Boxing Articles
Prizefighters, like soldiers go to war so we do not have to. We can live vicariously through their efforts. All of the excitement with none of the consequences. As we watch our servicemen liberate people in foreign lands, we may cheer patriotically from the “front line” of our local bar. We watch our fighters perform…
Born in November 1949, Larry Holmes keeps poking at George Foreman to draw him out. After his first fight, he went home with only sixty-three dollars, and now hopes to make twenty-million with Foreman. With eleven kids at home and his mother on welfare, Larry learned how to fight his way to the top. He…
As Boxing Turns Another Page Into the New Year. What has been a year of ups and downs and highs and lows, boxing nonetheless, has remained unstable, inconsistent, and yet exhilarating. For fighters and fans, so much has transpired this year: from stunning one-punch knockouts to major upsets from the most unexpected prospects. The complete…
In the aftermath of Glencoffe Johnson’s coronation as the king of the light heavyweights, the chairmen of the IBF and WBC will not be joining in the celebrations. The success of the promotion and the universal recognition of the bout as “the people’s championship” will not sit well with any of the four major governing…
Each being thirty-five years of age and both having sensationally knocked out former light heavyweight king Roy Jones Jr., Antonio Tarver and Glencoffe Johnson share honors even going into the fight that is rightfully recognized as the universally recognized fight for light heavyweight supremacy. Credit must be afforded to both fighters for alleviating themselves of…
Last weekend’s Ricky Hatton-Ray Oliveira bout at London’s ExCel Centre confirmed that the WBU champion’s steamrolling of Mike Stewart this past October was no fluke. Again the Manchester man showed a return to form that has created such a phenomenal following of dedicated fans. The unparalleled energy and pure strain of bad intent that were…
The sport of boxing in 2004 is a confusing place. Too many weight classes, too many titles within each class, organizations whose rankings are clearly incompetent, and too many great fights that are never made because of ‘politics’ (see also: ‘bullshit,’ ‘TV networks’ and ‘money’). These are just some of the problems that boxing is…
Whilst pondering over the potential outcome of Saturday’s match up between the world’s two best light heavyweights, I was again reminded that in boxing, more than in any other sport, the least likely of dreams come true. No matter what century, country or weight division, boxing finds a way to defy all usually reliable logic….
All it takes is one punch. It’s strange how certain victory can turn into devastating defeat in the blink of an eye. It doesn’t seem fair how the better man, the more talented fighter can be stretched out cold so suddenly. He could have been winning every minute of every round, it makes absolutely no…
It was this time last year that Ricky Hatton took his biggest test to date, a show down with Ghanaian hard man Ben “Wonder†Tackie. Hatton dominated the fight, looking aggressive and classy throughout. Hatton’s best performance against his toughest opponent, and then came those immortal words: “We’re going to go for Click for larger…
On March 3, Baby Joe Mesi fought with Vassiliy Jirov in Las Vegas. The fight went all Joe’s way until the final round. Joe pounded away taking almost every round in the fight, and in the last round, his head felt a crushing upper cut. Baby Joe took a couple of shots in the head…
Click for larger image© Mike Cleary After watching Miguel Cotto systematically picking apart the former WBO light welterweight champion, Randall Bailey, Ricky Hatton could be forgiven for thinking of what might have been. The Manchester fighter must have been thinking, “That should have been me.” I feel sure Ricky would have disposed of Bailey, but…