Well. It turns out Floyd Mayweather has not lost a step after all. I was under the mistaken impression that Floyd Mayweather had lost a step—a tiny step, at least. After extensive review, however, we can now say that, as of the early morning hours of this past Sunday, Floyd Mayweather has not lost much of anything.
Time To Kill Boxing's Post-Fight Interview
On Saturday night, Tim Bradley, one of the world's best welterweights, fought Ruslan Provodnikov on HBO. Bradley, who has become a champion boxer mostly by possessing a will that has never broken, took heavy punishment, but won the fight by decision, despite being knocked down in the final 10 seconds. After the fight, …
"What Do You Want Me To Say?": A Day In The Publicity Machine With…
Adrien "The Problem" Broner—23 years old, 135 pounds, undefeated, and one of the five or so best boxers in the world today—rolled into the lobby of 1221 Avenue of the Americas just before 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, along with two coaches, his friend, his large, superfluous security man, and a harried-looking PR woman from…
Boxing's Great White Hope Problem; Or, Why The Fuck Was Mike Lee In A…
During last night's Super Bowl, one professional boxer appeared in a commercial. It was not Floyd Mayweather, and it was not Manny Pacquiao, though they are the two highest-earning athletes in all of sports. It was not any champion of any weight division at all. It was Mike Lee, a mediocre light heavyweight with only…
Cotto-Trout: The Sentimental Narrative Gets Its Lip Busted
Salvador Sanchez was a great Mexican featherweight boxer who ran up a 44-1 record and won a featherweight title shortly before dying in a car crash in 1982, at the age of 23. Salvador Sanchez II is a Mexican featherweight boxer. The meaningful resemblances end there. The superficial resemblances continue: Sanchez II,…
Meet Boxing's Next Big Thing: Adrien Broner, The Problem That Cannot Be …
Saturday night, Adrien "The Problem" Broner knocked out Antonio DeMarco in the eighth round, on HBO, after thoroughly beating his ass. If you don't watch much boxing, you may be unaware that Adrien Broner, at 23 years old, is boxing's Next Big Thing, not in the sense of The Next Big Overhyped Flavor of the Moment, but…
How Judges Score A Boxing Match (And How Manny Pacquiao Got Screwed)
Manny Pacquiao got beaten by ghosts Saturday night. That's what boxing judges are. They are not necessarily former fighters, or coaches, or other knowledgeable figures. They are not necessarily anything. They are people chosen by opaque and obscure boxing commissions to decide the outcome of fights based on little more …
Better Dirty Than Humbled: The Lights Go Down On The Bernard Hopkins…
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.—For years, Bernard Hopkins has entered the ring for each of his fights wearing a black balaclava, only his eyes visible, arms crossed overhead in an "X" to signify his nickname, "The Executioner." Outside the ring, he's a chatty bald man with a flattened nose and kindly eyes, now given, at his advanced…
When Irish Eyes Are Swollen: How Sergio Martinez Beat Matthew Macklin…
Reputations are hard to earn. And they're hard to keep. They come with benefits. But they can also hang on a fighter like a chain, an extra burden in a sport that's hard enough as it is. Reputations can't be carried throughout a fight. They must be shed like a robe and donned again when the fight is over. During the…
No One Knows Exactly How Boxing Broke Ken Norton's Brain
LAS VEGAS—Ken Norton never fell down in 39 rounds of professional boxing with Muhammad Ali. But Ken Norton did fall down on Jan. 23, 2012, while posing for a picture after a press conference at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. I saw it happen. Ken Norton, the esteemed special guest at the press…
