Search results

By David A. Avila Nobody is perfect. That’s a mantra that everyone including boxers, promoters and managers should realize. No person is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. Ryan “King Ry” Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) returns to the prize ring to face thunderous punching Oscar Duarte (26-1-1, 21 KOs)...

By Arne K. Lang These are heady days for the sport of professional boxing in Australia. Cruiserweight Jai Opetaia is the best fighter in his weight class. Tim Tszyu is a major star in the Land Down Under and his younger brother Nikita is lapping at his heels. Then there’s undefeated super...

By Arne K. Lang There will be a boxing show this Friday at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena, a low-budget card featuring the return of former IBF 130-pound world title-holder Tevin Farmer. During the event, there will assuredly be a somber moment when those in attendance stand and silently pay homage...

By Arne K. Lang SHOWTIME aired its final pay-per-view event tonight with a show that aired from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The four-fight PPV card included world title fights in the 140 and 130-pound divisions, plus an interim title fight at 168 and the return of former two-division...

By David A. Avila Underdogs win too. Katie Taylor changed tactics and changed the outcome to defeat her conqueror Chantelle Cameron by majority decision and become undisputed super lightweight champion on Saturday. “Two weight undisputed champion, that sounds great,” said Taylor. It took six...

By David A. Avila Saturday will be loaded. From the morning until the night, world champions will collide from the emerald isle to the casino capital of the world. Plan for a long day of prizefighting. A rematch of two of the greatest female warriors Katie Taylor (22-1, 6 KOs) and Chantelle...

By Thomas Hauser Each year during the holiday season, I publish a list of what I consider to be the best books about boxing. That list, updated to accommodate recently published titles, follows. Taken together, the books offer a compelling look at the sweet science from bare-knuckle days to the...

By Arne K. Lang Some folks in Australia are of the opinion that Nikita Tszyu has a bigger upside than his older brother Tim, the reigning WBO 154-pound world title-holder. Time will tell, but Nikita, 25, is carving out his own legacy. Today in Broadmeadow, New South Wales, Australia, Nikita...

By Arne K. Lang It was unusually quiet inside the DLX boxing gym in Las Vegas on this particular Monday, notwithstanding the early hour. The only people there aside from the fly on the wall were Mikaela Mayer, her coach Kay Koroma, Coach Kay’s assistant Manny Savoy, and former LA Raiders punter...

By Arne K. Lang Shakur Stevenson, a world title-holder in three weight divisions after only 21 pro fights, is an extremely gifted boxer. According to figures provided by ESPN, heading into his match tonight with Edwin De Los Santos for the vacant WBC lightweight title, Stevenson had out-landed...

By Arne K. Lang “Money makes strange bedfellows” goes an old saying. One was reminded of this chestnut yesterday (Nov. 15) when several of boxing’s power brokers joined forces at a press conference in London to ballyhoo the Christmastime extravaganza in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. There will be eight...

By David A. Avila It’s the Fast and the Furious this week in boxing as speedy Shakur Stevenson leads a polished card in Las Vegas, while a few days later powerful Diego Pacheco headlines a strong L.A. show. Four hours separate them by car. On Thursday Nov. 16, the angry squeal of...

By Thomas Hauser Earlier this year, the Metropolitan Opera Company at Lincoln Center in New York mounted a full production of Champion - an opera based on the life of former world welterweight champion Emile Griffith. Since then, The Met has continued to augment traditional offerings with more...

Calgary junior welterweight Steve Claggett won his eighth straight fight tonight on an Eye of the Tiger promotion at the Montreal Casino. A swarmer with a motor that just won’t quit, Claggett (37-7-2, 25 KOs) set a torrid pace from the opening round and never let up, winning the 10-rounder by...

By Arne K. Lang What has been a relatively quiet November is about to burst wide open. This week, there are noteworthy boxing cards on three consecutive days bleeding into the weekend. The action begins Tuesday, Nov. 14, with a card in Montreal that will air in North America on ESPN+ In the...

By David A. Avila LONG BEACH, CA.-It took less than two rounds for Fernando Vargas Jr. to settle things but it took 10 vicious rounds for Mexico’s Irma Garcia to defeat Italy’s Stephanie Silva for a world title on Saturday. The son of a boxing great, Vargas (13-0, 12 KOs) showed sharpness and...

By Rick Assad If one had the ability to construct a prototypical New York City boxing writer, it would be in the mold of Wally Matthews. This observation was put forward by Mark Kriegel, a New York City native and one of the preeminent journalists and authors of this generation. "Coming from...

A Eubank and a Fury were on display on a Wasserman Boxing card in the English seaside resort city of Brighton tonight. They were not the most prominent members of their respective families, but both did their lineage proud. Harlem Eubank, the nephew of British boxing legend Chris Eubank Sr...

By Arne K. Lang Ricky Burns stands as one of the greatest boxers spawned in Scotland, not on the same level as Hall of Famers Benny Lynch and Ken Buchanan, but arguably on par with Jim Watt and Josh Taylor. As the first fighter from Scotland to win world titles in three weight classes, his...

By Rick Assad A masterful storyteller, Lance Pugmire spent nearly two decades covering sports for the Los Angeles Times. He is the most-recent recipient of the prestigious Nat Fleischer Award for Excellence in Boxing Journalism which is presented annually by the Boxing Writers Association of...