“A middleweight in the amateurs, former junior middleweight, and now a herculean welterweight, Porter, 25-1-1 (16), is to weigh in Friday at no more than 144 pounds and to rehydrate to no more than 154 pounds by fight time. “The Problem” is looking to lance the bull before it is unleashed in the arena, a pre-emptive attack he has wisely kept quiet about.”

Read The Frameup: Adrien Broner-Shawn Porter Preview on The Cruelest Sport.

“Calling himself “The American Dream” for escaping the economic shackles of Cuba, Lara, 21-2 (12), may have the most appropriate moniker in all of boxing—but not for the reason he thinks. Lara wants a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. And how does he audition for such an opportunity? By toying with Rodriguez, 28-8-4 (16), for twelve tedious rounds. In an era where people get rich off puppy pics on Instagram and Kim Kardashian’s creativity culminates in a book comprised of nothing but selfies, it is no wonder Lara feels he deserves so much for so little: something for nothing is the new American Dream.”

Read Aftermath: On Deontay Wilder, NIcholas Walters, Felix Verdejo, Erislandy Lara and More on The Cruelest Sport.

“It is fitting that in an era that will probably be remembered as belonging to Floyd Mayweather Jr. that Cotto values his trinket and his participation in a storied lineage solely by the leverage and dollars he can squeeze from them. The business of boxing was apotheosized this decade, made holy by those who venerate the undefeated record, and Cotto, once celebrated for a different type of professionalism—the kind that saw him spill blood at the request former promoter Top Rank —has remained a professional, but a professional in a sacrilegious new mold: that of the fighter who cares only about bleeding a bloodsport.”

Read Beloved And Despised: Miguel Cotto TKO4 Daniel Geale on The Cruelest Sport.