0 comments by Lou Catalano on 1/1/2016
2015 was a strange year for boxing. Like “Charles In Charge,” we took a lot of “bad” to go with the “good.” We got huge fights like Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao, free fights like Keith Thurman vs Robert Guerrero, and no fights like Showtime. New stars emerged, while some faded away before our eyes. Lineal […]
Floyd Mayweather Jr. throws a right at Manny Pacquiao during their welterweight unification championship bout on May 2, 2015 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
0 comments by Tim Starks on 12/31/2015
It’s easy, in retrospect, to belittle Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao. It wasn’t terribly hard beforehand, either. We knew, coming in, that Mayweather was the heavy favorite, deservedly. We knew this because we watched these two men age over the years between when the fight was a twinkle in our eyes and when it finally […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 12/30/2015
Welcome to The Queensberry Rules’ annual year-end boxing awards, continuing this week. Here’s how we do it around these parts: The major categories are Knockout of the Year, Round of the Year, Fight of the Year and Fighter of the Year. The final leg, which will finish after, is a pu-pu platter of awards ranging from […]
LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 21: Referee Tony Weeks stops the fight in the ninth round as Francisco Vargas defeats Takashi Miura by TKO during their WBC super featherweight title fight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on November 21, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
0 comments by Tim Starks on 12/28/2015
Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura lived in a long shadow. It certainly was the kind of fight you might circle on your calendar on Nov. 21 as one to watch, if you were the sort of diehard boxing fan who was serious enough about the sport to know the names of two men in one of […]
0 comments by Tim Starks
Welcome to The Queensberry Rules’ annual year-end boxing awards, continuing this week. Here’s how we do it around these parts: The major categories are Knockout of the Year, Round of the Year, Fight of the Year and Fighter of the Year. The final leg, which will finish after, is a pu-pu platter of awards ranging from […]
LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 21: Canelo Alvarez celebrates with promoter Oscar De La Hoya after defeating Miguel Cotto by unanimous decision in their middleweight fight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on November 21, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
0 comments by Mike Ricciardelli on 11/28/2015
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez beat Miguel Cotto on November 21, 2015. With the exception of Mr. & Mrs. Cotto, no one worth mentioning thinks any different. But the judges in this fight scored the matter 117-111, 118-110 and 119-109. For the boxing neophyte or those of us who are mathematically challenged, a shutout in a 12 […]
LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 25: Tyson Fury looks on during a media workout at the Peacock Gym on February 25, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
0 comments by Lou Catalano on 11/25/2015
You know the overused movie plot where the boring, super-uptight guy meets the wild, crazy girl who finally shows him how to let loose and have fun? That’s what Saturday’s heavyweight title fight on HBO between Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury has going for it. Except in this case, the boring dude is the reigning […]
LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 21: (R-L) Canelo Alvarez throws a right at Miguel Cotto during their middleweight fight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on November 21, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
0 comments by Tim Starks on 11/22/2015
That headline isn’t meant to troll. Canelo Alvarez boxed pretty well Saturday night on HBO Pay-Per-View against Miguel Cotto — he didn’t win just because he was massive. But massive-ness was the main mechanism of Alvarez’s wide decision win over the middleweight champion. We don’t know how much the two men weighed on fight night, […]
LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 24: Current WBC champion Miguel Cotto (L) and contender Canelo Alvarez, Former WBC and WBA Super Welterweight World Champion, pose after a news conference announcing their upcoming WBC middleweight title bout on August 24, 2015, in Los Angeles, California. The WBC middleweight title bout will take place November 21 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 11/20/2015
Very few of us view our jobs with any romance. They’re something we do because we must. We work to live. We don’t live to work. Sports provide an escape from the drudgery of day-to-day routine and it’s easy to mythologize them. We see heartbreak and triumph in the feats of the athletically gifted, and […]
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 26: Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez faceoff during Miguel Cotto Vs Canelo Alvarez Press Conference at Wyndham New Yorker Hotel on August 26, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 11/19/2015
The only thing better than Ron Burgundy assembling the news team is the TQBR crew coming together to discuss a big fight. Since Cotto vs Canelo most assuredly qualifies as a big fight, we did that. Canelo Alvarez has been known to rehydrate to 170 lbs. by fight night. Will his size bother Miguel Cotto? […]
LAS VEGAS – JULY 26: Antonio Margarito (R) knocks down Miguel Cotto to win the WBA welterweight title fight by TKO in the 11th round at the MGM Grand Garden Arena July 26, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
0 comments by Sam Sheppard
Next to presidents and dressmakers on Oscar night, professional athletes form arguably the most scrutinised group on the planet. Boxing, as a niche sport with a passionate and partisan fanbase, is a magnet for aggressive hyperbole. Yet within such caustic surroundings, the extent to which professional fighters can manipulate our perceptions is often quite remarkable. […]
0 comments by Lou Catalano on 11/18/2015
When Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez face off Saturday night on HBO Pay-Per-View, it won’t be to decide who the pound-for-pound king is. That honor goes to a fella they call “Chocolatito,” Nicaraguan punching machine Roman Gonzalez. But there is something huge at stake — the title of biggest attraction. In the wake of Floyd […]
0 comments by Alex McClintock on 11/17/2015
Guess who ESPN Deportes have asked on as an analyst for Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs Miguel Cotto? That’s right, heinous cheater turned soccer mom/unlikely cult hero Antonio Margarito! I’m not sure if he’ll have any insight, but his hair looks great. In other news, this is the post where we preview the Cotto vs Canelo […]
0 comments by Andrew Ryan on 11/15/2015
Vulgarity makes an easy news story. Promoters have always known it. Insults, expletives and occasionally even racism and homophobia have long been go-to methods for convincing fans to spend. Media outlets, desperate for content to fill 24-hour channels and websites, have little choice but to play along. Yet for much of the boxing public, a […]
0 comments by Lou Catalano on 11/14/2015
If anybody was curious as to how the new pairing of Tim Bradley and trainer Teddy Atlas would go, they got an emphatic response in between rounds 7 and 8 last Saturday night. Bradley was cruising. His opponent, Brandon Rios, was merrily plodding face-first into pretty much every punch Bradley threw, and Bradley was well ahead […]
