0 comments by Ryan Agius on 4/9/2016
Somewhere it is written that sons will suffer the sins of their fathers. And I don’t think anything reflects the wisdom of the ages better than the sport of boxing. In this, I’m not saying anything particularly new. Just read Mark Kriegel’s excellent sports bios and his most germane to the sport of boxing, “The […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 4/8/2016
Make a checklist of the elements of a great fight, and out of context, Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley sounds terrific. Both have delivered their fair share of blistering action. They’re the two best welterweights in the world, which means when they meet they’ll crown a new, authentic champion — and give Pacquiao a chance to […]
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 05: Sadam Ali falls to the mat after taking a punch from Jessie Vargas in their vacant WBO welterweight title match at the DC Armory on March 5, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
0 comments by Tim Starks on 3/6/2016
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Let’s do something we don’t do often around these parts. Let’s ask you to set aside the truth of the matter about HBO’s main event Saturday night, which is that it was lackluster matchmaking that wasn’t really worthy of main event status on even a lesser network. Acknowledge the dark truth of it, […]
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 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 […]
LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 21: Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez embrace after their middleweight fight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on November 21, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Alvarez won by unanimous decision. (Photo by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images)
0 comments by Tim Starks
Happy New Year. Here’s a last bit of sweeping up after 2015 — a year-end pound-for-pound list of the best boxers alive, regardless of weight. This entry brings just one exit (Miguel Cotto) and one entry (Tyson Fury) since last time, but some shaking up of things here and there. The heavyweight and middleweight championships […]
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 […]
WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley Jr. connects on Brandon Rios during their title fight at the Thomas & Mack Center on November 7, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 11/13/2015
“Talk to me son,” bellowed referee Russell Mora after Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios had received a third low blow In the space of two minutes. “Let’s go baby!” came the defiant response from a man who seemed almost to be drawing energy from his opponent’s attempts to foul. Although his body would sag with each […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 11/8/2015
Boxing watchers tend to see too much of one side or the other when a fighter looks good and his opponent looks bad. Both sides were in exhibition in roughly even — and extreme — measure Saturday on HBO when a nimble, disciplined Timothy Bradley, newly under the tutelage of Teddy Atlas, surprisingly stopped the […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 10/14/2015
It was a squeaker, one way or the other, Wednesday’s main event on ESPN — but the “house” fighter hardly ever loses that kind, and that’s just what happened when the one-dimensional yet tough Aaron Martinez decisioned a fast-fading Devon Alexander. It was an ugly welterweight match-up; Alexander held relentlessly, underdog Martinez smashed his noggin into […]
OAKLAND, CA – JUNE 20: Andre Ward celebrates after beating Paul Smith in the eighth round during their Cruiserweight fight at ORACLE Arena on June 20, 2015 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Alexis Cuarezma/Getty Images)
0 comments by Tim Starks on 8/9/2015
(Andre Ward after beating Paul Smith on June 20; Alexis Cuarezma/Getty Images) Activity. Inactivity. They can have an effect on who deserves to be ranked among the best fighters in the world, regardless of weight. This month’s update brings the return of a fighter long off the scene, and the departure of two fighters who haven’t fought […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 7/5/2015
There are some snazzy match-ups in the works right about now, one of which is one of the biggest fights that can happen in boxing anywhere. There are, per usual, some bouts that are falling to the wayside. Not all dance partners are so eager sometimes. Here’s just what’s been in the news for the past week: […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 6/28/2015
Fans watching Timothy Bradley vs Jessie Vargas Saturday on HBO couldn’t be blamed for thinking Vargas had won by 12th round technical knockout. Referees Pat Russell waved off the fight as if Vargas had halted Bradley, thanks to a big right hand and sustained Vargas assault. Vargas himself was convinced, and, same with the fans, […]
0 comments by Lou Catalano on 6/24/2015
Timothy Bradley, who fights this Saturday on HBO, is not a big puncher. That’s probably being kind. Of his 31 wins, “Desert Storm” has scored 12 of them by stoppage, good for a knockout percentage of 35 percent. At the top level, that’s just not very good, which makes his record more remarkable when you […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 4/30/2015
When you work with explosives the worst moment is just after you pop smoke. Did I get the time fuse right? Did I use the right amount of C4? Did I crimp the blasting cap tightly enough? Will it go off too soon? Will it go off at all? Then you relax just a little. […]
