A Very Unmanly Night Of Boxing

At Madison Square Garden tonight, Muhammad Ali will be in the house, and the IBF heavyweight title is on the line. There was a time when that would've meant something. Tonight, however, Muhammad's only there to support his daughter, and the guy who's challenging for the world heavyweight title would rather be stepping his little heart out in a Broadway tap dance show.

Yeah, Calvin Brock's a tap dancer. Through the week, he prances around in size-14 tap shoes, and it's his dream to perform on a tap show on Broadway. His opponent tonight is the currently IBF heavyweight champ, Vladimir Klitschko, probably the world's most well-known and respected heavyweight, despite his reputation for having a glass jaw. Brock will attempt to hit Klitschko with a shim sham shimmy tonight, and while he's an underdog, it's not overwhelmingly so.

That's where we are. The glass-jawed world heavyweight champion is in danger of losing tonight to a tap dancer. And both of them could be upstaged by the presence of a female fighter on the undercard, and the presence of her legendary father.

There Is No Dancing Around This Point: Brock Wants a Title [New York Times] Ali vs. HBO a real mismatch [Daily News]