IBR on The Cruelest Sport

“For years, Hopkins was boxing’s most self-righteous anti-establishmentarian, a mad rebel fit for the pages of Dostoevsky. He wore that distinction with the same defiant pride with which he sported his prison stint, jumbled teeth, and bedlamite ring attire. But Hopkins, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, embraced his role as indignant pariah for only as long as such dissentience served him. Once welcomed by the establishment, Hopkins stuffed his megaphone in his soapbox and buried both in his multi-car garage. This is what survivors do, and Hopkins, at 49 years-old, is boxing’s survivor par excellence.”

Read Old Age is a Massacre: Bernard Hopkins-Sergey Kovalev Preview on The Cruelest Sport. .

IBR on The Cruelest Sport

“Predictability, whatever drama it may bring to life, be it the looming inevitable or the hotly anticipated, is largely unwelcome in boxing. In boxing, predictability most often manifests as bogus scorecards, gross mismatches, unfulfilled expectations, bald-faced lies—all that conspires to remind enthusiasts what little reward enthusiasm gains. But mucking around in that predictable slop is also dependability, and the dependability, in and with the right hands, helps keep boxing alive.”

Read Ritual de lo habitual: Gennady Golovkin KO2 Marco Antonio Rubio on The Cruelest Sport.

IBR on The Cruelest Sport

“Last night, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, self-proclaimed greatest fighter ever, Floyd Mayweather Jr., again proved too much for less-than-great Argentine slugger, Marcos Maidana. What does it say of a fighter with Mayweather’s bold moniker that he needed 24 rounds to firmly establish his dominance over a fighter of Maidana’s cast? Best leave such questions to the spin doctors, sycophants, myth-makers, and the rest who feel their own greatness lurch incrementally skyward whenever they exalt their idol to new heights. But let us at least admit this much: Mayweather promised to deliver a more dominant performance in his rematch with Maidana, and he kept his word.”

Read Reality Bites: Floyd Mayweather Jr. W12 Marcos Maidana on The Cruelest Sport.