“At least early, this grudge match was a fight only when Plant was willing, and so surely, the logic at ringside went, that fight must be his. How then, to explain the eighth round, when fortunes changed suddenly and permanently in Benavidez’s favor? In truth, the eighth was the product of what preceded it: Benavidez’s ability to take a little bit out of Plant in even the rounds he appeared to be losing. His first punch of the night, a jab thrown directly at Plant’s left glove, a little “fuck you!” signaling the sincerity of all those evil proclamations, was followed by a protracted beating, an exercise in delayed gratification.”

Read Plant-based Diet: David Benavidez UD12 Caleb Plant on Hannibal Boxing.

“They left the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, changed men, versions of themselves that, if not quite recognizable before the opening bell, were undeniable in the aftermath. Junior middleweights Tim Tszyu and Tony Harrison shared a common goal, pursued the same target, but were doing so on widely divergent paths. That divergence, too, was revealed ex post facto. Those distinct trajectories intersected for nine rounds, about as many as Tszyu had predicted, as many as Harrison is likely to manage when the night belongs to the man across the ring from him.”

Read In the Name of the Father: Tim Tszyu Overpowers Tony Harrison on Hannibal Boxing.

‘“Let’s go at it like this,” he says, “I didn’t have a hard life.” And with that, Carson Jones sets himself apart from so many of his peers, young men who saw the ring as an escape route, harrowing though it may be. “You know, I was adopted but adopted into a good family. If anything, I was spoiled. You know, most people say, ‘Oh, I was hard because I had a hard life’⁠—I had an easy life, like, I was spoiled.” Jones is speaking on his preternatural toughness, one of his signature traits, and given his inauspicious start in an unforgiving sport, a crucial component of his success. And he is speaking about it honestly. Like his toughness, honesty—blunt and unsparing—defines the Oklahoma City fighter. This much is clear about Jones: he neither denies nor fears the was, is, and will be; the explanation for why is complex as it is compelling.’

Read One Life or the Other: The Return of Carson Jones on Hannibal Boxing.