IBR on The Cruelest Sport

“After weeks of haggling over contractual details, the fight was finally sealed two weeks ago. Hopefully Garcia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, squeezed every dime he could out of the lengthy negotiations. Garcia-Matthysse is a fight that should end spectacularly; when the collective jaws drop, Garcia’s jaw stands to be the most radically unhinged. A frightening mashup of carnage and tranquility, Matthysse gives every indication of being the superior fighter. His skeptics, now largely regarded with the same distaste grubby placard-wavers on Speakers’ Corner are, were silenced when Matthysse destroyed normally durable Lamont Peterson in May.”

Read One Is The Loneliest Number: On Danny Garcia-Lucas Matthysse and Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Saul Alvarez on The Cruelest Sport

IBR on The Cruelest Sport

Some time after Gennady Golovkin scored a third-round knockout of Matthew Macklin, giving those in attendance at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort, Mashantucket, Connecticut, the awful conclusion they paid for, Macklin remained in Child’s Pose on the canvas. Gasping, his face contorted in agony, Macklin went through a ritual of pain. It is a strange thing, pain; stranger still is the body’s responses. The reflexive writhing and clawing for distraction in movement—like a prisoner throwing himself against the bars of his cell—all that squirming in a futile bid to escape.

Read ANIMALIZED: Gennady Golovkin KO3 Matthew Macklin on The Cruelest Sport.

IBR on The Cruelest Sport

To the relief of many, a tasteless and offensive promotion came to an end last night when Paulie Malignaggi and Adrien Broner met at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Broner, having rifled through the skeletons of Malignaggi’s closet, found a bag of bones willing to humiliate herself for fifteen seconds of fame and two minutes of hate, and tried to drum up interest by emasculating Malignaggi via unfavorable sexual reviews of “The Magic Man.” Malignaggi, ever the sanctimonious windbag, played right along, of course, helping turn last night’s “grudge match” into the final act in a vicariously embarrassing drama. Broner won a split decision over Malignaggi in a fight that—rather fittingly—offered little by way of entertainment, but managed to pose a few questions about how Broner might fair against the best fighters at 140 and 147 pounds.

Read The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be: Adrien Broner W12 Paulie Malignaggi on The Cruelest Sport.