tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43752288576484141102024-03-13T12:19:58.613-07:00Undercarda blog about boxing in the mediadon steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00777699980832605681noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-20379014036860309292011-11-18T09:30:00.000-08:002011-11-18T09:35:27.137-08:00Is This the End For Peter Manfredo Jr.?Ron Borges has an extended look at Peter Manfredo Jr. ahead of his fight this Saturday against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., a fight that might be the last one for Manfredo before he retires.<br /><br />"Manfredo, like Khan-Clary, was once a promising amateur, but that was a dozen years ago, back before his face had taken enough shots to rearrange it and long before he understood why they call boxing the hurt business.<br /><br />"Now he’s on the other end of it, a fighter with one last opportunity in a career that’s running out of them. As he ages, The Boxer becomes one of two things. He becomes deluded or a realist. Peter Manfredo Jr. is not delusional."<br /><br /><a href="http://bostonherald.com/sports/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1381850&format=text">Aging Peter Manfredo goes after Julio Chavez Jr.’s belt / The boxer gets one last title shot</a> (Boston Herald)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-39271445015547547422011-11-17T13:53:00.001-08:002011-11-17T13:57:50.163-08:00A Darn-Good Dozen: Barrera, Marquez, Morales and PacquiaoCliff Rold looks back over the past dozen or so years at the dozen fights that have come between Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.boxingscene.com/twelve-yearstwelve-fights-ranking-boxing-rivalry--46095">"Twelve Years... Twelve Fights: Ranking a Boxing Rivalry"</a> (BoxingScene.com)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-73879257393557253922011-11-15T07:01:00.000-08:002011-11-15T08:38:22.185-08:00Pacquiao-Marquez III: Clash Creates Controversy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga781nGqqHp-5T5w9pSgpss0LuVuFiUD337JZ_v8_TYjJOh34XAKYUfHF4JGd8UKYYjWqpLs791purF2r76bJQ3Gn3WgDYEooh6q4tPe5GRXhyphenhyphenOrR2HuVfbbgfWJj6OyPNoxoeTl7QKG8/s1600/Latest+Pacquiao+Marquez+3+Photo.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 370px; height: 251px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga781nGqqHp-5T5w9pSgpss0LuVuFiUD337JZ_v8_TYjJOh34XAKYUfHF4JGd8UKYYjWqpLs791purF2r76bJQ3Gn3WgDYEooh6q4tPe5GRXhyphenhyphenOrR2HuVfbbgfWJj6OyPNoxoeTl7QKG8/s1600/Latest+Pacquiao+Marquez+3+Photo.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The third bout between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez was the kind of fight that had everyone talking beforehand and everyone talking afterward. Let us get everyone talking, then, with writers supplying a form of oral history:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cleveland.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/11/manny_pacquiao_presses_his_way.html">Joe Maxse, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer:</a> The judges have spoken, but not many in the crowd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday night wanted to hear what they had to say.<br /><br /><a href="http://thesweetscience.com/news/articles/13621-borges-marquez-deserves-fourth-fight">Ron Borges, The Sweet Science:</a> After Glenn Trowbridge and Dave Moretti concluded Pacquiao had defeated his arch nemesis, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Robert Hoyle saw it as no better than a second draw in three meetings between them, the sold out crowd of 16,383 began to boo lustily, reaching a crescendo that drowned out Pacquiao’s post-fight words until he finally left the ring with a sad look of embarrassment on on his face.<br /><br /><a href="http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/7229793/five-things-learned-card">Kieran Mulvaney, ESPN.com:</a> There were times on Saturday when Pacquiao looked befuddled, as though he had forgotten everything that trainer Freddie Roach taught him. For all the talk that Pacquiao was the much-improved fighter, it looked on occasion as though Marquez was the one who had adapted better. <a name='more'></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/14/2500862/never-easy-for-pacquiao-against.html#ixzz1dn6p43D9">Santos A. Perez, Miami Herald: </a>Manny Pacquiao may have overwhelmed larger foes during the past three years, but familiar nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez remains the proverbial thorn inside his shoe. Not given favorable odds to win, Marquez was on the verge of finally defeating Pacquiao in Marquez’s third bout against Pacquiao late Saturday in Las Vegas. Marquez adeptly counterpunched and landed crisp lead shots that may have finally been sufficient to defeat Pacquiao after two previous unsuccessful tries.<br /><br /><a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1192139/1/index.htm">Bryan Armen Graham, Sports Illustrated:</a> Marquez (53-6-1, 39 KOs), a 7-to-1 underdog who'd appeared vastly out of his depth in his only previous fight above lightweight, looked better than anyone expected from the opening bell, staying away from Pacquiao's power in the early rounds and peppering him with well-timed counterpunches. The Filipino champion had trouble getting inside and landing shots, finding his hyperkinetic flurries thwarted regardless of his tack or pace. Marquez even managed to rock Pacquiao several times, most notably by gigantic right hands in the fourth, fifth and seventh. <br /><br />During those the middle rounds Pacquiao was as apprehensive as he's looked in years, wary of the counters, as confounded by the Marquez riddle as he was when they met at featherweight in 2004 and super featherweight in '08. (They fought Saturday at a catchweight of 144, or 14 pounds above their most recent fight.) He was doing enough to bank a few rounds and keep the Mexican challenger from running out too far ahead, but it was clear the more disciplined Marquez was in control. After nine rounds, the fight was there for Marquez to take.<br /><br />And then he took his foot off the gas.<br /><br /><a href=" http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=45974#ixzz1dnAbwFDx">Jake Donovan, BoxingScene.com:</a>Then came the 12th and final round, where Marquez did anything but seal the deal. Of all points in the fight where he could’ve slowed down, he chose to pick the point where the fight was very much on the table on at least two of the three judges’ scorecards. Pacquiao was the much busier of the two, even if not very many punches were scoring. Enough left hands did score, however, for Pacquiao to take the frame on two of the three judges’ scorecards.<br /><br /><a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/chris_mannix/11/14/pacquiao-marquez/index.html#ixzz1dmqoTtqG">Chris Mannix, Sports Illustrated:</a> What Marquez proved is that if you are a brilliant counterpuncher, if you have excellent footwork and if you come into the ring without the slightest trace of fear of Pacquiao, you can beat him. Think about it: Pacquiao and Marquez have fought 36 rounds now and, with the exception of one or two, every one of them has been close. History will officially record that Pacquiao won two of those three fights but many will say that Marquez deserved to win all three of them.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.boxingscene.com/fighting-words-rivalry-without-resolution--45998">David P. Greisman, BoxingScene.com:</a> It's impossible to settle a score when the scores don't settle anything.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-87446320236942815712011-11-08T16:47:00.000-08:002011-11-08T17:30:38.044-08:00In Memoriam: Smokin' Joe Frazier<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tc7Kx468fiY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />Where there was Smokin' Joe, there were rumbles and thrillas. There were his three Fighter of the Year awards from the Boxing Writers Association of America (1969, 1971 and 1975). There is the name of the "Fight of the Year" award that the BWAA bestows each year, an award named after his legendary heavyweight trilogy with Muhammad Ali.<br /><br />Ali was the Greatest of All Time, and Frazier was there with him, two greats who made each each other greater, two men who pushed the other to the limit, then pushed themselves even further.<br /><br />We lost a great one on Monday, Nov. 7. Joe Frazier had been diagnosed barely more than a month ago with liver cancer. He was 67.<br /><br />His greatness had been known in these decades since, paid tribute to in articles, in books and documentaries. We want to hold onto the great ones for as long as we can. He is gone too soon.<br /><br /><a href="http://espn.go.com/new-york/story/_/id/7206956/smokin-joe-frazier-philly-fighter-was-legend-new-york">Wally Matthews, writing for ESPN New York:</a> <br /><br /><blockquote>Smokin' Joe Frazier became a fighter in Philadelphia and a legend in New York.<br /><br />He did it on one magical night: March 8, 1971, when Frazier turned in what was arguably the greatest athletic performance ever seen under the gaudy ceiling of Madison Square Garden 4.0, and what was among the top five performances ever by a heavyweight champion in the history of our oldest and most demanding sport.<br /><br />Willis Reed's entrance in Game 6 of the 1970 NBA Finals might have rivaled it for drama, and some might say Michael Jordan's 55-point game against the Knicks in 1995 matched it for skill, but no athlete has ever owned the big room the way Frazier did the night he won that epic first battle with Muhammad Ali, the one that was so big it was billed simply as "The Fight."<br /><br />He did it with a body too short and arms too stumpy for a heavyweight, with a style that demanded that he eat two shots for every one he landed, and against a man who was really not a fighter but an exquisitely proportioned and coordinated ballet dancer who happened to carry a brick in each fist.<br /><br />Frazier was unforgettable that night, giving so much of himself that he spent the next month in a hospital, and for a time there were serious concerns that he might die. He was dangerously dehydrated and his kidneys were shutting down. His blood pressure soared. At the time, no one outside his circle knew that for most of his career, Frazier was an insulin-dependent diabetic.<br /><br />All the world knew was that few men had ever paid a higher price in the single-minded pursuit of victory than Frazier did that night.</blockquote><br /><br />"Frazier, both his eyes nearly swollen shut, was not allowed to come out for the final round by trainer Eddie Futch, who told him, 'Son, no one will forget what you did here today.' And no one did - not then, not now, probably not for as long as two determined, courageous men test their wills and their skills in a roped-off swatch of canvas while wearing padded gloves." ~ <a href=" http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/133418468.html#ixzz1dAPI7APk">Bernard Fernandez, Philadelphia Daily News</a><br /><br />"In the ring he was the epitome of a warrior. He was simply fearless. He fought every minute of every round in his career, always coming forward, always applying pressure, his left hook ready - and able - to dispatch of anyone in his path." ~ <a href="http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/throughthearch/entries/2011/11/08/remembering_a_night_with_joe_f.html">Tom Archdeacon, Dayton Daily News</a><br /><br />"They fought three times, twice in the heart of New York City and once in the morning in a steamy arena in the Thrilla in Manila in the Philippines. They went 41 rounds together. Neither gave an inch and both gave it their all. In their last fight in Manila in 1975, they traded punches with a fervor that seemed unimaginable among heavyweights. Frazier gave almost as good as he got for 14 rounds, then had to be held back by trainer Eddie Futch as he tried to go out for the final round, unable to see." ~ <a href="http://www.ajc.com/sports/boxing-great-joe-frazier-1219809.html">Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press</a><br /><br />"That neighborhood is in the City of Brotherly Love, his home since he was 15, and a place that he is synonymous with. So if you’re a fighter from Philadelphia, that’s the legacy you need to live up to. You can’t quit, you can’t give an inch, and you can’t back down. You fight until you just can’t fight anymore. That’s a Philly fighter, and that’s Joe Frazier." ~ <a href="http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=45805#ixzz1dAQdH8d0">Thomas Gerbasi, BoxingScene.com</a><br /><br />"His final record stands at 32-4-1 with 27 KOs. But wins and losses are besides the point when you ponder Frazier's legacy. His determination, his burning desire to go forward, to leave every ounce of what he had to give in the ring, placed him in the top 1 percent of any boxer, in any era." ~ <a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/boxing/post/_/id/384/joe-frazier-was-as-relentless-as-they-come">Michael Woods, ESPN New York</a><br /><br />"Some people mean more together than they do apart, whatever the stage. Churchill and Hitler. Bogart and Bacall. Ali and Frazier. And for all the deserved accolades for Muhammad Ali, I’ve always believed that each at his best, Joe Frazier, who died Monday night at age 67, was the better fighter. And the better man." ~ <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/sports/joe-frazier-a-champion-who-won-inside-the-ring-and-out.html?_r=1">Dave Anderson, The New York Times</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.thesweetscience.com/news/articles/13564-a-moment-with-joe-frazier-2008hauser">Thomas Hauser of TheSweetScience.com</a> recalls a visit Joe Frazier made to press row in 2008.<br /><br /><a href="http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/7207505/celebrating-trilogies-muhammad-ali-joe-frazier">Kieran Mulvaney of ESPN.com</a> looks back at the Ali-Frazier trilogy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-15734634733212898412011-09-20T12:12:00.000-07:002011-09-20T18:24:43.973-07:00Who to blame for Mayweather KO4 Ortiz<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thefightnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Mayweather.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 396px; height: 269px;" src="http://www.thefightnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Mayweather.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.cleveland.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/09/victor_ortiz_caught_off-guard.html">Joe Maxse, Cleveland Plain Dealer</a>:</span> "Ortiz and his camp called them 'sucker punches,' but after butting Mayweather on purpose three times, with referee Joe Cortez taking a point away after the third violation, Ortiz should not have reverted to Mr. Nice Guy against a wounded opponent."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.thesweetscience.com/news/articles-frontpage/13290-a-note-on-mayweather-ortizhauser">Thomas Hauser, The Sweet Science</a>:</span> "Legal or illegal, it was a sucker punch. ... Also, one can argue that, when Ortiz took the fight into the gutter with a flagrant foul, he was inviting an equally unsportsmanlike response. And let’s be honest. If the reverse had happened; if Mayweather had deliberately head-butted Ortiz and Victor responded with a sucker-punch knockout, many people would be saying today that Floyd got what he deserved."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://ringtv.craveonline.com/blog/169238-fighters-referees-writers-react-to-mayweather-ortiz-controversy">Mike Coppinger, BoxingScene (via RingTV.com)</a>:</span> "Victor Ortiz took the fight to the streets, and Floyd Mayweather finished it in the streets. That headbutt was one of the most egregious fouls I've seen in a long time, and Floyd's supposed to be happy about it?"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.thesweetscience.com/news/articles/13286-neither-firm-nor-fair-he-was-flawedjoe-cortez-deserves-most-blame-for-crazy-endingwoods">Michael Woods, The Sweet Science</a>: </span>"If we're parceling out blame, Cortez has to receive the lion's share, because he is there to keep order. When in the fog of war, when emotions boil over during a stressful time, the ref has to be the voice of reason, the person to keep order. Cortez didn't. He was neither firm, nor fair, he was flawed."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/other_sports/boxing/view/2011_0918headlinegoes/srvc=home&position=also">Ron Borges, Boston Herald</a>:</span> "The heavily pro-Ortiz crowd booed, but their man had gotten what he asked for and what he deserved. He tried to make it a street fight and when it turned into one it didn’t last for long."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://ringtv.craveonline.com/blog/169230-dougies-massive-monday-mayweather-mailbag">Doug Fischer, RingTV.com</a>:</span> "...both fighters behaved unprofessionally and the manner in which the fight ended was bad for the sport."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://thechronicleherald.ca/Sports/1263882.html">Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press</a>:</span> "If Mayweather deserves criticism it’s probably not for the two punches that ended the fight prematurely. He didn’t need to berate HBO’s Larry Merchant in the post-fight interview in the ring, which the 80-year-old responded to by saying he would beat up Mayweather himself if he was 50 years younger. And he didn’t need to press his claim that Pacquiao uses steroids when there is no evidence to indicate Pacquiao does anything other than train well and fight even better."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2011/09/19/2011-09-19_ortiz_learned_lesson_against_floyd_no_butts_about_it.html#ixzz1YWTdGrdK">Tim Smith, New York Daily News</a>:</span> "But the real sucker in this was Ortiz, who should have realized you can't deliberately foul someone and a few seconds later think they're going to bring you a bouquet of roses. Not in boxing."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/boxing/floyd_needs_no_apology_5WetNrp2VgyOATyaPYraNO#ixzz1YWTr0qaH">George Willis, New York Post</a>:</span> "Ortiz went overboard in seeking forgiveness. He first kissed Mayweather on the cheek and then was slow to defend himself after referee Joe Cortez let the two fighters engage after taking the point away."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.mlive.com/mayweather/index.ssf/2011/09/floyd_mayweather_scores_fourth.html">David Mayo, The Grand Rapids Press:</a></span> "Maybe Victor Ortiz should’ve played within the rules, because the one thing he said Floyd Mayweather was, in pre-fight build-up, was a dirty fighter. The way Mayweather dealt with Ortiz’s own dirty tactics showed, at least, that he knows how to deal with them."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/bryan_armen_graham/09/18/floyd.mayweather.victor.ortiz/index.html#ixzz1YWV3K3sJ">Bryan Armen Graham, Sports Illustrated</a>:</span> "Always protect yourself. It's the first rule of boxing. And one that Victor Ortiz picked the wrong time to forget Saturday against Floyd Mayweather."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dwyre-mayweather-ortiz-20110918,0,763625.column">Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times</a>:</span> "The fight was over. What Mayweather had done was basically legal. The fight was back on and the niceties were over. Mayweather was the more experienced fighter. He has lived through the wars and knew that when there is an advantage, you take it."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=43981#ixzz1YWYbLQTZ">Ryan Maquinana, BoxingScene.com:</a></span> "Well, let’s get two things straight. The two punches were legal, and Victor Ortiz has only himself to blame for being unprepared for them, regardless of Joe Cortez’s best efforts to ruin another televised fight by turning a blind eye to the action. ... But in the whole grand scheme of things, Mayweather robbed himself of a chance to really silence his detractors on Saturday. Rather than leaving no doubt by dominating Ortiz without controversy, he opened himself up for criticism and debate from the general public about whether or not what he did was ethical."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-4590176642226279272011-07-23T10:17:00.000-07:002011-07-23T10:28:21.531-07:00Khan-Judah: Chin It to Win It?Will we see one of these moments unfold in Khan-Judah?<br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/shUqYIkMXu0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aCaHM1d727E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-6335851515175648642011-07-08T14:31:00.000-07:002011-07-08T20:49:45.824-07:00Remembering George Kimball<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images/20110707/a905cf_kimball7711.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 315px; height: 275px;" src="http://multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images/20110707/a905cf_kimball7711.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><span style="font-style:italic;">Image credit: Boston Herald</span><br /><br />The most renowned fight scribes earn that status, their staying power a product of dedication to the sport and the written word and the desire and ability to reach readers over the generations.<br /><br />The boxing world lost one of its more renowned scribes this week. George Kimball passed away from cancer at the age of 67, dying after a battle that dated back to 2005.<br /><br />"Many people engage in a flurry of activity when they’re in their sixties to make up for time lost when they were young," writes Thomas Hauser, memorializing Kimball for The Sweet Science. "George was determined to make up for time that he knew he would lose at the end.<br /><br />"Over the next six years, George was living, not dying. He was as content and productive as most people are at any time in their lives.<br /><br />"He added to his legacy as a writer by authoring Four Kings (the definitive work on the round-robin fights among Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, and Roberto Duran). That was followed by Manly Art (a collection of George’s own columns about the sweet science). He also edited two anthologies with John Schulian (At the Fights: American Writers on Boxing and The Fighter Still Remains: A Celebration of Boxing in Poetry and Song)."<br /><br />Hauser's memorial includes an article he wrote about Kimball in 2004. It can be <a href="http://www.thesweetscience.com/news/articles-frontpage/12903-george-kimball-1943-2011">found here</a>.<br /><br />Kimball's longtime newspaper, Boston Herald, <a href="http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/columnists/view/2011_0708george_kimball_fought_to_give_voice_to_boxing_former_herald_columnist_67_dies/srvc=home&position=5">ran this memorial</a>. Here's an excerpt:<br /><br />"The Herald meant more to him than he ever let on, especially to his employers and superiors. George was a columnist here from 1980 to 2005, a quarter of a century. Here is where he made the transition from Angry Young to Grand Old. Here is where he got to have the most fun there is, being a big-city tabloid sports columnist. Here is where he found professional true love No. 2: boxing writing.<br /><br />"He expressed his gratitude by trying to make reading as enjoyable as he found writing. A series of shared misadventures — too long for newspaper space allows me to state — illustrates that one of George’s dominant personality traits was a love of mischief. That’s a very good attribute for sportswriters, and a better one for their readers."<br /><br />At the Boston Globe, columnist Bob Ryan <a href="http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/bob_ryan_blog/2011/07/george_kimball.html">penned this tribute to Kimball</a>. Among the highlights:<br /><br />"Long before he began treating Boston readers to his musings, he was a published novelist and contributor to many diverse "literary" publications having nothing to do with sports.<br /><br />"You can look all this stuff up.<br /><br />"But the reason why so many of us will miss George Kimball is, shall we say, his off-the-field self. If one were to conduct a poll of local writers, broadcasters, team officials and even players who have worked in Boston during the last 35 years or so, the question being, "Who is the most absolutely memorable personality you have encountered in the writing business?" the runaway winner --- perhaps even the unanimous choice --- would have to be George Kimball.<br /><br />"That is, unless you know of some other bearded, one-eyed, chain-smoking, beer drinking, pot-bellied (I say this lovingly) vegetarian writer friend of Hunter S. Thompson who never saw a party he didn't like."<br /><br />Rest in peace, George.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-33443526314061097222011-07-07T07:06:00.001-07:002011-07-07T13:42:32.770-07:00In the Arena<object width="416" height="374" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" id="ep"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="movie" value="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=bestoftv/2011/07/06/arena.spitzer.signs.off.cnn"><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"><embed src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=bestoftv/2011/07/06/arena.spitzer.signs.off.cnn" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="416" wmode="transparent" height="374"></embed></object><br />Maybe you never watched Eliot Spitzer's news/talk show on CNN. Maybe that's one reason why it's just been canceled. But Spitzer did leave with a farewell quote from Teddy Roosevelt that I think all of us boxing writers would be smart to keep in mind. Here's a snippet of the sign-off:<div><br /><blockquote>SPITZER: That's it for tonight. This is my last program. And I thought the best way to sign off is with a quotation from Theodore Roosevelt. It is, in fact, the passage from which we took the title of the program "IN THE ARENA."<br /><br />Here it is: It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood which strives valiantly, who errs, who comes up short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming, who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.<br /><br />Thanks for watching. Good night from New York.</blockquote></div>don steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00777699980832605681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-44815023868298613812011-07-01T08:26:00.000-07:002011-07-02T08:56:20.362-07:00Klitschko-Haye: The Buzz Before The Big One<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://fightnews.com/wp-content/uploads/klitschkolondon.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 200px;" src="http://fightnews.com/wp-content/uploads/klitschkolondon.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />Image from fightnews.com</span><br /><br />This is the big one. This is not just a fight between two of the three best heavyweights in the world. This is not just a fight that has been talked about for years. <br /><br />This is the big one, the biggest fight that can be made that doesn't involve taking some guy named Manny Pacquiao and getting him in the ring with some guy named Floyd Mayweather Jr.<br /><br />Wladimir Klitschko's fight with David Haye is Saturday afternoon (evening in Germany, where the fight is being held). This is the big one. And with the big-fight feel comes that big-fight buzz. We want to see what's going to happen. We don't know what's going to happen. We say we know what the result will be, and we argue why that will be the case. But we don't know, and that is why we tune in. And we will definitely tune in.<br /><br />This, after all, is the big one.<br /><br />This is a fight between a Ukrainian and a Brit, taking place in Germany. This is a Klitschko fight being shown on HBO, once commonplace, now a rarity. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2011/07/01/2011-07-01_hayemaker_in_ring_is_klitschkos_goal.html">Tim Smith of the New York Daily News looks at the situation</a>:<br /><br />"He [Klitschko] is already a megastar in Germany and Eastern Europe. His last five fights have been in Germany before sellout crowds and massive TV audiences (13 million people tuned in to see him beat Sam Peter in his last fight). He has endorsement deals with Hugo Boss and Mercedes. His face graces the covers of national magazines. His fight with Haye has been front-page news here for the past week.<br /><br />"But Klitschko is an invisible man in America. He hasn't fought in the U.S. since a lackluster performance against Sultan Ibragimov at Madison Square Garden in 2008. He wants to return to the U.S. to wipe out the stench of that fight and could do it with a match against Chris Arreola if he can get past Haye Saturday."<br /><br />Those are the larger stakes for Klitschko. The fight itself is much more immediate. Gabriel Montoya of MaxBoxing.com <a href="http://www.secondsout.com/news?ccs=1611&cs=1620870">sets the table, giving the storyline on David Haye's end</a>:<br /><br />"For two years, David Haye has been talking about taking out a Klitschko, telling everyone and anyone that he can beat both brothers, even signing to fight them before pulling out of the fight (at the time, Haye cited an injury) because his promoter at Setanta Sports was having financial issues. For two years, after printing T-shirts of the brothers – both decapitated - and saying he would rid the boxing world of the boredom that is a Klitschko fight, the moment has finally arrived. Though many will take the 'I’ll believe it when the bell rings' approach, on July 2, David Haye finally will attempt in the ring what he has been trying to do in the press when he squares off against Wladimir Klitschko in the Imtech-Arena, Altona, Hamburg, Germany."<br /><br />Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated believes a Haye win, which would end Klitschko's long reign, <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/chris_mannix/07/01/haye-klitschko/">would be a good thing for boxing</a>.<br /><br />"The Klitschko Era has been impressive, but not always entertaining. Wladimir has tried to endear himself to America. He splits time between Miami and Los Angeles, has dated an American actress (Hayden Panetierre) and isn't averse to enjoying the night life. But his stoic demeanor and consonant-heavy name haven't sold many tickets and don't have casual fans looking for HBO.<br /><br />"Haye could. He claims he will retire at the end of this year, but the potential embarrassment of riches that await him in the U.S. could change that. Haye could reboot the division and storm through the contenders in the States. Haye-[Chris] Arreola is a good fight. Haye-Tomasz Adamek, the Polish-born ex-cruiserweight champion who fights out of New Jersey, is another. Haye would have the full-throated support of HBO, which would jump at the chance to give another [Floyd] Mayweather-like personality a platform, and of a public starved to anoint someone as [Lennox] Lewis' heir."<br /><br />For Wladimir Klitschko, a win over David Haye would be the crowning jewel in his heavyweight rain, the pinnacle of his resurrection from ruin.<br /><br />For David Haye, a win over Klitschko would make all the trash talk and all the waiting worthwhile, all from one stunning win. Any other talk – about whether Haye should retire next or blaze through the heavyweight division instead – is premature.<br /><br />We have Klitschko-Haye to talk about first. This is the big one.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-34178046533358683662011-06-20T12:38:00.001-07:002011-06-20T12:48:37.071-07:00Profile of BWAA Member Lem Satterfield<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://o5.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/PATCH/resize/600x450/http://hss-prod.hss.aol.com/hss/storage/patch/806c76e498523d204fc40552e7f7a354"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 449px;" src="http://o5.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/PATCH/resize/600x450/http://hss-prod.hss.aol.com/hss/storage/patch/806c76e498523d204fc40552e7f7a354" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I hadn't known when I'd moved back to my hometown that there was another BWAA member there: Lem Satterfield, a longtime reporter for The Baltimore Sun who'd moved on to become the boxing editor and writer for AOL Fanhouse and is now one of my colleagues at BoxingScene.com.<br /><br />I took a job last year running a local news website. Lem's story is one worth telling. It is a story that Thomas Hauser put on paper many years ago. And his is a personality that area residents should know about.<br /><br />Mike Coppinger, a member of the BWAA who is based out of New Jersey, wrote a profile for the Columbia Patch website.<br /><br />Here's the first paragraph:<br /><br /><blockquote>In many ways, Lem Satterfield is a fighting man, but not in the manner those words initially suggest. He is a boxing writer who covers the best and biggest prizefighters in the world. He is a longtime journalist who is trying to succeed in the transition from writing for newspapers to writing online. And he does all of this while recovering from cancer.</blockquote><br />And here's the link to the rest: <a href="http://patch.com/A-hsDm">http://patch.com/A-hsDm</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-76137349350726725742011-06-10T16:35:00.000-07:002011-06-10T17:10:59.608-07:00International Boxing Hall of Fame Induction Weekend<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://static.atlasobscura.netdna-cdn.com/images/place/international-boxing-hall-fame.4275.large_slideshow.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 570px; height: 387px;" src="http://static.atlasobscura.netdna-cdn.com/images/place/international-boxing-hall-fame.4275.large_slideshow.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">Image credit: </span>boxrec.com<br /><br />They are three more big names whose careers will be enshrined within the confines of a small-town museum. This weekend, Mike Tyson, Julio Cesar Chavez and Kostya Tszyu will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, located in Upstate New York in Carmen Basilio's hometown of Canastota.<br /><br />Here's a sampling of what writers are saying of their accomplishments. And for a full list of this year's inductees, <a href="http://www.ibhof.com/pages/inductionweekend/2011/11announce.html">please click here</a>.<br /><br />Let's start with Bernard Fernandez of the Philadelphia Daily News, <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/123600964.html">introducing the legend of Chavez</a>:<a name='more'></a><br /><br />"Tales of what Chavez did, or was capable of doing, grew so tall south of the border that they took on a mythical quality, something akin to the legend of towering woodsman Paul Bunyan in the upper Midwest. And the thing is, most of those stories were true, or mostly so."<br /><br />Graham Houston, writing on ESPN.com, <a href="http://espn.go.com/sports/boxing/blog/_/name/boxing/id/6643387/relentlessness-longevity-defined-chavez">expands on why</a>:<br /><br />"At his best, Chavez was an almost perfect fighting machine. He was a relentless aggressor who punched hard and fast, and never seemed to tire. If Chavez got caught by hard blows, he could shrug them off, as he showed when withstanding a full-impact right hand from Roger Mayweather -- something of a Thomas Hearns of the lighter weight classes—in a 1985 bout.<br /><br />"No, Chavez said afterwards, Mayweather hadn't hurt him. "I have too much chin," he said through an interpreter.<br /><br />"Too much chin, too much everything, for the opponents who faced him."<br /><br />Dan Rafael, in an entry on ESPN.com, <a href="http://espn.go.com/sports/boxing/blog/_/name/rafael_dan/id/6648044/mike-tyson-reflects-hof-career">has Mike Tyson reflect on his own career</a>:<br /><br />"I'm going in with guys like Stanley Ketchel and Jack Johnson, guys who lived colorful lives," Tyson said. "I wanted to be like them even though they were tragic at the end. But what lives they had. They had interesting lives. I wanted to live like them, like Mickey Walker, Harry Greb. Those guys had no boundaries. That's who I wanted to be. I wanted to be heavyweight champion. I wanted to conquer everyone. I looked at boxing different than most people. It was about destruction and pain and 'nobody can ever stop me.'<br /><br />"Back then, I lived by those comments. I was the best in the world and nobody could beat me. It was a weird journey."<br /><br />And <a href="http://www.sportal.com.au/other-sports-opinion-display/tszyu-takes-his-place-among-greats-125824">Greig Johnston of Sportal in Australia</a> said Kostya Tszyu defined himself by what he did after his first pro loss:<br /><br />"With those around him urging him to quit, Tszyu, at 28, did the hardest thing of all – he changed.<br /><br />"The second part of his career was even more impressive than the first, as Tszyu reinvented himself as a more intelligent fighter, no longer content with trying to bludgeon his opponents into submission.<br /><br />"He embarked on a 13-fight unbeaten streak, the high point of which was a second-round knockout of Zab Judah in 2001 to unify the junior-welterweight division, something no man had been able to achieve in over 30 years."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-71085439804207424702011-06-10T15:34:00.000-07:002011-06-10T16:10:27.249-07:00R.I.P. Genaro Hernandez<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/images/hernandez-genaro-11.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 287px; height: 357px;" src="http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/images/hernandez-genaro-11.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>It is an unfortunate truth that, for as much as we appreciate our prizefighters while they are in the ring, such appreciation tends to fade in the years that follow, returning only once they are truly and permanently gone.<br /><br />Genaro Hernandez passed away this week at 45 after an extended battle with cancer, a battle which he fought as valiantly as he did while between those ropes. So many have noted their affection toward him and their appreciation of him—Hernandez the fighter, the commentator, the man—during that battle. And it is in tribute to who and what he was that their affection and appreciation has been written so that those who did not know Genaro Hernandez can, at the very least, know why he was appreciated.<a name='more'></a><br /><br /><a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news?slug=ki-iole_champion_hernandez_remembered_060911">Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports</a> spoke to promoter Bob Arum, who said:<br /><br />“He was everything you could have wished for in a boxer and an athlete, but he was a wonderful person. He trained hard, he didn’t engage in trash talk. He had respect for his opponents and the sport. He was a great warrior. The way he handled this cancer was amazing. He never gave up and fought as hard as he could, and he handled it with so much class. He was as good as they get. As a fighter, as a commentator and as a man, he was always the perfect gentleman.”<br /><br /><a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/news/story?id=6637276">Dan Rafael of ESPN.com</a> spoke with Hernandez's broadcast partner, Rich Marotta:<br /><br />"I had the good fortune to call many of Genaro's fights, from early in his career when he was appearing in prelims at the Irvine Ballroom to his days as a world champion at the Forum to his biggest fight against Oscar De La Hoya at Caesars," Marotta said. "He was the same guy through all of that, friendly, accessible to all and simply one of the finest athletes I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. He was still the same guy, with the same accommodating demeanor, in the years following his boxing career as a ringside commentator."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.maxboxing.com/news/sub-lead/its-true-the-good-indeed-die-young">Steve Kim of MaxBoxing.com</a>:<br /><br />"There was an everyman quality and a certain normalcy to Hernandez and in many ways, he was the embodiment of that. While he had a storied career and made some money, he still had to go out into the real world and make a living for his family as he retired, which was just fine by him. If that involved boxing, even better. What Rudy [Hernandez, Genaro's brother and his trainer] will remember most about his brother is, 'that he never thought he was better than anybody else and that his whole thing was if he could only be treated equally to a guy who was a four-round fighter, then he could be happy with that. It took him a long time to get used to the fact that people called him ’champ’.' "<br /><br />CompuBox ended its tribute to Hernandez on BoxingScene.com <a href="http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=40090">with this fitting conclusion</a>:<br /><br />"From the time his struggle with cancer became known, he was the focus of countless prayers. But cancer doesn't care who it strikes or how much agony it inflicts. It places no merit on whether its victim has a loving family or a deep and diverse circle of friends. All it wants to do is conquer its host. Once it attacked Genaro Hernandez, however, it met a fierce, fiesty and unyielding foe that never shied away from a challenge. But in the end Hernandez's bravery and strength of character wasn't enough—and that's only because it couldn't have been enough.<br /><br />"If there is one silver lining in this grim circumstance it is this: The boxing fraternity had ample opportunity to show Hernandez just how loved he was. They came in the form of countless e-mails, events to raise money for his treatment, private and public donations for said treatment as well as the Bill Crawford Award for 'perseverance in overcoming adversity' from the Boxing Writers Association of America in 2008.<br /><br />"His 13-2 record in title fights spread over seven years and two reigns is one of which to be proud. Perhaps someday he will receive the ultimate honor—induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. But even if he doesn't achieve that status one thing is beyond argument: He was a Hall of Fame human being."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-26240201099661387832011-05-14T14:42:00.000-07:002011-05-14T15:04:56.016-07:00Remembering Bill Gallo<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2011/04/21/gal_bill_gallo27.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 575px; height: 500px;" src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2011/04/21/gal_bill_gallo27.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">Photo credit: Enid Alvarez for the New York Daily News</span><br /><br />The passing of Bill Gallo is not just the loss of one of the boxing journalist fraternity, but also the loss of one of the forefathers to this modern era of boxing coverage, a writer and artist and International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee whose work dates back decades, transitioning from before and during the times of Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell to the days when the Internet allowed any number of us loudmouths to attempt to have a voice in boxing.<br /><br />Through all this, Gallo's voice was a distinguished and recognizable one, not just in boxing and not just in New York City, but encompassing a number of sports and beyond the five boroughs.<br /><br />Gallo died May 10 at the age of 88. Here's just a sampling of what people are saying about him. Please feel free to add your own memories below.<br /><br />Omar Minaya, former general manager of the New York Mets (via <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/news/story?id=6541223">ESPN New York</a>): "If you grew up in New York over the past 40 years or so, he was just a part of New York life. You woke up in the morning, opened the Daily News sports page, and at some point in time you would go to Bill Gallo."<br /><br />Michael Woods, <a href="http://www.thesweetscience.com/news/articles-frontpage/12553-rest-in-peace-bill-gallo-cartoonist-writer-good-soul">The Sweet Science</a>: "Though his ardor for the sport dimmed somewhat as sanctioning body silliness and promoter's tomfoolery increased in recent decades, Gallo communicated his love of the game and the special athletes who make boxing the sport to which all others aspire to."<br /><br />William Grimes, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/12/business/media/12gallo.html?_r=1">The New York Times</a>: "Unlike many cartoonists, he resisted formulas. To recreate the 1971 title match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, he gave readers at least half a dozen key moments in the fight, all within a single cartoon panel. When Thurman Munson, the catcher for the Yankees, died in an airplane crash in 1979, he gave full rein to sentiment, showing two boys despondently leaving a sandlot as the head of Mr. Munson looked down from above."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2011/04/21/gal_billgallo_8.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 288px; height: 226px;" src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2011/04/21/gal_billgallo_8.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Yes you were, Bill. Yes you were.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-20805226119116101692011-04-26T07:35:00.001-07:002011-04-26T07:39:32.861-07:00Klitschko vs. Cowboys and AliensMaybe the Summer film you're waiting for is <span style="font-style: italic;">Cowboys and Aliens</span>, or the 55th <span style="font-style: italic;">Harry Potter </span>one. I'm hoping to see <span style="font-style: italic;">Klitschko</span>. It's at the Tribeca Film Festival this week. <br /><br /><iframe frameborder='0' scrolling='no' align='middle' src='http://mediasuite.multicastmedia.com/HDVODPlayer.php?doResize=false&v=gf55d300' height='257' width='427' allowtransparency='true' ></iframe>don steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00777699980832605681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-91589078149907346922011-03-08T00:14:00.000-08:002011-03-07T20:23:35.816-08:00Frazier Beats Ali -- March 8, 1971<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581542807796827186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7UpK6QxfBYCo_IbKN3JwWicmApTyrrk8aoh_fAIHGBvjtutpx_cbFHZBnnOEjmCoi2oDW8-62Hf_HihpefXhLbUhue7Kt-c4GKoybtYFUZ5tEW9gxyJZDPnzIwdabkset7OpOF0Li-1Gg/s320/ali+fraz.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 213px;" /> "In a classic 15-round battle, Joe Frazier broke the wings of the butterfly and smashed the stinger of the bee tonight in winning a unanimous decision over Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden," Dave Anderson <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/sports/year_in_sports/03.08.html?scp=1&sq=frazier%20knockdown%20of%20ali&st=cse">wrote in the <i>New York Times</i></a>.<br /><br /><div>It was March 8, 1971, 40 years ago today.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Frazier, with an unrelenting pursuit and a brutal body attack, wore down the dancing, jabbing Ali through 14 rounds, then sent him crashing to the canvas and pounded him at will in the final round to retain his championship with a unanimous decision," the <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tNBOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zwEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6548,3818629&dq=frazier+ali+march+15th&hl=en">UPI wire story reported</a>. Ali's jaw was hurt and he was taken to a hospital. "I don't think he wants a rematch -- not right away," Frazier said, in <a href="http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/1751217112.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Mar+09,+1971&author=&pub=The+Sun+(1837-1985)&desc=Ali+Taken+To+Hospital;+Jaw+Hurt&pqatl=google">the AP stor</a><a href="http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/1751217112.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Mar+09,+1971&author=&pub=The+Sun+(1837-1985)&desc=Ali+Taken+To+Hospital;+Jaw+Hurt&pqatl=google">y</a>.</div><div><br /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581550169664344178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE2hMnRAabDLYW9CksdbfLNDQULH09wbiT7CfaIv3WgIoOG_HexwyKivDZn3Dr02tI_0tsMq3T3gRW7lzDcwumL90ue1i-boPRTV9jlUJaek7uKoh_FcYeo61wrG-iDrUScLjYpWBqlofL/s200/GQ+25+Coolest+Athletes+Issue+2011.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 152px;" /> Frazier won the Fight of The Century that night -- but it's mostly Ali people are remembering today. <i>GQ</i> put him on the cover in February, for the second time in three years, this time as one of the "25 Coolest Athletes of All Time" (in 2007 it was for being one of the "50 Most Stylish Men of the Past 50 Years.") Whatever. Inside, <i>GQ</i> runs three quotes about Ali, from Don King, Norman Mailer, and...Garry Shandling.</div><div><br />At <i>The Sweet Science</i>, Bernard Fernandez has a new piece looking at the <a href="http://www.thesweetscience.com/news/articles-frontpage/12150-one-joes-helping-hand-to-another">syndicate of Philly guys who bankrolled Frazier</a> (and later banked profits) as he turned pro and started winning big purses.<br /><br /></div><div>The keepers of <i>Life</i> magazine are releasing a gallery of photos from the 1971 fight and its build-up -- photos that, they say, are previously unpublished, though I know I've seen this one (top right) before. The whole pictorial is worth checking out -- it's <a href="http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/56541/never-seen-ali-vs-frazier-1971#index/0">right here</a>.</div>don steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00777699980832605681noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-62338405881089840592011-02-21T18:36:00.000-08:002011-02-21T19:12:26.761-08:00Little But Big, B.A.D. But Good (Part Two)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_full_width/hash/bf/dd/bfdd937aac6c2c9660ee7eb31ce6bbb8.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 416px; height: 313px;" src="http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_full_width/hash/bf/dd/bfdd937aac6c2c9660ee7eb31ce6bbb8.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">Image credit: Chris Cozzone</span><br /><br />Let us postscript this past Saturday's fight between Nonito Donaire and Fernando Montiel, with our writers' words providing a form of oral history:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=36167">Jake Donovan, BoxingScene.com</a></span>: The talent long ago suggested that Nonito Donaire was destined for greatness. All that he needed was the big wins to match the potential.<br /><br />Saturday night provided that part of the formula, in a very big way.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news%3B_ylt=AhxHeaZWo6bvNoL3fdX1j3iUxLYF?slug=ki-donairegainssteam021911">Kevin Iole, Yahoo Sports!</a></span>: Montiel looked stiff when the fight began and paid a price early when Donaire raked him with a straight right in the opening moments. About a minute or so later, Donaire ripped him with a left hook that seemed to bother the champion.<br /><br />Donaire, who was poised and calm throughout, knew long ago that it would be an early night. He said he told trainer Robert Garcia right before Christmas he would knock Montiel out in the second.<br /><br />He was true to his word, knocking Montiel down with a vicious left hook and then a right uppercut that was totally unnecessary. Montiel was laying on the mat, with his legs twitching.<br /><br />“I hit him with a left hook, I looked down and he started twitching,” Donaire said. “I knew the fight was over.”<br /><br />It should have been, but, incredulously, referee Russell Mora let it continue. Montiel fell on his first attempt to get up and didn’t respond to Mora’s command to walk toward him when he did arise. However, Mora walked to Montiel, wiped his gloves and somehow saw fit to allow the bout to move on. Donaire landed two punches before Mora then jumped in.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.15rounds.com/few-suspicions-linger-about-donaire-one-suspects-022111/">Bart Barry, 15rounds.com</a></span>: Even serious boxing fans were forgiven their disbelief at Saturday’s spectacle. For most of us, after all, Nonito Donaire was the guy who stretched Vic Darchinyan on Showtime 40 months ago, left promoter Gary Shaw and disappeared into promoter Top Rank’s farm system, making reportedly excellent if alliterative progress on Pinoy Power pay-per-view programs.<br /><br />By 2010 Donaire was lost to the public. While specialists knew of his technical acumen, most everyone else assumed Top Rank already had its Filipino superstar in Manny Pacquiao – and one was enough. Rabid as boxing’s supporters in the Philippines were, there was only so much money to be squeezed from the world’s number 46 economy.<br /><br />How well Top Rank has handled Donaire’s career is debatable. How well Top Rank has developed Donaire as a prizefighter, though, is not.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=rafael_dan&id=6143932">Dan Rafael, ESPN.com</a></span>: A star is born. Donaire, with a massive knockout against a top-notch opponent in a much-anticipated fight, took his career to a new level and stamped himself among the handful of the best fighters in the world. Montiel, 31, of Mexico, a three-division titleholder, had not lost since 2006 and had established himself as the No. 1 bantamweight in the world by virtue of his impressive knockout of Hozumi Hasegawa last year to unify a pair of alphabet belts. Yet Donaire -- "The Filipino Flash" -- erased him in violent fashion to claim his 118-pound belts.<br /><br />Little guys usually don't score such huge knockouts. Donaire, 28, a longtime flyweight titlist who also briefly held an interim belt at junior bantamweight before moving up in weight again in December, is not just any little guy. He's special.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-45027813879670207242011-02-19T09:48:00.000-08:002011-02-19T14:01:41.651-08:00Little But Big, B.A.D. But Good (Part One)<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="417" height="260" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5YZv_o1NzVY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Let us preview tonight's fight between Nonito Donaire and Fernando Montiel, with our writers' words providing a form of oral history:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.dailybreeze.com/sports/ci_17428494">Robert Morales, Long Beach Press-Telegram</a></span>: Fernando Montiel and Nonito Donaire are both promoted by Bob Arum, which made it easy for them to become fairly good friends.<br /><br />But they say that won't matter tonight when they square off for Montiel's two bantamweight world titles at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas (on HBO).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=36078">Thomas Gerbasi, BoxingScene.com</a></span>: The anticipation leading up to this bout is reminiscent of the lead-up to the bouts between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, and stylistically, it wouldn’t be too far a stretch to suggest that Montiel and Donaire can deliver the same kind of intense action. Of course, given the disappointment of last month’s highly-anticipated Superfight between Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander, containing your excitement level has become a necessary requirement of being a boxing fan these days. Montiel says not to worry, because he’s bringing it, and he’s willing to take all the risks necessary to beat his foe.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=35997">Jake Donovan, BoxingScene.com</a></span>: HBO takes a rare peek into the bantamweight division.<br /><br />Even if it’s not the norm, a matchup pitting a pair of bona fide pound-for-pound entrants is way too tempting for anyone to pass up.<br /><br />“The Montiel-Donaire showdown features two of the most accomplished little men in the sport,” states Kery Davis, Senior Vice President of Programming for HBO Sports. “It’s as good as any match-up you will see in the smaller weight classes.”<br /><br />It’s also as good as any Boxing After Dark fight that has been shown in recent – and perhaps even distant – memory, as none of the B.A.D. entrants from 2010 certainly measured up.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://ringtv.craveonline.com/blog/126827-montiel-donaire-cant-miss-drama">Michael Rosenthal, RingTV.com</a></span>: Ask an expert who he believes will win the Fernando Montiel-Nonito Donaire fight on Saturday and he or she will probably sigh before serving up an answer with minimal conviction. Donaire is a 3-1 betting favorite but most believe it’s a pick-‘em fight.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">We'll return after the fight for part two.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-4178860918779238622011-02-14T12:02:00.000-08:002011-02-14T12:21:12.301-08:00Pacquiao-palooza<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="427" height="260" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jT4hHMIpnjU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />This TMZ/Entertainment Tonight/Us Weekly 24-hour-news-cycle generation has served to make cult figures of celebrities. Manny Pacquiao was already a national hero in the Philippines and a superstar in the boxing world.<br /><br />Now?<br /><br />Now you half expect there to be people on street corners handing out pamphlets letting you know all there is to know about Pacquiao.<br /><br />Did you know that Manny Pacquiao's haircut is not modeled after Justin Bieber but rather <a href="http://boxing.fanhouse.com/2011/02/13/manny-pacquiao-shane-mosley-field-fans-questions-in-las-vegas/">is in tribute to Bruce Lee</a>?<br /><br />Did you know that Manny Pacquiao <a href="http://www.examiner.com/boxing-in-boston/manny-pacquiao-is-afflicted-with-gideon-s-disease">has a sizable lump near his right wrist</a> that comes from something called Gideon's Disease?<br /><br />Did you know that Manny Pacquiao's name is ubiquitous?<br /><br />Bob Arum and Floyd Mayweather Jr. were seen sitting together at the Super Bowl. <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_17368301">What does this mean for a possible fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather?</a><br /><br />Who in history would Saul Alvarez most want to fight? <a href="http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-boxing-news/catching-up-with-canelo-alvarez">Manny Pacquiao</a>.<br /><br />"[T]here are web sites where writers go out of their way to force a certain popular Filipino fighter’s name into every single article to drive search-engine traffic their way," writes Eric Raskin <a href="http://queensberry-rules.com/2011-articles/february/raskins-rants-names-that-start-with-x-pay-channels-that-end-in-x-and-more.html">in a guest post on the stellar Queensberry Rules blog</a>. "How pathetic. I would never do something like that." <br /><br />Raskin's sums up the madness with his next thought in the piece:<br /><br />"Manny Pacquiao is good at boxing."<br /><br />Heck. Manny Pacquiao is great at boxing. And he's great for boxing. Can we start talking about Manny Pacquiao AND boxing again?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-49637567656680232482011-02-09T07:03:00.001-08:002011-02-09T07:05:23.436-08:00Thank You(Tube)It was hidden away on the non-televised portion of the undercard to Timothy Bradley vs. Devon Alexander, but that doesn't mean it was hidden away to all. There's such a thing as the international feed, and there's such a thing as YouTube.<br /><br />Some are touting Kendall Holt's first-round knockout of Lenin Arroyo as an early candidate for knockout of the year (praise not just the person who loaded this video, but also from Steve Kim of MaxBoxing.com).<br /><br />I'm not as high on it. I don't think the camera angle helped, and I don't believe the blow was "stand up from your seats" good. Still, here it is:<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BwvxbYmBdGw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-49079758272420454312011-01-31T10:19:00.000-08:002011-01-31T10:42:46.553-08:00Bradley-Alexander: Coming Up Short<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikGwn8068V6O8kVPBlfdk53SnZDwJmELTGM3o_TAsC2_uHc4L0fKw50hsBPV-Eoh5fJqrGAnkm7VMws_uiVDmaBUMj_J4ohCsZRRj8CgzGQTcQbZEFWmFRdk34iKCxSXf2ydGMmZlW/s1600/357.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 194px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikGwn8068V6O8kVPBlfdk53SnZDwJmELTGM3o_TAsC2_uHc4L0fKw50hsBPV-Eoh5fJqrGAnkm7VMws_uiVDmaBUMj_J4ohCsZRRj8CgzGQTcQbZEFWmFRdk34iKCxSXf2ydGMmZlW/s200/357.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568416396058701698" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">Photo credit: Carlos Baeza/Thompson Boxing Promotions</span><br /><br />Writers don't have venom tongues so much as they venomous ink – if they are disappointed or angry or unhappy, they will let you know by letting the venom ink flow.<br /><br />So when Timothy Bradley vs. Devon Alexander – a fight with great expectations – turned out to be a woeful clash of styles, writers dug into it with pleasure. Or with displeasure.<br /><br /><a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/columns/story?columnist=rafael_dan&id=6076557"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Dan Rafael of ESPN.com</span></a>:<br /><br />"Talk about a disappointment. Bradley-Alexander, the first unification fight between two undefeated American titleholders in 24 years and only the third ever, was supposed to launch the winner, and maybe even the loser, to stardom, if it had been a great fight. Instead, it was a giant dud.<br /><br />"The fight, fought before a crowd of 6,247 at the Silverdome, was competitive all the way with several very close, hard-to-score rounds. But the fight was not pleasing to watch. It was messy and never found a flow, and it ended in ugly fashion after yet another head-butt badly rattled Alexander."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jake Donovan of BoxingScene.com</span> <a href="http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=35353">led off with this</a> in his post-fight recap:<br /><br />"Dead atmosphere. Disappointing action. A major fight that ends on a butt and not a punch.<br /><br />"Not exactly the ideal return to the big time for a sport desperately in need of a shot in the arm."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Bart Barry of 15rounds.com</span> framed <a href="http://www.15rounds.com/pontiac-prizefighting-listlessly-seeking-rebirth-013111/">part of his story</a> around his encounter with Bradley at the airport:<br /><br />"Bradley was exhausted, busted up and bandaged, his left eye swelled shut from accidental collisions with Devon Alexander’s head. He was also the world’s best 140-pound prizefighter – if anyone cared.<br /><br />"It appeared no one did. And that was fitting a footnote as any to the weekend’s depressed and depressing event, a spectacle billed as “The Super Fight” that filled little more than five percent of Silverdome’s available seats in Pontiac, Mich."<br /><br />Ouch.<br /><br />All of these words sting nearly as bad as Alexander's eye must've after that final head butt.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-13505195970293552432011-01-27T18:12:00.000-08:002011-01-27T18:28:03.601-08:00The Big Stage, The Big Screen, The Big Challenge, Two Big Guys<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/J62jciQ1PbY" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Big Stage</span><br /><br />Inside a large domed football arena this Saturday will be Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley. So many other writers have weighed in on the economic side of things. But here's a Michigan man, David Mayo of The Grand Rapids Press, discussing <a href="http://www.mlive.com/boxing/index.ssf/2011/01/impact_of_devon_alexander-timo.html">what this fight could mean to the state</a>.<br /><br />Lem Satterfield of AOL Fanhouse, while not from Michigan, says <a href="http://boxing.fanhouse.com/2011/01/26/detroit-boxing-needs-devon-alexander-tim-bradley-without-questi/">Detroit needs this fight</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Big Screen</span><br /><br />Kieran Mulvaney of ESPN.com looks at <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=6054377">a fascinating documentary on modern bare-knuckle boxing</a>.<br /><br />Murray Greig of the Edmonton Sun has his <a href="http://www.edmontonsun.com/sports/othersports/2011/01/21/16993846.html">top 10 boxing movies</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Big Challenge</span><br /><br />Mixed martial artist Nick Diaz <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/columns/story?columnist=mcneil_franklin&id=6057326">wants to try out boxing</a>, says Franklin McNeil of ESPN.com.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Two Big Guys</span><br /><br />George Kimball of The Sweet Science kept a secret for a long time – Why did Butterbean get knocked out by Mitchell Rose way back in 1995? <a href="http://www.thesweetscience.com/news/articles/11928-the-kimball-chronicles-a-fishy-tale-featuring-shifty-and-the-bean">Here's the answer...</a><br /><br />And Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated takes a look at Chris Arreola and <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/chris_mannix/01/26/chris.arreola/">his new, supposed dedication to training</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-44772676890918832662011-01-25T10:49:00.001-08:002011-01-25T10:59:43.639-08:00What's The World Coming To?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.unthinkable.biz/UserFiles/Image/Q22010/Home%20the%20end%20is%20near.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://www.unthinkable.biz/UserFiles/Image/Q22010/Home%20the%20end%20is%20near.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Don't call us nattering nabobs of negativism. There's plenty of good news out there – for just one example, there's Thomas Gerbasi's <a href="http://www.boxingscene.com/kevin-cunningham-boy-who-lived--35015">feature on Kevin Cunningham</a>, trainer to Devon Alexander, on BoxingScene.com.<br /><br />But blog posts are better made when they're not just roundups, but when there's an overriding theme. And so there's these:<br /><br />Thomas Hauser of SecondsOut.com has the <a href="http://www.secondsout.com/columns/thomas-hauser/how-hbo-lost-manny-pacquiao-">behind-the-scenes stuff</a> on how the flagship boxing network, HBO, lost the top boxing star, Manny Pacquiao, to Showtime.<br /><br />John Whisler of the San Antonio Express-News has <a href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/article/John-Whisler-Latest-drama-leaves-amateur-group-972597.php">the story of drama</a> involving a South Texas amateur boxing organization.<br /><br />Tom Archdeacon of the Dayton Daily News looks into <a href="http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/throughthearch/entries/2011/01/21/toughman_and_all_its_dangers_i.html">the dangers of Toughman contests</a>, which returned to his city last week.<br /><br />And Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times says the newly launched World Series of Boxing is <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2011/01/world-series-of-boxing-restructuring-fires-la-front-office-leaving-venues.html">already in major financial trouble</a>.<br /><br />No need to pile on with the poor ticket sales for this Saturday's fight between Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-7446217241186944002011-01-21T14:07:00.000-08:002011-01-21T14:32:43.179-08:00That's What Sheed Said<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-FUKAUny8M61KjxmMkf8BZEhoyrPKtEVldM7nDOBSruQTlbKnXanXTMzSZjCNDsLYhWrJnODnTyFoxC4gqwcP7CMP1BxIzwwqTCW-_a2AiDvq9fA0UQPZ2yW7bcFAORpxgVRNiG0VLcZ/s1600/IMG_1642.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-FUKAUny8M61KjxmMkf8BZEhoyrPKtEVldM7nDOBSruQTlbKnXanXTMzSZjCNDsLYhWrJnODnTyFoxC4gqwcP7CMP1BxIzwwqTCW-_a2AiDvq9fA0UQPZ2yW7bcFAORpxgVRNiG0VLcZ/s400/IMG_1642.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564765153045507906" border="0" /></a><br /> There was a <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/01/21/133090935/remembering-wilfrid-sheed-a-master-of-wit">report on NPR </a>this week saying that writer Wilfrid Sheed has died, and it took me a second to connect the name to the first boxing book I ever bought. I got <span style="font-style: italic;">Muhammad Ali: A Portrait in Words and Photographs</span> probably a year or so after it came out in 1975, because I remember I used to stretch my teenage budget by shopping for big, glossy books about movies and sports at the discount table, where a lot of good ones eventually landed. <br /><br /> Of course I was drawn to the book by the awesome Neil Leifer photos. Ali looked great. He was cool. So were Frazier and Foreman and Liston. I tore out some of the 9-by-11 photo pages for my wall. I can't say I read the book cover-to-cover. I always figured Sheed was a grizzled sportswriter along with all the other guys I was reading then -- Dick Schaap, Stan Fischler, Ray Fitzgerald at the <span style="font-style: italic;">Boston Globe</span>, Pat Putnam in <span style="font-style: italic;">Sports Ilustrated</span>. The obits say Sheed was a satirical British essayist and novelist. His two biography subjects were Ali and Claire Boothe Luce. But looking back -- I still have my tattered copy of the book -- this is good stuff:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">The face has been flattened ever so slightly by the hammers of Mars, and there is some reluctant scar tissue around the eyes. Yet he looks the better for it. Narcissus probably had a dull face without all those ripples on it -- a few rounds with Frazier would have helped him too. Ali's eyes themselves are deadly weapons, black as carbon and jabbing in every direction, from impassive surroundings.</blockquote>don steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00777699980832605681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-59189196153379784972011-01-18T14:21:00.000-08:002011-01-18T16:03:20.502-08:00Oh, Holy... Field.<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5rU4H8uFyVc&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5rU4H8uFyVc&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object><br /><br />Evander Holyfield loves boxing. And boxing fans loved Evander Holyfield. But there's a reason why the 48-year-old heavyweight – who will enter the Hall of Fame five years after he finally retires, if and when he finally retires – is fighting in a lesser venue against a lesser opponent and would be getting less attention of his fight wasn't coming on an otherwise empty weekend.<br /><br /><a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/boxing/wires/01/18/2080.ap.box.tim.dahlberg.011811.0946/">Tim Dahlberg of the Associated Press</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>The problem is Holyfield hasn't had a good fight in years, unless you count his win over equally ancient Francois Botha last April a good fight. It wasn't, and there's no body of evidence in boxing that the older fighters get, the better they get.<br /><br />It's the exact opposite, of course, as it is in all sports. But other sports don't involve getting hit repeatedly in the head.<br /><br />The fighter who helped make the '90s a good time for the heavyweight division might be emboldened in his quest by the knowledge that the cupboard is painfully bare among boxing's big guys. Take away the Klitschko brothers and Britain's David Haye, and there's not a whole lot left in the division.<br /><br />But Holyfield is never going to get a fight with the Klitschkos or Haye, much less beat them. He's stuck fighting guys like Williams and Brian Nielsen, who is coming out of a nine-year retirement to fight Holyfield in Denmark in March.<br /><br />Still, he soldiers on, fighting for paydays a fraction of the $35 million he made to fight Tyson the second time around. He's had recent money issues and a payday is a payday, but listen to Holyfield talk and you get the feeling he really does think he can be heavyweight champion again.</blockquote><a name='more'></a><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Tby-55iKhTQ?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Tby-55iKhTQ?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />To listen to the above promo is like listening to a commercial for a Monster Truck rally. All noise. Little substance. SATURDAY! SATURDAY! SATURDAY!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/17/2019221/holyfield-48-continues-title-quest.html">Santos A. Perez in The Miami Herald</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>Holyfield, who turned 48 in October, refuses to join his former rivals in retirement. As much as strict state commissions deny Holyfield fights, there always is a willing location, opponent and promoter.<br /><br />Now, instead of fight Meccas such as Madison Square Garden and Las Vegas, Holyfield settles for venues overseas or in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., site of his bout against Sherman Williams on Saturday night. Fight organizers, still trying to bank on Holyfield's name recognition, somehow gave this bout a pay-per-view tag.</blockquote><br />But does Evander Holyfield truly need to retire?<br /><br />If you'll pardon me linking to myself on very, very, very rare occasions, <a href="http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=34807">I asked that question this week</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>Holyfield could not be that ageless wonder in the past decade. He will not be that ageless wonder now.<br /><br />But he has not been damaged despite fighting on against opponents the caliber of Bates or Maddalone or Savarese or Botha. He should not be in any danger against Williams or Nielsen.<br /><br />Holyfield is a fraction of what he once was. As is Roy Jones Jr. As are numerous other faded former stars. And commissions must take that into account should these faded stars want to face those who have replaced them at the top.<br /><br />There is a tremendous difference between how Jones looked against Jeff Lacy and how Jones looked against Danny Green and Bernard Hopkins. There is a tremendous difference between Holyfield standing across from the men he has beaten – and even the titleholders, Ibragimov and Valuev, he has lost to – and him being in the ring with Haye or the Klitschkos.<br /><br />If athletic commissions will still allow the men Holyfield has beaten to fight, then the same commissions must allow Holyfield to fight as well.</blockquote><br />We can say this now. But time, unlike nearly every fighter to enter the sport, remains undefeated.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4375228857648414110.post-20441031161757566022011-01-15T17:52:00.000-08:002011-01-18T16:07:04.186-08:00The Talk<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CnigS72lt2Q?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CnigS72lt2Q?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Not everything is flowery prose and dramatic storytelling and witty turns of phrases. Sometimes the best thing to do is just to get out of the way of the subjects and let them speak. And sometimes writers don't need to write at all, but rather will report, ask questions and let the answers speak for themselves. The above segment with Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander carried much more power to it than any other minute-long production HBO could've put together.<br /><br />The beauty of the Internet is that should a writer choose to publish an interview on its own, rather than turning it into an article, it is welcomed because doing so is suited to the short attention span that often comes with reading online. And much like Muhammad Ali saw that television would give him a channel to use his mouth to amplify his stardom, boxers have taken to the Internet to sell their fights.<br /><br />Writers, of course, are willing to oblige. <a name='more'></a><br /><br />Kieran Mulvaney, writing for ESPN.com, <a href="http://espn.go.com/sports/boxing/blog/_/name/boxing/id/6014661/steward-wary-klitschko-latest-foe">talked to Emanuel Steward</a>, trainer to Wladimir Klitschko, about the dangers that Klitschko's next foe, Dereck Chisora, presents.<br /><br />Jake Donovan of BoxingScene.com <a href="http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=34719">gives voice to a junior welterweight</a> many boxing fans have never seen, much less heard from – Kaizer Mabuza, who is to face Zab Judah in a title fight.<br /><br />Lyle Fitzsimmons, also of BoxingScene.com, has <a href="http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=34718">Evander Holyfield making a case for himself</a> continuing to fight.<br /><br />Robert Morales of the Long Beach Press-Telegram did some interviews that <a href="http://www.presstelegram.com/moresports/ci_17102544">hyped a potential fight between Devon Alexander and Amir Khan</a> even while Alexander still has an upcoming tough unification bout with Timothy Bradley.<br /><br />Lem Satterfield, meanwhile, has <a href="http://boxing.fanhouse.com/2011/01/11/tim-bradley-preps-for-devon-alexander-softens-wbc-stance/">this interview with Bradley</a> on AOL Fanhouse.<br /><br />And while it was brief, Richard Cloutier, writing for BoxingScene.com, <a href="http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=34756">talked to Lucian Bute</a> in a reminder that there is a top super middleweight who is waiting in the wings for Showtime's tournament to come to an end.<br /><br />What fights and fighters are you talking about?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0