0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 6/28/2014
Despite being on the fans’ radar for a while, we still didn’t know a whole lot about middleweight Matt Korobov coming into this fight on the undercard of Yuriorkis Gambo-Terence Crawford on HBO from Omaha, Neb. He’s been a pro for six years, but didn’t step up competition in a while, which is usually a […]
0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 5/19/2014
“The sweet science is joined onto the past like a man’s arm to his shoulder.” – A.J. Liebling Since I began to write boxing with a degree of seriousness last year, I’ve had a notice set on my browser which dings ostentatiously every time a new piece by Springs Toledo is published on The Sweet […]
Manny Pacquiao (right) connects on Tim Bradley (photo credit: Chris Farina, Top Rank)
0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 4/13/2014
In a rematch of a fight from 2012 that really needed no introduction, Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley met in a contest between two truly elite fighters that oozed class from the opening bell. Bradley entered the ring decked out in camouflage, and it was clear from the outset that this was not merely a […]
Bryan Vasquez, right, punches Jose Felix during his upset win on the Manny Pacquiao Vs. Timothy Bradley undercard
0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 4/12/2014
In a battle of two recently-robbed 135 pound contenders, longtime Pacquiao sparring partner Raymundo Beltran (29-6-1, 17 KO) faced off against late replacement, but undoubtedly game Arash Usmanee (20-2-1, 10 KO) in a de facto eliminator for Terence Crawford’s lightweight belt. Beltran had originally been scheduled to face Rocky Martinez, but Usmanee isn’t the type […]
0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 3/23/2014
For all their base, animalistic intrigue, professional prizefights are often the antithesis to idealism. Unlike virtually all other athletic endeavours, the grandest stage in boxing is not by default reserved for the best. The finest two entities do not necessarily face one another for the prize of global supremacy. In fact, this happens so rarely […]
0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 2/20/2014
(Vasyl Lomachenko, left, Orlando Salido, right) If boxing in 2014 is yet to herald anything, perhaps it’s an enhanced appreciation of the greatness of the preceding year. The paucity of this month’s schedule, when allied to the underwhelming bouts scattered with a listless promotional hand throughout January, has produced a scenario in which the sport’s […]
0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 1/23/2014
Discounting last weekend’s Montreal grudge match, which had waning significance in the light heavyweight division and was aimed squarely at the Canadian market, this Saturday will see Mikey Garcia take on Juan Carlos Burgos in the junior lightweight class, in what amounts to HBO’s first showcase of 2014. Not that it’s a total mismatch or […]
0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 12/19/2013
Taking the inimitable pay-per-view record-breaker Floyd Mayweather out of the equation, 2013 was arguably nothing to write home about when measured in terms of outright star power. The cash cows were, on the whole, either absent or slaughtered. Manny Pacquiao barely featured, Canelo Alvarez and Adrien Broner both lost their shine, even the original Golden […]
0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 12/6/2013
“Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Y’all cats know how I do my thing. Brooklyn King that’ll snatch your bling…” So said the Masta Killa in 2006, a year in which Zab Judah knocked down Floyd Mayweather (check YouTube if you don’t believe me) and Paulie Malignaggi won the hearts of the boxing world against a […]
0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 11/15/2013
A risky tune-up fight for an overconfident superstar, or a mismatch? That’s the question. It sounds harsh on both men, but we’re likely to see one of those two scenarios play out when undefeated super middleweight king Andre Ward steps back into the ring for the first time in 14 months to take on Dominican […]
0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 10/14/2013
As befits the latest installment of ESPN’s acclaimed 30 For 30 series, or any boxing documentary if you’re really feeling facetious, “No Mas,” (debuting Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET) is anachronistic from the get go. From the opening shots of Ray Leonard’s ageless torso as he pounds the heavy bag in his home gym, to […]
0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 10/9/2013
There is a phrase the Japanese use to describe their most powerful works of art, an essence that seems to flow through certain prominent postwar novels and films, and is epitomised in nature by the cherry blossom that blooms so spectacularly for a just few short days a year. Mono no aware, roughly translated as […]
0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 9/20/2013
(Bernard Hopkins, standing, walks by Floyd Mayweather, sitting at right) In the wake of Floyd Mayweather’s routing of young Mexican star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez this past weekend (which the Queensberry Rules team predicted with Nostradamus-like sagacity), attentions have once again shifted to the future. With the so-called biggest challenge out there proving to be anything but, […]
0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 8/27/2013
Sept. 8 will mark one year since Andre Ward last entered the boxing ring. That’s one year since he destroyed Chad Dawson, the former lineal light heavyweight champion, over 10 brutal rounds and rose to number two in the consensus pound-for-pound rankings of those that like to keep track of such things. To say the […]
0 comments by Sam Sheppard on 8/7/2013
Upon learning of George Groves’ plans to take on Carl Froch, the overwhelming reaction amongst the British contingent seemed to be one of joy. It was a childlike emotion for many, one that could be traced back as far as the early 1990s when British super middleweights regularly squared off in megafights commanding television audiences […]
