0 comments by Tim Starks on 1/4/2019
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 […]
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN – OCTOBER 07: Champion Naoya Inoue (L) of Japan knocks down challenger Juan Carlos Payano (R) of the Dominican Republic during the WBA bantamweight title bout as a part of the WBC Light Flyweight title bout at Yokohama Arena on October 7, 2018 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. (Photo by Koki Nagahama/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 1/2/2019
Every year there are thousands of knockouts in boxing. They run the gamut from questionable to mundane (how is that possible?) to spectacular. To be knockout of the year, though, it has to be spectacular, and if it’s in a big fight, so much the better. Viewers feel that charge of anticipation on the biggest […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 1/1/2019
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 […]
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 […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 9/22/2017
There is an entire industry in America built around the concept of self esteem — how to build it, how to hold on to it, and how not to let it swell to the point that people start disliking you. It’s an odd concept to me. I’d rather people just be honest, but when given […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 9/9/2017
The Roman Gonzalez era of boxing is now definitively over. In a night of super flyweight bouts on HBO, the recently deposed and long-ruling pound-for-pound king got knocked out by Srikaset Sor Rungvisai, in a rematch of a hotly disputed decision. It was a Saturday evening that shined a spotlight on the depth and excitement […]
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 12/23/2016
We’ve only got one week boxing left in 2016, and only one fight of note this weekend. So let’s gather up one large stone, and pelt a couple birds with it, crushing them brutally beneath it with one monumental feather-and-blood-spurting boulder. Naoya Inoue vs Kohei Kono, next Friday, Tokyo. The Japanese really do love packing […]
LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 19: (L-R) Andre Ward lands a left to the head of Sergey Kovalev of Russia during their light heavyweight title bout at T-Mobile Arena on November 19, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matt Sloan on 12/22/2016
“There are all kinds of stupid people that annoy me but what annoys me most is a lazy argument.” – Christopher Hitchens As we come limping into the homestretch of an ache-infested 2016, our collective sensibilities steel for the usual merry parade of the end-of-year annoyances and mediocrities: the passing endearment of holiday cards, the government […]
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 Tim Starks on 8/30/2016
Welcome to the boxing schedule. Sorry we missed ya last week. Naoya Inoue vs Petchbarngborn Kokietgym, Sunday, Zama Japan. The ultra-talented junior bantamweight Inoue has his third straight “meh” fight since a spectacular 2014 campaign, but at least he’s fighting. It wouldn’t be nearly as frustrating except an appetizing match-up with Roman Gonzalez continued to evade us. […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 8/26/2016
The end of summer is an odd time of year. For millions of Americans, it means the return of football. For millions of students, it means the return of school. Most of us while away in the heat, waiting for summer to be over so we can return to being productive. The time tends to […]
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 4/23/2016
On another night, we’d be talking about how McWilliams Arroyo turned into a terrific performance to beat Flyweight X. Instead, Arroyo’s terrific performance served only as a backdrop to the greatness of Roman Gonzalez. On HBO Saturday, Arroyo ended Gonzalez’s 10-fight knockout streak with intelligent movement and sharp left hooks that had him as good […]
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 […]
