careers. Williams suffered a major upset loss to Carlos Quintana right after he stepped in the ring for the first time […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 3/21/2020
There is no boxing thanks to COVID-19 and we might have roving gangs of warboys before pro pugilism returns. So we TQBRers are looking back at the beforetimes. As I write this, I am age 44. Seventeen years ago, then, doesn’t seem so far back. Yet 2003 seems like a distinctly different time, when viewed […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 1/18/2020
“My business is not prognosis, but diagnosis. I am not engaged in therapeutics, but in pathology.” H.L. Mencken wrote that in his 1926 book, “Notes on Democracy.” Here we are nearly 100 years later and it’s still true. One of the weird things about boxing, and life for that matter, is that if you spend […]
Aug 26, 2017; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Floyd Mayweather Jr. leaves the ring after defeating Conor McGregor (not pictured) in the tenth round during a boxing match at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Tim Starks on 1/2/2020
For better or worse — really, for better AND for worse — Floyd Mayweather cast a long shadow over the 2010s. This is the cultural impact of Mayweather in the decade: Among those who find him generally reprehensible, it’s easy to forget that Mayweather didn’t break all those pay-per-view buy records simply because those who […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 12/31/2019
“He’s not gettin’ up, Jim!” That’s all anyone has to say. You know what they’re talking about. In a single moment on Dec. 8, 2012, and with a single punch, Manny Pacquiao was rendered unconscious and mortal. And he was rendered so by the only man in eight years who’d managed to withstand him. The […]
iNov 2, 2019; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Canelo Alvarez (blue/green trunks) knocks out Sergey Kovalev (black/white/red trunks) during their WBO light heavyweight title bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Alvarez won via 11th round TKO. Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Jason Langendorf on 12/29/2019
Somewhere in the memory banks, wedged between a 7,000-piece Millennium Falcon LEGO set and a fuzzy “Best of Christy Canyon” VHS tape, you’ll find a yellowed paperback copy of “The Sun Also Rises” — a remnant from Mrs. Nelson’s eighth-grade English Lit class. The novel, published in 1926, chronicles a very particular time and place, […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 12/27/2019
Welcome to The Queensberry Rules’ annual year-end boxing awards, continuing throughout this week. Here’s how we do it around these parts: The major categories are Knockout of the Year, Fight of the Year and Fighter of the Year. For each category, we give five finalists, with video and/or relevant info. On the second day after a category […]
