0 comments by Matthew Swain on 12/31/2019
The 1st and 12th rounds were the same, Tim Bradley in mortal danger, just about out on his feet, punching back with all his might. When the final bell rang, Ruslan Provodnikov dropped to his knees and pounded the mat in tears of rage, agony, lust, and joy. Minutes later, Bradley admitted to HBO’s Max […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 12/11/2017
The cult of Guillermo Rigondeaux is small, but as the term “cult” might suggest, it’s pretty devoted. It’s had to live underground with Rigo’s long career hibernation that dates back to 2013, the year of his one and only major win against Nonito Donaire, with only the occasional decent win since. If the cultists have […]
at StubHub Center on June 4, 2016 in Carson, California.
0 comments by Tim Starks on 12/30/2016
Crown him: Orlando Salido is THE boxing action hero of his time. From 2011 to 2016, he’s waged war in a whopping six Fight of the Year candidates. The workmanlike Mexican — he moonlights as an Uber driver — secretes grit. And no one alive gives a damn that his record is 43-14-4. When he […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 12/29/2016
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, 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 […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 12/28/2016
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, 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 […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 12/27/2016
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, 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 […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 11/27/2016
A super-exciting matchup we’d waited for forever turned into a mismatch followed by a quit job of epic proportions on HBO Saturday night, as Vasyl Lomachenko outclassed a toilet paper-soft Nicholas Walters to force Walters to give an actual “no mas.” This was honestly one of the best couple pairings that could be made in […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 11/26/2016
No matter how gifted you are, ultimately you will be judged by your opposition. In fact, the more talent you have, the more people will want you to be tested. There’s a reason that average kids who get B’s are lauded and intelligent kids who do the same are disappointments. People might give you the […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 10/7/2016
For all but the most devoted fans (i.e. people who need a life like me), only the top matters. If a fight isn’t for a belt or between contenders, they largely can’t be bothered to watch it. In some ways, this explains the proliferation of various nonsense alphabet straps over the last three decades. Convince […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 8/3/2016
For A.M. Life is a series of tragedies. The things we love have a habit of disappointing us in the same way that the people we love do. They’re simply not what we hope they are. Mostly they are best they can be, no matter how much we wish it was otherwise. Anytime this happens, […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 6/11/2016
Maaaaaaaybe Vasyl Lomachenko’s 130-pound debut went A-OK. On HBO Saturday night, he scored one of the best knockouts of 2016, taking out veteran contender Roman Martinez with a sensational uppercut-hook combo. Martinez went head-to-head with Orlando Salido twice, fought Juan Carlos Burgos, Diego Magdaleno, Ricky Burns and others and only lost by knockout one other […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 6/5/2016
We finally got a great fight in 2016. We were well overdue, and it was worth the wait. Francisco Vargas and Orlando Salido fought to a draw in the kind of bout where hardly anyone cared what the scorecards read: We witnessed, on HBO Saturday night, the best the sport has to offer. Two men […]
0 comments by Alex McClintock on 6/2/2016
If you’re a boxing fan you know where it’s at this weekend: Francisco Vargas vs Orlando Salido on HBO. Everything else seems a little underwhelming by comparison. Francisco Vargas vs Orlando Salido, Saturday, HBO, Carson Calif. In what seems to be a surefire fight of the year candidate, rugged Mexican junior lightweight Vargas takes on […]
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 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 […]
