“Where does that fire come from, the self-sustaining heat? Are fighters born or are they made? There seems to be a sort of constitutional iron amongst a few that cannot be taught. We call these men natural fighters, born fighters. And we love them for it. Others are not so predisposed to answer the harrowing call, though they are, without exception, more willing to answer it than us. These men are fighters in spite of themselves. And we love them for it.”

Read Hardwired: Nate Campbell Then and Now on Hannibal Boxing.

There are the lights to contend with, their heat and burst, their merciless illumination. The pressure of the moment, too, pregnant with disaster, ready to rewrite, to unmake. And the dialogue, unpredictable, violent, violently unpredictable. Over and over this disorienting assault hunts for lies, falsity, and what it cannot uncover, it creates. A fight with Shawn Porter is an interrogation. You endure that interrogation with the truth; you sabotage it by being something more. Terrence Crawford is something more.

Read Heightened Predation: Terence Crawford TKO10 Shawn Porter on Hannibal Boxing.

“You do not beat Saul Alvarez, who Plant faced at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, on Saturday, with evasion—the four-corners offense does not work when your opponent has the lead. Alvarez, by virtue of popularity and its attendant economic windfall, always has the lead. He is ahead on the scores at the opening bell, and it is his opponent’s responsibility to undo that advanced arithmetic. Moreover, every Alvarez opponent must do so without losing his head or liver. Alas Plant, who found some success against Alvarez, never managed to overcome the scoring disadvantage. Nor did he keep his head. Because Plant never fought to win.”

Read The Only Super Super-Middleweight: Saul Alvarez TKO11 Caleb Plant on Hannibal Boxing.