Author: Jimmy Tobin

Boxing enthusiast; likes words.

IBR on The Cruelest Sport

Hopkins Cloud Boxing_Kand(1)

“Vastly superior minds have struggled to evaluate far more significant performances than the one that transpired last night at The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, where Tavoris Cloud was schooled by 48-year-old Bernard Hopkins over 12 dreary rounds. Kierkegaard for example, dedicated the opening chapters of Fear and Trembling to exploring Genesis 22:1-19, trying to understand the nature of faith and responsibility to God through the performance that, to him, produced humankind’s greatest hero. If we are looking for some perspective on last night’s performance then, it is certainly available to us (although perspective is largely ignored by those eager to construct a Khajuraho monument to, well, anything).”

Read “Another Khajuraho Moment: Bernard Hopkins W12 Tavoris Cloud” on The Cruelest Sport.

IBR on The Cruelest Sport

hopkinscloudkickoff680

“Bernard Hopkins, now 48, and at the mercy of increasing corporeal limitation, has adopted his own, inflexible, difficult, and dull approach; he too, trying to reduce the possibility of error, lest some such mistake sees him deprived of his daylights. There have been a few false moves along the way, including a draw with Jean Pascal and a majority decision loss to Chad Dawson in April. But in Hopkins’ rebellion de jour—directed this time against Chronos, Hopkins having largely dispensed with the anti-establishment rhetoric when Golden Boy came courting—he has managed to throw a fire blanket over the burning desires to cook his goose.”

Read “All Action Requires Forgetting: Tavoris Cloud-Bernard Hopkins Preview” on The Cruelest Sport.

IBR on The Cruelest Sport

Adrien Broner v Gavin Rees

“It started with his pledge to “put on a show.” What was intended as entertainment, considering the showman, was more than the miserable expectations a mismatch can produce. What was intended as entertainment, considering the showman, was sure to involve extracurricular self-indulgence of the grooming and rapping variety. For those looking for a fight, what was intended as entertainment at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, Saturday night included self-proclaimed showman Adrien Broner dismantling Gavin Rees over five lopsided rounds.”

Read “A Shallow Pulse: Adrien Broner TKO5 Gavin Rees” on The Cruelest Sport.