If this article is even less coherent than it normally is, it’s because I’ve spent the majority of the last week sleeping all day so I could stay up to cough all night. (Yes, I am looking for sympathy.) But I know you have to play hurt for the good of the team, so despite my misery and suffering, I’ll attempt to discuss some of the week’s happenings, although some content may be diluted because of my condition. (Cough)
Gil Clancy and Emile Griffith
November 29, 2006 By 48 Comments
Gil Clancy, the 84-year-old Hall of Fame trainer, has been involved in boxing over 60 years. Suffice to say, he has been part of many tremendous fights.
Frustrated, Fragile, Fearsome
November 26, 2006 By 46 Comments
“I want to unify the titles at 147. It is important to fight at my best weight.” – Antonio Margarito, WBO Welterweight Champion, 18 May 2006.
ANATOMY OF “THE KNOCKOUT”
November 23, 2006 By Leave a Comment
Mia Rosales St. John, aka “The Knockout,” was, along with Christy Martin, the face of women’s boxing in the genesis of the sport’s prominence. Both pioneers were much maligned in those days of the late nineties and early years of the new millennium, yet their efforts set the table for legitimacy for the next generation of Laila Ali, Ann Wolfe, and Holly Holm and others.
Wright hoping to win an Oscar
November 22, 2006 By Leave a Comment
Winky Wright is fighting Ike Quartey a week from Saturday, but according to Richard Schaefer, Wright may be fighting Oscar De La Hoya in the future.
Pacquiao read for Morales
November 15, 2006 By Leave a Comment
Manny Pacquiao was hitting the hand mitts held by Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach. Those watching at Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood had their eyes – and mouths – wide open.
GOLDEN BOY PROMOTIONS, PART TWO: THE BUSINESS OF GOLDEN BOY
November 14, 2006 By Leave a Comment
On Thursday we published part one of our interview with Golden Boy’s CEO Richard Schaefer, in which he responded in detail to negative charges made about his company. Schaefer was extremely generous with his time in our interview, even apologizing for our previous calls not being returned. Schaefer explained that his PR department was in transition, and further, he preferred to address the concerns about his company personally.
Perhaps a Pacquiao Pamphlet?
November 12, 2006 By Leave a Comment
This pound-for-pound thing is beyond me, I admit. It seems to have started nobly enough, years ago, as a way of taking Sugar Ray Robinson’s ample achievements, adding fifty pounds to them, and imagining how our sport’s all-time-greatest pugilist would have done against his heavyweight contemporaries. That is, boxing aficionados began with what Robinson actually did and projected his accomplishments onto outcomes of hypothetical fights.
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GOLDEN BOY PROMOTIONS , PART ONE: RICHARD SCHAEFER’S REBUTTAL
November 8, 2006 By Leave a Comment
THE STORY SO FAR
In recent weeks we have run two articles quoting rival promoters that have cast Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) in a negative light. They have been charged with “poaching fighters” nurtured by other promoters, using Oscar’s huge earnings to offset losses incurred in the free agent market, favoritism from HBO, and being the “Wal-Mart” of the boxing business. Also, they have been threatened with lawsuits by two rival promoters, Bob Arum and Gary Shaw, for signing contracts with Manny Pacquiao and Diego Corrales respectively, while their promotional contracts were still in effect.
Morales is read for for Pacquiao
November 8, 2006 By Leave a Comment
Starting with his second loss to Marco Antonio Barrera two years ago this month, Erik Morales has lost three of his past four fights. He has gone from a top 10 pound-for-pound fighter, to needing a victory against Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 18 at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas to retain any sort of status as an elite boxer.
Shannon Briggs’s Unlikely Redemption
November 5, 2006 By Leave a Comment
Quitter. Underachiever. Asthmatic. For the rest of his life, Shannon Briggs will now only be called one of those things again. That’s because two days ago, in 30 redemptive seconds that followed 2,130 damning ones, Shannon Briggs changed his legacy, became a champion, and proved that, whatever it may sometimes lack in drama or recognition, heavyweight prizefighting is always suspenseful.
BOXING FANS TO FACE TOUGH CHOICES
November 1, 2006 By Leave a Comment
A private research company recently designated St. Louis and Detroit, in that order, as the two most dangerous cities in America. Coincidently, the Cardinals and Tigers, Major League Baseball’s representatives from the two cities proved dangerous to the Fox network advertisers as they produced the worst World Series ratings in television history. To make matters worse, the Cards beat the Tigers in five games and the series, played with rain delays and postponements, was over on Friday. Yet rivals NBC, ABC, and CBS flooded the airwaves with repeats of their top rated shows, apparently in fear of the Fall Classic. Even NBC’s Sunday Night Football took the week off.