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Written by The Sweet Science
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Tuesday, 18 October 2011 16:58
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 Paris ringside at Pacquiao-Mosley. We're hopeful that she, like "A Woman Who Loves Boxing," knows that "one punch can end a fight and also the life of either young man in front of her." By and large, there are two kinds of women at ringside. Those who are true fans of the ring, living and dying with each blow. And those who are true fans of the bling, eyes darting about, admiring the movie stars, professional athletes, high-stakes hustlers, and high-price escorts who generally populate ringside.The universe has chosen to endow me with frequent ringside seats at world championship boxing matches. It’s an unusual gift for a middle-aged, middle class, single working mom, who until recently only had a passive interest in the sport and no knowledge of its intricacies. I did not seek this, nor did I desire it. But I have tried to make the most of the experience. ... Read more...
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Written by The Sweet Science
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Tuesday, 18 October 2011 10:03
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 To a man, everyone in the boxing community agreed from the start: Bernard Hopkins vs. Chad Dawson shouldn’t have been on pay-per-view. But it was. There’s no undoing it. There’s no getting your $60 back (though surely some of you will write angry letters to Golden Boy and Gary Shaw and try). The damage is done, so let’s try to look for silver linings. Here’s one: If it hadn’t been on pay-per-view, you wouldn’t have the pleasure right now of reading one of my world-famous pay-per-view running diary columns! And these things are basically a $60 value that you’re getting for free, right? (Okay, maybe that’s a stretch. Do I hear five dollars? Two bucks? A nickel?)In any case, I watched Saturday’s PPV with my usual cohorts. We had a small crew, but it was an all-star, no-fat collection of boxing writers: me, former Ring magazine editor-in-chief and future Boxing... Read more...
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Written by Frank Lotierzo
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Monday, 17 October 2011 14:22
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I n the last month we've seen the two best fighter/managers in boxing, Floyd Mayweather and Bernard Hopkins involved in two controversial PPV bouts. And it can easily be argued that the referee in both bouts (Joe Cortez in Mayweather-Ortiz and Pat Russell in Hopkins-Dawson) greatly contributed to the controversy that followed both fights. Cortez lost control of the Mayweather-Ortiz fight in the fourth round and that enabled Mayweather to stay within the rules and take advantage of a vulnerable Ortiz and knock him out. In this past weekend's fight between light heavyweights Bernard Hopkins 52-6-2 (32) and Chad Dawson 31-1 (18), Russell flat out made the wrong call when he declared Dawson the knockout winner at the end of the second round. I don't know what Russell was watching, but Dawson clearly slammed Hopkins to the canvas in the second round. He didn't punch him or hit him... Read more...
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Written by The Sweet Science
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Sunday, 16 October 2011 22:25
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 There are times when it seems as though Bernard Hopkins views the past twenty years in boxing as The Bernard Hopkins Story, with all of the promoters, television executives, and other fighters playing bit roles in the drama of his life. Patrick Kehoe has referenced Bernard’s “idealistic glorification of himself as the American Dream” and noted “time itself seems to collapse into the black hole of his insatiable yearning for self-definition.”Hopkins told Tom Gerbasi, “I wanted to be the Bill Russell of my time. I wanted to be the Muhammad Ali, the Jim Brown, the Satchel Paige. I wanted to be a guy known in history.”“Hopkins,” Gerbasi wrote afterward, “is an idiot, but he’s a smart idiot.”He’s also a superbly-talented fighter, who has built a hall-of-fame career on a will of iron, extraordinary conditioning, and remarkable technical skills. Bernard doesn’t... Read more...
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Written by David A. Avila
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Sunday, 16 October 2011 10:51
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 Chad Dawson used a mixed martial arts move to beat Bernard Hopkins and Mexico’s Antonio DeMarco perhaps showed Jorge Linares that a fight is never over until it’s over in two shocking results on Saturday.In a stacked Golden Boy Promotions fight card featuring two world title fights, a crowd anxious to see the dramatic world title defense of Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KOs), the oldest world champion ever, were left with a deflation of hopes as a fight was stopped and ruled a technical knockout in Dawson’s (31-1, 21 KOs) favor without a punch deciding it at 2:48 of round two.The crowd was stunned and angered.Hopkins showed in the first round that his clever movements and feints could offset the physical advantages of former champion Dawson who had a decided size and arm length advantage. Quick right lead counters by Hopkins landed a few times and Dawson... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Saturday, 15 October 2011 23:08
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 Score another one for the theater of the unexpected, and this whacky ending so soon after the Mayweather-Ortiz looniness. Chad Dawson scored a TKO win in round two at the Staples Center on Saturday night, after he dumped Bernard Hopkins to the mat with a tackle, and the ageless wonder complained his left shoulder was hurt, so ref Pat Russell stopped the bout at 2:48. Ref Russell said it was not a deliberate act, not a foul. It looked like a deliberate foul on the part of Dawson. It was basically a tackle, as Hopkins jumped in, Dawson ducked, lifted him up, and dumped him. But since Russell didn't see it that way, the choice impacted Hopkins mightily. Hopkins had ice on his shoulder in the ring as fans awaited the call, having no idea that Russell was going to declare Dawson the winner, because Hopkins, he said, could not continue. Dawson chattered that Hopkins quit, and... Read more...
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Written by Ron Borges
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Friday, 14 October 2011 22:21
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 It is always unwise to bet against Bernard Hopkins but if you must this might be the time. The 46-year-old reincarnation of “The Old Mongoose,’’ Archie Moore, tonight puts himself on stage, although hardly at risk against former light heavyweight champion Chad “Not Really All That Bad’’ Dawson at the Staples Center in an HBO pay-per-view show there is no real reason to buy, but three. If you are a fan of Hopkins, geriatrics or history it might be worth the investment to see if the oldest boxing champion in history can outpoint someone like Dawson, a 29-year-old southpaw in the prime of his career who is difficult to hit and seems to have only minimal interest in engaging in all-out combat.To say Dawson (30-1, 17 KO) is boring to watch is like saying Rick Perry is an idiot – pretty much impossible to deny. Although he once held portions... Read more...
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Written by Frank Lotierzo
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Thursday, 13 October 2011 21:54
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 He's baack! That's right, Bernard Hopkins, who must be considered the top light heavyweight in the world at this time, will meet Chad Dawson, who used to be considered the top of the light heavyweight food chain not so long ago, this Saturday night. Hopkins, 46, isn't even the fighter he was when he was 40, but he's still the consummate ring technician and mauler. He's built quite a legacy and he's now at the point where nothing he does will take away from it....and with each victory he adds notches to it. Remember when he promised his late mother that he wouldn't fight past 40? If she were around today she might be chewing him out for breaking his promise and continuing to fight, but you know deep down inside she'd be smiling as she was doing it after all that he's accomplished. Amazingly after 20 plus years as a professional fighter, Bernard Hopkins has... Read more...
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Written by Ron Borges
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Thursday, 13 October 2011 14:40
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 HBO got a super fix when they hired the man who thought up the Super Six, Ken Hershman. (Hershman pictured in between Andre Ward and Carl Froch, right.) (Hogan) If you can’t beat ‘em, hire em. In the end that seemed to be the decision made by HBO Sports today when they lured away Ken Hershman from SHOWTIME to replace departed HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg. Greenburg resigned in July after 33 years with HBO, the last 12 spent in ever more controversial fashion running the cable giant’s boxing program and other sports ventures. His close associations with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and fight manager Al Haymon left him and, by extension HBO, open to charges by rival promoters that the network had become a closed shop in which it was now nearly impossible for other promoters to get their fighters on boxing’s biggest network. Hershman... Read more...
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Written by Ron Borges
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Thursday, 13 October 2011 11:53
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 Former cruiserweight champion and heavyweight belt holder David Haye announced today at his south London gym that he was retiring from boxing at 31 to launch a career as an actor. Truth be told, the acting career began long before the boxing one ended. Haye was a moderately talented cruiserweight, a division whose existence is barely known by most fight fans and which has never had 10 fighters in it at the same time worthy of being rated in any legitimate top 10 compilation. Having said that, Haye was the best of the rest, a fighter who unified the WBC, WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles by stopping Enzo Maccarinelli three years ago.That sudden victory launched his march to the WBA portion of the heavyweight title despite the fact Maccarinelli never had a signature win of any significance, which is why he was WBO champion. In fairness, Haye did earlier defeat Jean Marc Mormeck, a mountain... Read more...
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