Michael Katz ... at The Sweet Science

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Features by Michael Katz

	[Oct 6, 2006] Thank You, Castro, for Joel Casamayor This country's refusal to do business with the Castro regime has cut off the supply of good smokes; but has not kept out star athletes.

	[Oct 5, 2006] Oh, Baby: The Soft Side of Chico the Man The rumor going round was that Diego Corrales was being treated like an illegal immigrant and not someone born in Columbus, S.C.

	[Sep 21, 2006] Shame, Shame on You (and You Know Who You Are) You want to see are blood and guts. That's what you pay for. And when you don't get your pound of flesh, you think you've been robbed.

	[Sep 15, 2006] Goodness Has Nothing to Do With This Card - It's Great Three championship bouts and each favorite is less than 2-1. But let's not the oddsmakers define this $45 pay-per-view card.

	[Sep 14, 2006] Remembering a Violent Beauty on a Shimmering Night There can be no better way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Leonard-Hearns than by watching the magnificent card at the MGM Grand Arena.

	[Sep 8, 2006] All the Noose That's Fit to Print It's time for boxing to revive the concept of hanging judges. In the Old West, "hanging judges" were the guys who said, "Let's hang him and then...

	[Sep 1, 2006] Toney's Sound Echoes His Fury Sometimes, James Toney is so vitriolic it seems as if he flunked out of the Mike Tyson School for Public Speaking.

	[Aug 30, 2006] Sorry, More About Heavyweights - But Not as Sorry as They Are The big guys keep getting bigger, the fascination with them remains, but the bigger they are, the easier they are to keep in perspective.

	[Aug 16, 2006] Russians Are Coming? So Is Evander - Again One of Evander Holyfield's former trainers was calling and, no, he was not going to Dallas to see the old man launch another comeback Friday.

	[Aug 11, 2006] On Paper, Rock and No Scissors On paper, this is a minus $5 fight, and who cares if Maskaev put Jim Lampley's lap between The Rock and the hard place of the Atlantic City floor.

	[Aug 10, 2006] Dennis the Menace Turns Into Fairy Godfather for Coal Miner's Son The trainer who advised Oleg Maskaev to retire hasn't changed his mind about what he did four years ago.

	[Aug 9, 2006] It's No Big Deal, but Arum's War Talk Also Includes Junior Flyweight "You must watch him jump rope," says the manager of 108-pound titlist Brian Viloria, "he's the best I've seen since Duran."

[Aug 4, 2006]
Dis and Dot's All, Folks
The HBO bouts from Madison Square Garden tomorrow night are both competitive betting fights, at least according to my friendly neighborhood bookmaker.  More ...

[Jul 28, 2006]
The Unhappy Finish Line of Roy Jones Jr.
They were too close to Roy Jones Jr. for too many years to look at him now, in Boise, Idaho, of all places, fighting Prince Badi Ajamu of all people.  More ...

[Jul 26, 2006]
Yo, Adrian, Let's Hail the Spirit of '76
For boxing, the Renaissance of the Eighties began in 1976 and Bob Arum was there, in Row 26, at the Forum in Montreal.  More ...

[Jul 20, 2006]
Li'l But Bad Crashes Back Onto the Scene
In nine days, Stevie Johnston old "Li'l But Bad" himself returns to fight Vivian Harris with his wife's words echoing in his ears.  More ...

[Jul 13, 2006]
Dis and That and Notes to You
I blew off the Mosley-Vargas press conference yesterday and not simply because it interfered with my Bastille Day preparations. Sugar Shane and Fernando are two of my favorite characters.  More ...

[Jul 7, 2006]
The Usual Weighty Fluff Pound-for-Pound
There was a time I could make up lists like the ten greatest Italian operas or the ten sleaziest personalities in boxing.  More ...

[Jul 3, 2006]
Patrick Burns, the Class Act of the Year So Far and Other Awards
Patrick Burns was the nontrainer of the half-year as the victim of the worst backstabbing of the half-year.  More ...

[Jun 22, 2006]
Why the Rooster Won't Cross That Road Just Yet
Oscar de la Hoya did not pull the plug on boxing. Instead, he offered Floyd Mayweather Jr. enough extension cord to hang himself.  More ...

[Jun 16, 2006]
Apples and Oranges? Taylor-Wright Should Be Peachy
There should be no interpolating Hopkins's masterful performance over Tarver into making Taylor the big favorite Saturday night.  More ...

[Jun 13, 2006]
Inka-Dinka-Doo, What an Ending
It has taken me a couple of days of searching for the right tone to take with Bernard Hopkins's masterly domination of Antonio Tarver. I certainly didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth.  More ...

[Jun 9, 2006]
In This Corner, a Reason to Believe in Malignaggi
There's a specter over the Miguel Cotto-Paulie Malignaggi fight tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden and his name is Billy Giles.  More ...

[Jun 8, 2006]
A Travel Guide Through a Two-Way Street
You've been vacillating between A.C.and New York so let me offer a tale of the tape of two cities that are hosting pay-per-view cards.  More ...

[Jun 5, 2006]
Castillo Won't Like the Scales of Justice, Either
Castillo's rubber match with Diego (Chico) Corrales could easily have been saved. Corrales himself said how on the Showtime telecast.  More ...

[Jun 2, 2006]
The Senator Should Buy His Tickets to This Fight
There have been more words written lately about the weight of Jose Luis Castillo than about the oxymoronic Senate Ethics Committee.  More ...

[May 17, 2006]
The Best Way for Oscar to Revive Boxing Is by Boxing
I do not wish to emulate some colleagues and act as a career counselor to boxers, giving advice on who to fight or when to retire.  More ...

[May 12, 2006]
Floyd Patterson Never Needed That Phony Beard
In 1956, he became the youngest man to win the heavyweight championship; four years later, he became the first to regain it.  More ...

[May 8, 2006]
If This Was His Final Act, Oscar Deserves a Curtain Call
Oscar de la Hoya got on a plane for Puerto Rico today, but where he is going is still up in the air. He could be flying west, into a beautiful sunset.  More ...

[May 5, 2006]
If He's Chicken, He's Cordon Bleu (That's Blue Ribbon for You Non-French Speakers)
He was talking about retiring again, that this could be his final fight, and I felt stabs of regret.  More ...

[May 4, 2006]
Don't Believe Mayorga's Gripes of Wrath, There'll Be a Fight
The one-armed bandits were busy when Ricardo Mayorga's two limousines pulled up to the MGM Grand for the ritual final press conference.  More ...

[Apr 28, 2006]
Who Needs a Heart When a Heart Can Be Broken?
Beware of love. It is a terrible trap. As the wise book says, "Never fall in love with a fighter, he'll only break your bank."  More ...

[Apr 20, 2006]
Byrd by Knockout, and No, I'm Not Kidding, See Holyfield's Law
Klitschko should not believe Byrd's assertions that their confrontation Saturday night will involve chin-checking.  More ...

[Apr 14, 2006]
Mayweather Still Wins Hooray, Nevada
Don King didn't get his way, which is another way of saying Nevada did the right thing today and followed its rules.  More ...

[Apr 10, 2006]
A Fight Disintegrates Into a Family Feud
While Floyd tried to recover from a leg-numbing shot to the family jewels, one of his family's non-jewels touched off a ring riot.  More ...

[Apr 7, 2006]
The Book of Floyd Is No Fairy Tale
Once upon a time, and not so terribly far from Stanley Ketchel's final resting place, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was born.  More ...

[Apr 5, 2006]
Hearing Is Not Always Believing
Zab Judah, who had been sulking in his gym during the week, was set for his "grand arrival" at Caesars Palace yesterday.  More ...

[Mar 30, 2006]
A Father-Son Tale by the Byrds
Byrd Sr. will leave in a couple of weeks with his son Chris for Germany and their April 22 return match with Wladimir Klitschko. That Chris Byrd is in this position is a testament to Papa Joe.  More ...

[Mar 23, 2006]
From the Fiery Cuyahoga to the Rhine, There's No Smooth Sailing
The next stage for the heavyweight division is Cleveland, Ohio, on April Fool's Day. And then the action switches to Mannheim, Germany.  More ...

[Mar 16, 2006]
...and NEW Heavyweight Champion...Sonny Tufts?
Only wishful thinking gives the match any import other than, finally, two of the leading heavyweights are facing each other.  More ...

[Mar 14, 2006]
The Magic Touch of Eddie Futch Lives On
Arguably the greatest trainer in history will be in both corners Saturday night when James Toney challenges Hasim Rahman.  More ...

[Mar 8, 2006]
Belt? Belt? Calzaghe Don't Need No Stinkin' Belt
Calzaghe shook up the landscape with his plus-perfect demolition of Lacy, from the mythical "pound-for-pound" list to the very core of boxing.  More ...

[Mar 2, 2006]
Look Who's Here on His Own Time
The sad echoes of a hopefully passed time came to mind as Jeff Lacy, in Manchester, England, said he has kept "all my clocks on Florida time."  More ...