0 comments by Tim Starks on 12/31/2021
Welcome to The Queensberry Rules’ annual year-end boxing awards, continuing over the course of a week. Here’s how we do it around these parts: The major categories are Knockout of the Year, Fight of the Year and Fighter of the Year. For each category, we give five finalists, with video and/or relevant info, as well […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 12/15/2021
When I was in college, I was very briefly in a band. The sum total of our accomplishments was playing three open mics and recording a cover of Cake’s cover of “I Will Survive,” because that was the only song I could hit the notes for (that means I can’t sing for shit, if you […]
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 12/13/2021
They say you should never meet your idols, for they will only ever let you down. This past Saturday night, Reymart Gaballo learned that one should also never fight their idols. Especially if said idol has a history of denting heads and exploding livers. Growing up in the Philippines, Gaballo (24-1, 20 KOs) idolized fellow […]
0 comments by Jason Langendorf on 12/10/2021
For some time now, Devin Haney has been discussed as a sort of spiritual successor to Floyd Mayweather Jr., a boxing mastermind if there ever was one on either side of the ropes. And on at least one occasion during Saturday’s DAZN broadcast, Haney — all of 23 years old — was mentioned in the […]
0 comments by Tim Starks on 11/29/2021
Initially, it was difficult to narrow down who had the more compelling post-fight story between George Kambosos Jr. and Teofimo Lopez Jr. Kambosos had just pulled off a huge majority decision upset against a pound-for-pound top-10 boxer to take the lineal lightweight championship. He had done so by withstanding Lopez’s incredible power and even swapping […]
0 comments by Jamie Rebner on 11/28/2021
Over the decades, junior featherweight has produced an outsized number of excellent fights, and one more needs to be added to that list. That would be last night’s brutal unification fight between Brandon “The Heartbreaker” Figueroa and Stephen “Cool Boy Steph” Fulton, which saw Fulton emerge with both WBC and WBO belts in a Showtime […]
0 comments by Jason Langendorf on 11/22/2021
The grin was the tell. Even as his brow leaked and his mouth hung open for occasional gulps of air, Terence Crawford couldn’t suppress the smile curling the corners of his lips late in Saturday’s fight at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The world’s welterweight apex predator may have been made to labor and […]
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 11/19/2021
Saturday night from the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas, welterweights Terence Crawford (37-0, 28 KO) and Shawn Porter (31-3, 17 KO) will meet in a 12 round bout televised on ESPN+ pay-per-view. In preparation, the intrepid TQBR crew crawled out from under their hangovers, diaper bags, and work obligations to discuss how they see […]
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 11/15/2021
Remember in Wayne’s World when Garth hacks into the mainframe or whatever and reroutes a satellite signal to beam Crucial Taunt’s performance directly into Frankie Sharp’s limousine so that he’ll sign them to Sharp Records and Cassandra will continue porking Wayne? Stay with me here. Now, picture this scene as a metaphor for last night’s […]
Nov 6, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Canelo Alvarez (gold/white trunks) and Caleb Plant (white/gray trunks) box during their undisputed super middleweight world championship boxing match at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Tim Starks on 11/8/2021
It was an odd sort of thing ahead of Canelo Alvarez vs Caleb Plant, seeing the former in People magazine (of all places), talking about his daughter applying eyeshadow to her father (of all activities). It’s not that there’s anything inherently un-masculine about being a proud “girl dad” who gets his nails painted. We’re past […]
0 comments by Jamie Rebner on 10/12/2021
Like many boxing writers, I became a fan of the sport before I started putting pen to paper. My first voluntary exposure to boxing came in 2008 when I decided to read Evander Holyfield’s biography, Becoming Holyfield, after my local newspaper recommended it. I was blown away by The Real Deal’s remarkable achievements as an […]
Oct 9, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Deontay Wilder (red/black trunks) is knocked out by Tyson Fury (black/gold trunks) during their WBC/Lineal heavyweight championship boxing match at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 10/11/2021
There’s a myth in boxing that one can be taught to fight. Sure, you can walk into any gym on earth and a nice man in a beret — most likely named “Chappie” or “The Colonel” — will teach you to jab, parry and skip rope for a nominal fee. But the desire to actually […]
Aug 21, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada; Manny Pacquiao waves to fans after losing in a world welterweight championship bout in a decision to Yordenis Ugas at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Matthew Swain on 9/30/2021
One of the best ever, Manny Pacquiao, retired this week. He ends his 26-year career with a record of 62-8-2. The TQBR gang examines him and his legacy. What was the first time you saw Manny Pacquiao fight, and what was your impression of him? Tim Starks: It was the Lehlo Ledwaba fight he […]
0 comments by Brent Hedtke on 9/26/2021
It’s not easy being a boxing fan. The sporadic, stop-start nature of the schedule allows for long gaps of inaction resulting in waning enthusiasm from a fanbase with notoriously short attention spans. Corruption, controversy and outright criminality make it hard to find a hero in sport that oftentimes feels like it’s run by carnies. Should […]
0 comments by Jamie Rebner on 9/23/2021
Jeanette Zacarias Zapata’s name hits close to home because she died in my hometown due to injuries sustained in her fourth-round knockout loss to Marie-Pier Houle on August 28 at IGA Stadium in Montreal. Zapata was only 18 with her whole life ahead of her, which only adds to the sting. Boxing is and always […]
