Although the year has just begun, things are already heating up. The elusive Floyd Mayweather has signed to fight Miguel Cotto on May 5. Lamont Peterson has agreed to a rematch with Amir Khan on May 19. And Manny Pacquiao gets it on with Timothy Bradley on June 9. The fists will definitely fly this spring, but in the next two weeks we have Klitschko-Chisora, Williams-Ishida, Cloud-Campillo, Maidana-Alexander, and Broner-Perez to look forward to. Boxing may be on the ropes, but man, can it take a good punch.
Las Vegas Retirement Party on May 5
“I am here to fight the biggest names in boxing. I’ve never ducked anyone or any challenge in front of me…I have accepted everything to give the fans what they like: Great and exciting fights. That is what the sport of boxing is all about; making the fights that the fans want and deserve to see. On May 5 [at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas] stay tuned, because I will convincingly beat Floyd Mayweather.”— Miguel Cotto. ”You win, you win; you lose, you win.”—Joey LaMotta. If there is one fighter who brings out fan-affection, it’s Miguel Cotto (though cousin Evangelista might have other thoughts). He is affable, soulful and goes about his work in a blue-collar, albeit professional manner. And a cursory glance at his opposition is enough to raise both eyebrows… READ MORE
My Biased Case for Miguel Cotto
Miguel Cotto has handled himself with consistent grace through an 11-year professional career. He never talks smack, and only answers when provoked. He enters every fight in shape, ready to work 12 busy rounds. He is respectful in victory. And there’s a gravity to Miguel Cotto that speaks of maturity, of reason and of a strength deeper than the strength it takes to beat a man. When Cotto enters a press conference, in suit and tie, speaking seriously and thoughtfully, he projects the image of a man who understands that his life’s work is work. Some criticized Cotto’s honest answer before the Margarito rematch where, when asked if he’d fight to the death, he explicitly stated, “For what?” But I thought his response was refreshing… READ MORE
Donaire Pounds Out Win Over Vazquez
“Life is like boxing in many unsettling respects, but boxing is only like boxing.”—Joyce Carol Oates. I couldn’t help but think of the above aphorism while watching Nonito Donaire (28-1, 18 KOs) pound out a split decision victory to win the vacant WBO super bantamweight title over the surprisingly competitive Wildredo Vazquez Jr. (21-2, 17 KOs) at the Alamodome in San Antonio Saturday night… READ MORE
Every Punch Was Aimed at Hitler
“I was not a Nazi, but once a German, always a German.”—Max Schmeling. It was a blistering hot June 8, 1933, and Max Baer, a half-Jewish boxer from the little town of Livermore, California, lay on a dressing table deep inside New York’s Yankee Stadium. The old brown leather pad stuck to his skin as he stared up at the white tile ceiling. He was waiting to do battle with the Nazi poster boy Max Schmeling, the favorite boxer of Adolph Hitler. A crowd of 65,000 people were packed into their seats awaiting the opening bell. Hitler was in Berlin listening to the bout on radio, while President Roosevelt was listening to the fight at the White House… READ MORE
Kaliesha “Wild Wild” West—A Warrior Untold
There are a lot of reasons to like Kaliesha “Wild Wild” West (14-1-3, 4 KOs). She has a vibrant personality, a pretty face, and a smile that can light up an entire room—that is when she’s not firing off precision combinations at opponents in the ring. For West, her journey through the sport of boxing is that of a Warrior Untold. As I learned more about Kaliesha West as a person in a recent interview, I became instantly intrigued and felt as if this was the story of a superstar in the making. As I continued to study film of West, concentrating on her abilities as a boxer, it became increasingly perplexing to fathom how this fighter has not received more mainstream media coverage… READ MORE
A Case of Gross Incompetence
If something stinks like someone forgot the ice in a fish market, then Texas must be involved. Here is the official statement from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation with respect to no test samples being taken from Rubio and Chavez Saturday night at the Alamodome: “The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation did not book the drug testing laboratory for the Top Rank event on February 4, 2012. Specimens were taken from Lowry and Martirosyan but in the absence of the independent testing laboratory the integrity of the samples could not be assured and they were destroyed. No further samples were taken… READ MORE
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