“Leading into his fight against Lamont Peterson at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Lucas Matthysse was a fighter whose notoriety exceeded his exploits. That he was a ferocious puncher was undeniable—as was the craft with which he delivered those destructive blows—but a reputation based on victories over the likes of Humberto Soto and Ajose Olusegun seemed unwarranted, if not completely unjustified. Durable and skilled, Peterson was considered the first legitimate threat to Matthysse since his dubious defeat at the hands of Devon Alexander in 2011. In a fight that was never competitive Matthysse destroyed Peterson, whom referee Steve Smoger saved at 2:14 of the third round. It was a chilling performance, one that would surely have reconciled Matthysse’s achievements with his reputation had the latter not already taken on a life of its own.”

Read Machine Head: Lucas Matthysse TKO3 Lamont Peterson on The Cruelest Sport.

“A room full of monkeys plunking away on typewriters would struggle to script a scenario where Amir Khan is anointed the grand prize of a junior welterweight tournament. Yet this is what Golden Boy Promotions proposed when they hatched their plan to pit the fighters in their 140-pound stable against each other. Khan has since decided to move to welterweight in pursuit of Floyd Mayweather, Jr., but thankfully the tournament persists. For however bogus Khan’s seeding in the tournament was, the path to determining Golden Boy’s best junior welterweight is almost guaranteed to satisfy the sanguinary. That path stands to get littered in gore this Saturday, when Lucas Matthysse faces Lamont Peterson at Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.”

Read “The Violent Men: Lamont Peterson-Lucas Matthysse Preview” on The Cruelest Sport.

It was a fight short on drama, one that prompted a smattering of boos among the throng gathered at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. And yet, there is a compliment buried in this criticism. For in so easily dismantling Robert Guerrero over twelve one-sided rounds on Saturday night, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., displayed a fighting prowess that, even at age 36, remains remarkable. One can take issue with some of the names on—and off—his ledger and disapprove of his preference for avoiding rather than delivering damage, but the drama of a Mayweather fight is most often lost in the yet-to-be traversed expanse between his competition’s ability and his own. And that, no matter how you look at it, is high praise.

Read Unanswered Prayers: Floyd Mayweather W12 Robert Guerrero on The Cruelest Sport.

“You are fuckin’ something, man!”

His arms draped across the fighter’s shoulders, looking reverently at, and beyond, the disfigured face, referee Steve Smoger offered this raw encomium. He did not address it to the victor, however—who was milling around the ring, lost in celebratory whoops and embraces—but to the loser. Nestled amongst his supporters, Zab Judah listened to Smoger with the pained smile of a man accepting consolation, the smile of a man who recognizes that, however flattering the words, they are a confirmation of failure.

Read Storm Rider: Danny Garcia W12 Zab Judah on The Cruelest Sport.

“You can roll your eyes at the redemptive narrative of Zab Judah, but the fact that he has clung to relevance over seventeen years is no meager accomplishment. Despite the worst intentions of men like Kostya Tszyu, Miguel Cotto, and Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and a history of self-sabotage that runs the length of the comedo-tragic spectrum, Judah, 42-7 (29), has staved off inconsequence time and again. And while his speed and power—relatively undiminished in his 35th year of life—will continue to award Judah the proverbial puncher’s chance, those physical attributes alone do not explain his materializing against Danny Garcia at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday night.”

Cinders And Smoke: Danny Garcia-Zab Judah Preview on The Cruelest Sport.

“Junior middleweight Saul Alvarez has long endured the criticism that he was a pampered and protected golden calf, a fighter whose popularity and earnings were disproportionate to his achievements. And this is true. The response to such cries, of course, is that Alvarez is a defense in himself: he makes truckloads of money grinding the husks of the welterweight division because he is worshiped for more than his performances. Nor, for that matter, is his godliness self-ascribed, but rather bestowed by the sanction of the masses. In a sport where all pursue maximum reward for minimum risk, Alvarez need not apologize for anything. Included under this all-encompassing “anything” is the hard-fought decision he earned last night when 39,472 fans packed the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, to see him win a unanimous decision over Austin Trout.”

Read The Golden Calf: Saul Alvarez W12 Austin Trout on The Cruelest Sport.

“In “Culture and Value,” Ludwig Wittgenstein warns: “Resting on your laurels is as dangerous as resting when you are walking in the snow. You doze off and die in your sleep.” In winning the 2012 Fighter of the Year Award, Nonito Donaire never needed to improve, never needed to deviate from a hyper-dependency on his otherworldly athleticism. Saturday night, however, at Radio City Music Hall in New York, Guillermo Rigondeaux, a fighter with comparable talent and superior polish, asked that Donaire do more than just be the faster, more powerful man. Unable to muster an adequate response, Donaire dropped a unanimous decision to the Cuban, losing for the first time in twelve years.”

Read SLUMBER TIME: Guillermo Rigondeaux W12 Nonito Donaire on The Cruelest Sport.

“Cleaved from his consciousness on March 30th—a single right hand having stretched him prostrate across the bottom rope in Monaco—Nobuhiro Ishida became the latest victim in Gennady Golovkin’s violent odyssey from internet bugaboo to hurt machine du jour. As has become the norm, the question of Golovkin’s next opponent was picked up with enthusiasm, an enthusiasm that has tended to wane before the ink on the contract dries. Golovkin himself seems weary of the competition he has gored recently. However spectacular his evisceration of Gzergorz Proksa, his mulching of Gabriel Rosado, his anesthetizing of Ishida—the three opponents he has faced since HBO took an interest in him—Golovkin’s achievements have not insulated him from criticism. Whether this criticism is valid is debatable. That it stands to deaden Golovkin’s career however, is a claim with some substance.”

Read “Paradox City: Gennady Golovkin & The Politics Of Avoidance” on The Cruelest Sport.

“To alter his fate Alvarado would have to outbox his rugged antagonist, and while Rios could be outboxed, the odds of a thuggish former wrestler who came late to the sport being able to do it were slim. Yet this is precisely what Alvarado did. Under the lights of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, a city fueled by foregone conclusions and hopeless delusions, Alvarado outboxed Rios over twelve heated rounds, winning a unanimous decision.”

Read “Blood In, Blood Out: Mike Alvarado W12 Brandon Rios” on The Cruelest Sport.

“It is a sanctuary for all brands of racketeers, a Rota Fortuna powered by an immiscible concoction of money and blood. With his typical acuity, John Schulian christened boxing “the cruelest sport,” and even the uninitiated appreciate the aptness of this title. What does it say about a sport that its most revered practitioners-among them Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali-are as much icons of suffering as they are of success? That the path to stardom emerges from shadowy flesh-peddling, scavenging, and exhuming? Boxing at its worst seems almost unimaginably cruel.”

Read Pain is Truth: On Boxing and Cruelty on Esquina Boxeo.